Present: Dr. Harold Nolan, Frank Baker, Richard Rehm, Marianne Reagan, Dwight Wolf, Frank DelleDonne Bruce Bennett, Leonor Lesta, Philip Maida, , A. J. Garito

Absent: Edward Piotrowski,
Liaison Absent: Thomas Hennessy

The meeting was called to order by the Chairman, Frank Baker at 8:05 PM. The Sunshine Statement was read by the secretary. The minutes of the September meeting were approved.

Treasurer's Report: In Recreation Operating Budget, $102,566.52 has been spent, $15,838.22 is encumbered, leaving available $23,045.26. In the Park & Playground Budget, $21,805.65 has been spent, $610.43 is encumbered, leaving available $7,333.92.

Old Business: The 10K Race on September 16th was very successful. The Race Committee felt the race should go on despite the WTC tragedy. The number of runners participating was very good – about 235. The weather was also exceptional. We had the same sponsors as in the past: Dr. Kenneth Faistl, Delicious Orchards, Buy-Rite Liquors and the Girl Scouts.

All the instructional programs are underway. We have two new daytime programs that we call "Fitness in the Morning" – Fitball and Basic Step & Abs. All the programs have good numbers, especially the Yoga class which we had to close out at 30 participants. The parking lot is more than full at the Recreation & Parks Building. If it becomes a problem, we could think about expanding it toward the rear.

The Whispering Pines Art Contest is being held during the month of October. We will be accepting entries until the end of the month. It was suggested that next year we have a children’s division.

The Halloween Party for Township children will be held on Saturday, October 27th at the Conover Road School.

Veterans Day this year is on Sunday. It was decided to hold the ceremony, as in the past, at the Cedar Drive School.

The Craft Festival is being held at Bucks Mill Park on October 14th & 15th. It seems to be very organized as far as the traffic problem this year. They have hired an outside company to park cars.

The Recreation Office along with Vital Statistics has moved in to the Old Library/Grange Bldg.

We will be doing general park maintenance this fall. After the Craft Festival $3,000 to $4,000 will be spent on seed and fertilization.

We will try to replace one backstop each year.

Dr. Nolan said he would like to include in the Capital Budget request to regenerate the well at Laird Road Park for park maintenance purposes

New Business: Dr. Nolan reported that the Township has acquired 11 acres at Route 537 and Five Points Road. This new park will be for Pop Warner Football as well as other recreation facilities. At the present time, they are being allowed to use Conover Road as a practice field. Since they have lost access to Earle in the evenings, the Township Committee has permitted the program to have small temporary lights on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 8:00 p.m. for the next six weeks.

We are in the process of negotiating a new project with KIVA High School for the 2001 – 2002 school year. The first project will replace a large, existing bridge which is in need of major replacement. The second project, scheduled for the Spring will be a second bridge across the Big Brook River, but located upstream of the bridge which was installed this year.

At the November meeting the first draft of the Recreation Operating and the Park & Playground Budgets will be presented. At the December meet, we will try to solidify the Capital Requests.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.