Highland Park Environmental Commission Old News

Highland Park Environmental News from 2002

Draft Master Plan Goes Public

Rare bird in town

Mosquito Commission to the Rescue.

Photo Chosen for Trenton Exhibit.

This Web Site Honored

Water Watch Cleans at Johnson Park Pond

Open Space Plan Drafted by Environmental Commission

Highland Park Photos at Trenton State House

Borough Asks County for Open Space Aid.

More on the HP Environment (past news)

Draft Master Plan Goes Public. On Wednesday 18 December the draft Master Plan for Highland Park was presented at the Bartle School, with the public invited to submit suggestions after the meeting. See a copy at Borough Hall or the Highland Park Public Library.

The Master Plan is reviewed every 5 years and shapes Highland Park's policy on open space, economic development, diversity, historic preservation, land use, open space, bicycle routes, and just about everything else the borough does. The next public presentation will be at the Planning Board's January 23 meeting, with a revised text that has taken public comments into consideration. 12/02 & 1/03

Rare bird in town. A red-headed woodpecker has spent several weeks in Donaldson Park. This is a threatened species in New Jersey state listings and may not have been seen in our immediate area for many a year.

See the photo at the top of this page, and see also DEP Endangered & Nongame Species Program and select the pdf file for Woodpecker, red-headed.

Donaldson sightings by several people started 19 November 2002 and are continuing (still here 16 December at this posting). Most sightings have been on one favorite tree--at the northeasternmost end of the double row of willows between the tennis courts and the maintenance building (the end tree in the row set back from the road). It currently has a brown head--the familiar red develops in late winter, about February. But you'll know it's a red-headed woodpecker by the white rump and wing patches.

We want to track how long it stays, so if you see it, report it to this web site. Results: One was just reported from Johnson Park 12 December. It's probably a different bird, because our pedal-to-the-metal birder saw one in Johnson, then Donaldson 17 minutes later, then raced back to Johnson and found that one again 11 minutes later--too quick for the same bird? 12/02

Mosquito Commission to the Rescue. Mosquitoes, in particular those spreading West Nile virus, breed in even the smallest pools, such as discarded tires and cans or stagnant streams. The Middlesex County Mosquito Commission has now twice followed our Environmental Commission guide to discarded tires we’d found, hauling out 11 in July and 27 in November. Most were from The Meadows (including 4 from lower Buck Woods) but also Valley Place Ravine and Kilmer Woods (1 each). They also restored stream flow in Valley Place Ravine, where the stream had gone partly stagnant when a dumped mattress and other debris closed off the culvert pipe through which the stream once flowed into the river (and does again). 11/02

Photo Chosen for Trenton Exhibit. A photo from this web site has now been chosen to be among those representing Highland Park in an interactive large-screen display in preparation at the Trenton State House. Visitors will be able to select a New Jersey town and view photos, maps, and data from that town. The photo chosen from our web site shows our section of Johnson Park in morning fog and fall colors, taken at the second pond north of the railroad bridge. 11/02

This Web Site Honored. This web site received one of the year 2002 New Jersey Environmental Achievement Awards given by ANJEC, the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions. This statewide award, presented in ceremonies October 18, 2002, recognizes "exceptional environmental work for projects implemented since January 1, 2000."

See more on this award.

This is the second New Jersey Environmental Achievement Award to Highland Park. The first was for the Environmental Commission's Natural Resource Inventory of 1992.

A third important environmental award to Highland Park is a US EPA Year 2000 Environmental Quality Award to the Native Plant Reserve on River Road. This reserve is an example of what can be done to rehabilitate a small (3-acre), degraded site in an urban area. It is managed by the Highland Park Shade Tree Advisory Committee (see EPA award news and photo). 10/02

Water Watch Cleans at Johnson Park Pond. On September 29, 2002, a group of about 15 Rutgers/Livingston students from Water Watch pulled trash from the shoreline of the pond by the railroad bridge in Johnson Park and along the Raritan in the area. Eight large bags of trash were removed. Water Watch is a federally funded program of students doing stream walking, water testing, and cleanup of local waterways. 10/02

Open Space Plan Drafted by Environmental Commission. The Environmental Commission has drafted an open space plan for Highland Park. It is meant to be the commission's suggestions for open space acquisition and management and for the Master Plan. Comments are being sought from borough officials and the public. Specific suggestions include designating several municipally owned "vacant" lots as miniparks, rezoning the entirety of "The Meadows" (old landfill and adjacent areas) as conservation land, adopting a stream protection ordinance, and acquiring land for natural open space at Ayres Beach and Buck Woods. To see the executive summary and the final action plan, click Open Space Plan. 9/02

Highland Park Photos at Trenton State House. The State Office of Legislative Services will include Highland Park photos in an interactive large-screen display for visitors to the State House in Trenton. Visitors will click the name of a community and see a display of maps, photos, and texts. Highland Park will be represented by several photos. 8/02

Borough Asks County for Open Space Aid. In June 2002, the borough sent a list of "Properties for Inclusion in the Middlesex County Year 2002 Revised Open Space Master Plan." See the full 10-page list with site descriptions at Borough Hall or in our "Environmental Information" drawer in the HP Public Library Reference Department (folder: Highland Park Environment). Aid is requested in three categories, briefly summed up here:

"PARCELS RECOMMENDED FOR COUNTY OPEN SPACE ACQUISITION" are two parcels on either side of Red's Marina (which is already listed for purchase) to complete an Ayres Beach Natural Area. On the tax map these are Block 75, Lot 15.02 (5.2 acres including marsh) and Block 4, Lot 3 (a small 0.253-acre sliver to keep the riverside greenway continuous).

"PARCELS RECOMMENDED FOR LOCAL ACQUISITION WITH HELP FROM THE COUNTY OPEN SPACE TRUST FUND" lists three items. A) Buck Woods (Block 47, Lots 27-75: a 4.05-acre wooded ravine). B) South Sixth Avenue and Mansfield Lot at the Head of Buck Woods (Block 43, Lot 2). C) Devonshire Arms Apartment Grounds (thin river's edge strip along the rear of Block 186, Lots 4-5, to allow for a greenway trail).

"RECREATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS" includes 10 requests to help finance improvements at: A) River Road Entry Park; B) North Eleventh Avenue Pocket Parks; C) South Eighth Avenue Pocket Park; D) Karsey Street Park; E) Old Raritan Ave. Recreation Center (rehabilitation to become a multi-use indoor recreation and possible arts/cultural center); F) Southside Bikeway (sprinkler system and plantings); G) Senior Center Recreation Area (outdoor area replacing bocce ball court); H) Bartle School Basketball Court; I) Borough Owned Property and Irving School Playground/Basketball Court (cooperative school/neighborhood recreation site on Woodbridge Ave.); J) Livingston Manor Walkways (maintenance/replacement of walkways in historic Livingston Manor neighborhood). 8/02