Jackson Pathfinders Meeting Minutes
Municipal Building August 18, 2016
Meeting called to order at 7:30pm by Ken Beyer, Chairman.
Attendance: Shari Kondrup, Laura Stone, Ken Beyer, Mike Baum,Karen Walzer, Bill Dudley, Paul Lippert,Tom Stevens and Pat Stevens
The minutes of the July meeting were approved.
Treasurer's report:Karen Walzer: $147.00 was spent on children's prizes from Oriental Trading for the NJ Outdoor Expo.
Corresponding Secretary/Membership: Dan Green: Dan sent out a reminder notice for the monthly meeting and hikes. Dan added one new participant,and no deletions.
Website & Facebook: Ken Beyer, Bill Dudley and Barbara Usack: Ken Beyer, the Pathfinders webmaster, is continuing the ongoing work of upgrading the newwebsite.The website has a new hosting site. Barbara Usack reported the Facebook page has 133 likes The Facebook page also has new pictures from recent events. Ken has uploaded maps to the new website. It was agreed by vote to remove the "land acquisition" wording from the website.
Forest Resource Education Center (FREC): Rick Dutko:The Backyard Forestry program continues on the second Thursday of each month at 7pm, registration is through the NJ Forestry Assoc.In addition, there are Saturday programs on the second Saturday of the month. It was reported that the chain across the yellow trail is to keep vehicles out. The trail is open to foot traffic. The Fall Forestry Day is October 1, Rick is looking for volunteers. The Full Moon Hike has been cancelled but Rick said he hoped it can be brought back next year.
Bluebird Report: Laura Stone: Laura reported there are fourteen boxes with nests at the FREC, two at Patriots Park, two at OCVTS, five at Manchester Day School and three at GCU. There have been 60 fledglings from the FREC, 18 at GCU, 20 at PP, 22 at OCVTS with 20 banded birds.
Grants: Karen Walzer,and Tom Stevens: Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) grant:The sites for the QR signs have been determined they will be placed leading to the proposed new kiosk. Tom Stevens suggested digging the holes and placing the poles before construction of the Kiosk.PaulLippert suggested concrete footings and bolting the poles to the concrete. Karen and Laura Stone will be contacting the Vocational School for help with building the kiosk.Karen Walzer wrote a press release about the ANJEC grant that appeared in the Jackson Times.
Bunker Hill Bogs: Dan Green stated that only a few of the repairs suggested by the Pathfinders have been completed. Dan said he is going to e-mail Fred Rasiewicz, the Township Public Works director, about a timeline for completion of the repairs.
NJCF Silver Stream & Kitay Trails:Ken, Pat and Tomworked to remove the downedtree on the Island spur trail . The trail was cleared about halfway with the DR trimmer that was recently repaired by Ken. Tanya Nolte, the cartographer of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF),was asked to include the Island spur trail on the map they have created..
Monthly Hikes: A schedule has been drawn up for monthly hikes. They will take place on the first weekend after our monthly meeting. They will be on alternating Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. There will be a registration required for each hike and they will be highlighted in an email to members and participants from Dan Green. The June hike went very well. It was suggested to discontinue the Friday hikes as they have not been well attended. The next hike will be at the Purple Heart trail on Saturday 8/20 at 9:00am.
New Business:Shari purchased trail marking stencils and showed them at the meeting.The Wild Outdoor Expo is on 9/11 & 9/12 Ken Beyer will send out an e mail with a signup sheet.
The Pathfinders volunteered to take care of The Garden of Hope for the month of August. Ken Beyer and Tom Stevens weed wacked the area and sprayed the weeds. Bill Valentine, the manager of The Garden of Hope, expressed his thanks to the Pathfinders for helping to get the garden in shape..
Meeting adjourned at 9:20 PM Minutes submitted by Pat Stevens