Karen Borga, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 8:10PM in town hall employee lounge.
In Attendance: Karen Borga, Sarah Ralston, Joy Cole, Karen Walzer, Mark Walzer, Madeleine Nist, Dawn Rakow, James Doyle, Art Rosky, and Stan Greberis from the Turkey Swamp Alliance.
The July minutes were approved.
Treasurer’s report: Tom Stevens
There has been no new spending since our last meeting. So far $506.18 has
been spent this year from our budget.
Corresponding secretary: Sarah Ralston
Pathfinders asked the committee for permission to have public works put up our trailhead sign at the entrance to the proposed horse & carriage trail at Johnson Park.
Pathfinders asked permission from the committee to have public works build our shed on an “as time permits” basis at the Forest Resource Education Center.
Committee reports: Karen Walzer
Monday August 13th Pathfinders met at the Forestry Center
Saturday, October 6th, Fall Festival Day
Report for Forest Resource Education Center: Karen Walzer
On August 13, Pathfinders, Karen Borga, Art Rosky, Dawn
Rakow, and Karen Walzer attended an Appalachian trail marking system
demonstration by Jack and Dolores Macri of Ocean County Parks and Recreation at
FREC. FREC employees, Terry O’Leary, Bob, Duffy Barrow, and John Burkle and
volunteer Nancy Gietter were present, as well as a reporter and a photographer
from the Asbury Park Press. Karen Borga videotaped the demonstration.
Jack used a drawknife to scrape a tin layer of bark and get a smooth surface on
trees to be marked. He used white latex paint and a thick brush (not a flat
brush) to make the rectangular shaped marks. Another option is use forestry
paint. The marks are pained approximately feet high on the trunks of trees
along the trail, with the next visible marking from either direction the trail
is used.
Marking trails may sound pretty straightforward, but Jack needed to make several
judgment calls when deciding which trees to mark and sometimes what symbols to
use. Besides, the trail marking, we were able to see some of the features along
the way, such as the new sugar maple shack.
We will need volunteers for the October 6 Fall Festival Day at FREC to lead
hikes on the trails and to run an information /membership table.
Website: Madeleine Nist
The website is up to date. We will be getting our own website that will be up
and running very soon.
Johnson Park: Sam Wimmer
Committee said yes to the trailhead sign and it will be put up at the entrance
to the proposed horse and carriage trail at he Johnson Park. Public works will
contact Art about moving the sign.
Hiking: Jim Doyle
Monthly Activities: The July hike at Cattus Island Park was another scenic hike
and a beautiful day. Karen Walzer, To, Lauren and Alison Stevens and myself,
attended the short 3-mile hike. The trails were marked with standard trail
markings (a square patch of paint for ongoing trails and two patches for forks)
and made use of a lot of boardwalks through turkey swamp areas. The
construction was simple and effective. Everyone had a nice time. Hope to see
more people at future hikes.
Next month's planned activities: The plan changed for the August event, instead
of the originally planned canoe trip, the Biking Committee and the Hiking
Committee wil host a joint bike/hike day tohelp the Mapping Committee map
Colliers Mills. The date is Sunday, August 19th. Please call Tom
Stevens at 833-1168, Uriah at 657-1522 or Jim at 833-0508 or e-mail
jdoyle3611@aol for details.
Other news: Joining the NY/NJ Trail conference. The application is complete and ready for mailing. We are waiting on funding from the township. Cost is $50. Gave copies of the cost information to Tom Stevens to submit for payment. Scott Voorhees is our contact.
I have a small collection of maps of the hikes we did this year (Allaire Lebanon, Battona & Cattus Island). If anyone is interested in borrowing or donating maps please call or see me at the monthly meeting.
Mapping: Tom Stevens
Good progress has been made this month mapping some trails in Colliers Mills
Wildlife Management Area. Some trails south of High Bridge road in back of the
Ocean County Vocational Center have been mapped. Jim Doyle and Tom Stevens have
mapped a main trail from Success road north to Reed road. We now have a
continuous trail from High Bridge road to Reed road through Colliers Mills.
Tom Stevens showed a new map from CME Associates, the township engineer, to the members. This map shows all the township, county, state and federal owned lands. A few new parcels have been added to the township and federal owned lands. We need to investigate whether any of these parcels have existing trails.
Next month more trails in Colliers Mills and trails at the Forestry Center property on Bowman road will be mapped.
Scrapbook: Lauren & Alyson Stevens
An article from the Asbury Park Press, the Jackson-Howell Reporter section, will
also be included. It told of how the project-learning trail is now
appropriately marked for the convenience of anyone wishing to travel along it.
Publicity: Art Rosky
We need to put in more pictures and give the newspapers advanced notice of any
activities. Dawn Rakow did an outstanding job of getting publicity for our
trail marking day at the Forest Resource Center.
Land Acquisition: Karen Borga
200 acres are being preserved off Bowman Road near the Forest Education Center.
Details will be available at the next meeting.
Membership: Dawn Rakow
Brochures were distributed at town hall and at the recreation department. Mark
Walzer, son of Karen, gave a very infomative talk on how we could get more
members and possibly spark more interest within our group.
Frank Applegate Road Nature Trail: Dawn Rakow and
Madeleine Nist
Several truckloads of woodchips have been dropped off by Bil-Jim. We need help
moving and spreading the chips along the trail.
Insurance: Karen Layton – absent – no report
Grants: Dawn Rakow
CME notified Pathfinders that we did not receive the grant applied for at
Francis Mills. CME is going to send the committee a letter asking to reapply
for 2002. Dawn will look into more grants.
Pathfinders received a letter from Larry Miller saying that we did not receive the grant applied for at Frank Applegate Road.
Pathfinder’s events: Joy Cole
Jackson Day is planned for Saturday, September 22. We have our permit to walk
in the parade. We will need bikers and hikers to join the people on horses.
Set up time for our booth will be at 10AM and then assembly for the parade will
be at the Holman School, which starts at noon. Bring your own chairs for the
booth.
Discussions: Keith Sawyer and Karen Borga attended the monthly meeting of the Jackson Recreation Commission. The commission asked Pathfinders to come to their next meeting and present our trail plans and explain our goals, etc. The next Recreation Commission meeting will be on Tuesday, September 4th at 7:30PM.
Reminder: Pathfinders next meeting, Thursday, September 20.
Adjournment: 10:10PM
Respectfully submitted:
Brenda Gregory, Recording Secretary