Watchung News 12/9/2016

Shorepoints

Well-Known Member
Is there an opening date that the county is willing to release?
No, not yet. Once we get in there and get a feeling on how much ground we can cover, the opening date can come into focus. The one thing the County has been consistent on is the fact that the ban won't be lifted until the trails are completed. Dangling the carrot, if you will.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
No, not yet. Once we get in there and get a feeling on how much ground we can cover, the opening date can come into focus. The one thing the County has been consistent on is the fact that the ban won't be lifted until the trails are completed. Dangling the carrot, if you will.

I can feel the arthritis in my wrist twinging at the thoughts of hammering through 14 miles of NJ shale....
 

Xler8

Well-Known Member
No, not yet. Once we get in there and get a feeling on how much ground we can cover, the opening date can come into focus. The one thing the County has been consistent on is the fact that the ban won't be lifted until the trails are completed. Dangling the carrot, if you will.

Is there a date set for when we can get our hands dirty? Better yet, what needs to happen for us to get in there? This spring-like weather is making me very itchy... :confused:

Let's get'er done and chomp on that carrot!!
 

thegock

Well-Known Member
No, not yet. Once we get in there and get a feeling on how much ground we can cover, the opening date can come into focus. The one thing the County has been consistent on is the fact that the ban won't be lifted until the trails are completed. Dangling the carrot, if you will.

@Shorepoints Do we need to be at the Freeholders meeting on Thursday per Andrew's FB post in WatchungMTB?
 

thegock

Well-Known Member
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stilluf

Well-Known Member
We just heard that the freeholders MAY vote for final approval the MTB plan at this Thursday's meeting. Nothing is solid yet. If it's up for a vote, we need to show up in force to encourage approval.
Yes, I thought the plan was fully approved too, but, like I mentioned, we just heard this today, so please Stay Tuned!
 

Xler8

Well-Known Member
Here's a Star Ledger article today:

http://www.nj.com/suburbannews/index.ssf/2017/02/union_county_seeks_input_on_bi.html


The FB posts on Watchung MTB were in reference to a possible Freeholder meeting and this meeting at Trailside on Tuesday, March 7 7:00 p.m. at the Trailside Nature & Science Center. Trailside is located in the Watchung Reservation at 452 New Providence Road, Mountainside.

@Shorepoints or @stilluf can clarify as to the Freeholder meeting.


Ahh yes that meeting... probably a good idea for us to go and see what transpires.
 

Xler8

Well-Known Member
We just heard that the freeholders MAY vote for final approval the MTB plan at this Thursday's meeting. Nothing is solid yet. If it's up for a vote, we need to show up in force to encourage approval.
Yes, I thought the plan was fully approved too, but, like I mentioned, we just heard this today, so please Stay Tuned!

Excuse me... may vote for a first time or a second time? What's the vote on?
 

TheLonerider

Well-Known Member
So just to be clear... the 12/9/2016 JORBA email that read: "We just received word from Union County officials that the plan for a new MTB trail at the Watchung Reservation has been approved and is moving forward!"

...was this incorrect? They had not in fact approved the trail plan?

Because that seemed pretty darned unambiguous to me and everyone I forwarded it to.

Lonerider
 

Xler8

Well-Known Member
So just to be clear... the 12/9/2016 JORBA email that read: "We just received word from Union County officials that the plan for a new MTB trail at the Watchung Reservation has been approved and is moving forward!"

...was this incorrect? They had not in fact approved the trail plan?

Because that seemed pretty darned unambiguous to me and everyone I forwarded it to.

Lonerider

Maybe in the world of Union NJ, "approved" and "voted" on are not the same.

Maybe they have to vote on if they want it to remain approved?

Now that I read it again: "the plan for a new MTB trail at the Watchung Reservation has been approved and is moving forward!"... it says the plan was approved... maybe that's different from actually "implementing" the plan? Either way, it seems like this needs to get played out and see what happens.

See everyone on the 7th...
 

thegock

Well-Known Member
We can have a beer at Chrone's with @KenS afterwards. But my guess is that it would be a good idea for everyone to mark their calendars for March 7 @ 7pm, tell their friends and spread the word. Bring the kids who want to ride trails. Bring your buddy who isn't on this board.

The reason we need numbers is that the county government is impressed by voters. Pack the room. We want everyone to know that we are a substantial constituency, which will be heard and that wants its due.

Trailside Nature & Science Center meeting room holds between 175 and 200 people so we should get there early. There is still a small, but very vocal, minority, who will no doubt want to be heard. It is important that we in the MTB community are heard, as well.

Free Watchung smIMG_20170220_163204.jpg
 
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qclabrat

Well-Known Member
We just heard that the freeholders MAY vote for final approval the MTB plan at this Thursday's meeting. Nothing is solid yet. If it's up for a vote, we need to show up in force to encourage approval.
Yes, I thought the plan was fully approved too, but, like I mentioned, we just heard this today, so please Stay Tuned!

damn, I'll be away
I still don't get what input they are looking for
If the hunt excuse didn't reschedule the build sessions, we'd be that much closer to #freewatchung
 

Shorepoints

Well-Known Member
No need to sound the alarms. According to the official freeholder meeting agenda, and my sources at the County, the only thing up for Freeholder vote is an amendment of the current contract for the master trail plan with the consulting engineering firm. The amendment adds the certification of the MTB trails to the contract, which is an additional $16,100 to their existing consulting contract. It's on page 3 of the agenda here: http://ucnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Regular-Meeting-Agenda-2-23-2017-Draft.pdf
 

TheLonerider

Well-Known Member
Shorepoints, do we need to go to the 23 meeting or just the march 7th one? I'm tight with time this week.

Lonerider
 

Shorepoints

Well-Known Member
Shorepoints, do we need to go to the 23 meeting or just the march 7th one? I'm tight with time this week.

Lonerider
No need to go to the Freeholder meeting tomorrow. Stilluf and Iggy and I will probably go just to monitor the discussion/result on the engineering contract and network with freeholders/county folks. But definitely plan on going to the March 7th Trailside meeting.
 
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