Trust for Public Land seeks $50,000 contract to advance Red Bank parks and trails

A representative from the Trust for Public Land told the City Commission of Red Bank during a work session that the nonprofit has invested in local parks and trails projects and is requesting the city authorize an on-call parks and recreation support services agreement and contribute $50,000 to help continue the program.

The request matters because the representative said the city contribution would be used to leverage substantially larger private and public funding to advance a multi-project program that includes trail connections, cultural‑resource work at a historic site and small community grants. “We respectfully request $50,000 from Red Bank to continue that work,” the representative said.

Trust for Public Land (TPL) staff described recent local investments and programs. The presenter said TPL has been active in the area since 1994 and noted that since 2018 the organization has invested “a little over $700,000 in partnership with the city of Red Bank.” Project elements cited included the wider connector project, design work for trails, community outreach, a three‑year anticipated budget “around a million dollars” for the suite of projects and small grants to community partners (the presenter said community support grants have risen to about “a quarter million dollars”).

Daniela (Danielle) Peterson, identified by the presenter as the project lead for the cultural‑resource/historic site work, described next steps for the sensitive project at Stringers Ridge including a cultural resources survey, continued community engagement and outreach to historical stakeholders. “Daniela is leading that in a very careful cautious way,” the presenter said, and added the National Park Service had provided or drafted a $75,000 review grant for preservation evaluation.

City staff described procurement and legal review steps tied to the on‑call agreement. City staff member Mr. Grama told the commission the city issued a request for qualifications, received four responses and evaluated TPL as the highest‑scoring respondent; he said the contract has been approved by the city attorney and is being brought forward as a consent‑agenda item under Resolution 25‑18‑09. Mr. Grama and the TPL representative both described the city contribution as a lever that typically unlocks significantly more private funds — the presenter said TPL’s annual contracts with partner cities often enable roughly tenfold private fundraising relative to the municipal contribution.

The presentation emphasized that TPL does not generally perform construction work itself: the organization said it serves as a project champion, facilitator and manager, and will use standard procurement (RFP/RFQ) to select contractors, secure certificates of insurance and coordinate legal transfers of property when needed. “We contract with professional contractors that have the insurance, the license, the equipment, the manpower to do that work,” the presenter said.

The item was placed on the consent agenda for consideration as an on‑call parks and recreation support services agreement “to perform policy advising, land management best practices, private sector fundraising … in an amount not to exceed the budgeted amount of $50,000” (Resolution 25‑18‑09). The work session record shows the subject was discussed but does not record final commission action on the consent agenda in this excerpt.

Details the commission discussed included the intended leverage effect of a city contribution, TPL’s history of local investments, the nonprofit’s role in design and community engagement, and the organization’s commitment to using contractors for construction once projects are shovel‑ready. Commission members asked about volunteer roles and whether TPL crews would perform physical construction; the presenter said TPL would procure contractors through RFPs and would not perform the contracted construction labor directly.

If the commission votes to approve the contract and contribution during the consent agenda vote, city staff indicated that the contract would be executed after final signatures and that TPL would continue design, outreach and grant‑ready work.

Less central details: the presenter referenced other partners (Blinder By Co‑op was mentioned), private philanthropy for the wider connector base project, and that some property negotiations remain confidential at this stage. The presenter and city staff said more specific project schematics and cost breakdowns (for example the number of shade structures for other park projects) would be provided as design work advances.

For clarity: the work session transcript records the presentation, the city staff recommendation and placement of the item on the consent agenda but does not show the final consent‑agenda vote in the provided excerpt.