Open Space Advisory Committee Presents Plan For Trails, Bike Paths

The Open Space Advisory Committee presented its "Vision Statement: Open Space and Recreation Plan Update" to the Montville Township planning board on Thursday night.

Rich Conklin, chairman of the committee, said that because of the economy, funds are no longer available to buy more open space, so the committee has changed its focus to "utilize inventory we do have."

The plan presented to the board on Thursday explains how the committee plans to utilize the 12,233 acres of open space that the township has: With trails and bike paths, which will serve all ages, by connecting residents to the Passaic and Rockaway rivers and by providing access to community facilities.

Many of these goals are long-term, and planning board chairman Russ Lipari asked that the committee make it clear in the plan that there are no distinct time periods set: Instead of designating the goals as one-year, three-year and five-year goals, as they currently are in the plan, he preferred saying short-term, medium-term and long-term goals.

Lipari also asked how much mileage is involved in the potential trails, but the exact figure has not yet been calculated.

"This is a conceptual design," said Barbara Heskins Davis, who presented for the committee. "The scale has been fairly broad; this is to give the open space advisory committee the idea of where trails should be located, it doesn't obligate any committee or board to place specifically in that location."

The plan, if accepted by the planning board, will exist as a guide to how open spaces in the township could be used. By having such a plan, Davis argued, it would make receiving grant monies easier for the township, as they would have all the information they would need while writing grant proposals to the state and to other organizations.

Planning board member Victor Canning praised the plan.

"You did one hell of a job with this," said Canning. "You deserve to have people tip the hat to you. This is important information when writing grant applications."

A series of public workshops hosted by the Open Space Advisory Committee began last year, which included members of the public, the planning board and other boards and committees. The workshops were the basis for the plan that was ultimately presented on Thursday night.

"I think our next step will be to come up with a public hearing on this as soon as we can," said Lipari.

The planning board meeting will be held on Thursday, June 23 at the .