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Commission presses for park maintenance, questions unused open-space grants; plans community day outreach
Summary
Commissioners raised ongoing concerns about Piney Hollow and Malibu Lake Park maintenance, noted a prior $250,000 matching-grant opportunity that may have lapsed, agreed to ask DPW to mow overgrown trails and repair trail posts, and discussed community-day programming ideas focused on native plants and insects.
Franklin Township’s Environmental Commission spent part of its July 18 meeting on parks and trails, pressing township staff for maintenance work and questioning whether prior grant opportunities were used.
Commissioners reported overgrown sections of the Piney Hollow trail, missing or damaged QR-post markers and prior discussions about spending open-space funds. One commissioner recalled a discussion two years earlier where the commission asked the township to invest in walkways, parking and signage and said matching grants of '$250,000' had been available but not clearly spent. The same commissioner said a township committee member had reportedly said 'We need police cars more than we need the rails,' a remark the commission treated as part of larger budget-priority decisions. The commission agreed to request DPW mow the trail, replace broken posts, and check whether any grant or matching funds remain available.
Separately, commissioners and volunteers began planning community day outreach with suggested themes such as declining insect populations and native-plant gardening; no final program was adopted.
