2026 Meeting Minutes

Monday November 9, 2026

7 PM on Zoom

1. Attendance: Linda C., Thelma A., Susan L., Jeanne C., Judy B., John F., Suzanne M., Marcia G., Kristen R., Dan B., Susan D., Joan B., Karen R.

2. Minutes: Susan moved to approve the October minutes and Karen seconded. The October 2026 minutes were unanimously approved.

3. Membership: Kristen R. reported that the current membership is 429.

4. Treasurer's Report

A. Dan reported the current financial status is $12K in checking, $50K in CDs and $700 in stock.

B. Because 2026 revenue exceeded $50K a Nonprofit Income Tax Form 990 must be prepared. Dan reached out to Robert Blocker CPA in Morris Plains, who will prepare the form for approximately $750. A motion was moved, seconded and unanimously approved to have Robert Blocker, CPA prepare the 2026 990 form for the cost of $750.

5. Website

A. John F. has added the Association of NJ Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) Memorial to John Landau to the website (pg. 30 here https://anjec.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Fall2026-ANJECReport.pdf) .

B. Notice of the NJ Urban and Community Forestry award that was presented to John and Susan Landau will also be added to the website.

C. John is making a gallery for Tony, a new photographer. Welcome Tony!

6. Volunteering/Restoration

A. Volunteer Sunday time is now 1-3 PM and has been very well attended.

B. ADP is scheduled to participate in a corporate volunteer day on 11/13, but once again the weather is not looking good.

C. The TJ Student Forest trees, Basswood, Swamp White Oak and Clethra have been planted in the Student Forest.

D. Roots in Place is working on a plan to address maintenance of the main meadow and steering it toward biodiversity and a master plan for FPW. The proposal is expected by December 1st.

E. Thelma reported that the signage for the bat box is still waiting on the town to install. Installing the sign ourselves was discussed but would require town approval if concrete were to be used.

F. Susan cautioned to be scrupulous in monitoring for ticks after working in the park. The risks could be lessened by wearing clothing treated with permethrin. Clothes can be treated professionally, lasting for 70 washings, by Insect Shield:

https://www.insectshield.com/pages/insect-shield-your-clothes

7. Next Meeting: January 11, 2027 at 7:00 PM via Zoom

8. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 PM. Susan D. motioned to adjourn and Suzanne seconded. All were in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanne

Monday October 12, 2026

7:04 PM on Zoom

1. In attendance: Susan L, Deb R., John F., Lisa M., Linda C., Dan B., Suzanne M-D., Marcia G., Joan B.

2. September 2026 meeting minutes: Motion to approve made by Susan L; Suzanne M-D seconded; unanimously approved.

3. General membership: Now at 400+ on the mailing list.

4. Treasurer's report:
-Dan reported that we have a three-month CD for $50K, $56K in the bank, and a donation of $700 worth of shares in honor of John L. Susan will include a statement about FOFPW being willing and able to accept share donations as well as cash in the next general membership communication.
-Susan moved to authorize $3,600 spent with Pinelands Nursery and $1,900 with New Moon Nursery for STC plants for Jacob Ford Park. Dan B. seconded. All voted in favor.
-We will receive between $4K and $5K reimbursement for the Jacob Ford Park plants; some will be sold to homeowners and so less than $1,000 of these plants will go into FPW.

5. Website: John continues to maintain and greatly improve the fofpw.org website from afar. Under "What's New", he has added two of our projects; the south woods reforestation and the TJ Elementary student forest. It is marvelous to have some actual park work documented and on the site! More to come.

6. Volunteer projects:
A. Susan reported super successful volunteer Sundays. Hundreds of plugs have been planted in the outdoor meeting room/classroom area.

B. TJ’s school tree selection includes American linden, summer sweet and swamp white oak.

C. ADP scheduled for Friday, but may have to be rescheduled due to rain.

D. Wednesday Oct 12 and Thursday Oct 13 everyone is welcome to join at 3:30, planting in the ornamental reforestation near the TJ playground.

7. Possible professional restoration help:
Pauline from Roots in Place will walk the park with Susan Oct 22 at 9am – all welcome. $200 cost. https://www.rootsinplace.com This company can handle big or detailed ecological restoration projects that we can't easily do with volunteers. These include editing and redirecting the main meadow species for diversity, possible phragmites removal in the marsh and controlling invasives near the dock so we can replant.

8. Trail maintenance: The DPW cleared and widened the marsh trail so walking is much easier. The trail out to James Street also needs to be cleared just south of the bridge. Susan to request that the town help.

9. Next Meeting: Nov 9 at 7pm on Zoom.

10. Adjournment: Joan moved and Suzanne seconded. All approved. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30.

Respectfully submitted,

Debbie

Monday September 14, 2026

7 PM on Zoom

1. Attendance: Linda C., Thelma A., Susan L., Jeanne C., Deb R., Judy, John F., Suzanne M., Lisa M., Marcia G., Kristen R., Dan B.

2. Minutes: The May 2026 minutes were unanimously approved with one abstention.

3. Website: John F. has relocated out of NJ, but will continue to handle the FoFPW website responsibilities. Thank you John! He reported that several new photos were added to the gallery on the website.

3. Membership

A. Kristen R. reported that Mailer Lite had changed the qualifying rules for the free version of MailerLite and she was required to upgrade to the paid version.

B. She will work on creating a separate volunteer only distribution list so that work day related emails will go to volunteers only.

4. Treasurer's Report

Dan reported all good news: We have $25K in a CD as well as $38K in our checking account. Recent large donations include a $5K grant from the FM Kirby Foundation and a $20K donation from an anonymous family foundation. Over $40K has been donated in memory of John L. Dan will soon be moving a substantial amount of the money in the checking account to a CD.

5. Volunteering/Restoration

A. Sundays, 10-noon are the volunteer days/time for the month of September. In October the time will shift to 1-3 PM on Sunday ( with the exception of Oct 4 which has to be 10-12). There will be no volunteer work at Foote's Pond on 10/11 due to a massive planting project sponsored by the Morristown Shade Tree Commission in Jacob Ford Park. That effort is requesting volunteers from 10 AM to 3 PM on Saturday 10/10 and Sunday 10/11.

B. A delivery from Pinelands Nursery is scheduled to arrive at Susan’s house on 10/9 around 7:00 AM. Contact Susan if you are available to assist in unloading the truck.

C. Davey’s service worked for 2 days clearing the area near the dock at Morristown’s expense through the generosity of the STC.

D. ADP is scheduled to participate in a corporate volunteer day on 10/16.

E. Selection of the trees for the TJ Student Forest will continue this year and planting will become a student-family event.

F. Consideration is being given to hiring professionals to possibly address sensitive/ difficult areas dominated by invasives.

G. Many trails in the park have become overgrown and narrowed during the summer. The town has been contacted to clear and widen them. Susan will contact the town about clearing the marsh trail.

H. Susan spoke to Joe Basralian of DeerNJ.org about new methods to address the problem of deer overpopulation.

I. Thelma reported that the signage for the Bat Box is on hand and awaiting a response from the town about installation.

6. Next Meeting: October 12, 7:00 PM via Zoom

7. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:47 PM. Judy motioned to adjourn and Marcia seconded. All were in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanne

Monday May 11, 2026

7 PM on Zoom

1.In Attendance: Marcia G., David L., Karen R., Bill S., John F., Kristen R., Susan L, John L., Lisa M., Joan B., Bob. C, Susan D., Chris E., Gail B., Jeanne C., Michelle P., Greg L.

2. March 2026 Minutes: Susan moved to approve the March minutes, Joan seconded. All approved with one abstention.

3. Kristen R: Susan L. moved that Kristen R. become our new Membership Chair. Lisa seconded. All approved. Welcome Kristen! She may create subsets of our email list so that members can choose to opt out of some emails. These would be primarily for those who need to know about volunteer day changes. Then we would not fill the email boxes of those who are not interested in those details.

Dan B: Susan L. moved that Dan B. become our new treasurer when Debbie needs to step down. Susan D. seconded. All voted in favor. Welcome Dan!

4. Treasurer's Report:

A. We have about $19,000 in our account but more plugs for the forest floor have been recently purchased.

B. We are very fortunate to have Chris and Bob planning a model ornamental forest for the park. It is their final project for the Rutgers Environmental Stewards Program. FoFPW will fund this and benefit from their restoration/conversion of lawn area to forest.

5. Membership: We’ve added a few new folks to the email list and have over 400 members now.

6. Volunteers: Michelle reports that we have 245 volunteer hours so far and Susan owes her more reports.

6. Website: John F. Has added a few new photos but would like new material for the website. Please email John F. and Susan L. If you‘d like to contribute. Chris and Bob will add their ornamental elderberry grove with photos as that project moves forward.

7. Volunteering/Restoration

A. Sundays, 10-noon are the continuing volunteer days. We will not be in the park over Memorial Day weekend.

B. Several folks are doing independent work in the park. They have adopted a spot to plant plugs in or an invasive to pull. Please let Susan L. know if you are interested in something similar. It is a huge help where we need great attention to detail.

C. Forest floor wildflower and path rush plugs have been planted to hold ground and offer soft landings for overwintering forest insects and other wildlife.

D. 77 trees have been planted at TJ school, the result of a grant acquired jointly by the STC and Morris School District. Homerooms at TJ will choose a tree to name and FoFPW will donate signs that describe the tree, its “name” and who and when it was adopted.

E. Karen and Susan met with all T.J. classes to introduce them to the trees and understory plants they chose last year for the student forest.

F. Lidgerwood restoration will continue with corporate group volunteer days.

G. New ornamental forest is described above in the Treasurer's section.

8. Next Meeting: June 15, 6:30 in person near the dock. Sunset will be at 7:30 that evening.

9. Adjournment: We adjourned without voting to do so at 7:43 (Susan L.’s mistake)

Respectfully submitted,

Susan

Monday March 9, 2026

7 PM on Zoom

1. Attendance: Karen, Linda, Joan, Judy, Lisa, Kristine, John L., Gail, Thelma, Chris E., Suzanne, Susan L.

2. Feb 2026 Minutes: Kristine moved to approve the February 2026 Minutes, and Joan seconded. There were no corrections, all approved.

3. Treasurer's Report: We have about $18,000 in our account. Susan moved that we spend $1,000 with Pinelands Nursery and $2,500 with New Moon and Kind Earth for plant material. Joan seconded and all approved.

We are sharing a Pinelands truck with POWWW in Denville and our costs are reduced by $100.

Plants ordered for other 501c3 orgs are not charged the extra 10% for FoFPW.

4. Membership - We need someone to slowly take over membership from Kristine

5. Volunteering/Restoration

A.Volunteer Sundays resume March 15, 1:00-3:00.

We will skip Easter Sunday April 5

B. Scouts return Saturday April 11 2:00 4:00.

Joan will help and possibly Karen

C. ADP returns Friday April 17 at 10 am. We may have them work in Lidgerwood, completing the native hedge row. Anyone willing to help please contact Susan

D. We have graphic design help from from Paul, a real professional. Signs will be made to ID important trees in the park, almost arboretum style. Susan will be sure we have STC and Morristown approval

E. Chris is planning an ornamental reforestation demonstration in FPW for his RES project. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase and experience Jean Epiphan's Ornamental Reforestation Concept.

6. Bat house: will be installed March 30, early afternoon. FOFPW will reimburse Morristown $1,255

7. Goose Mitigation: Linda explained that it's time to watch for resident geese pairing off. We have all proper papers filed to allow egg replacement with wooden ones if needed. No geese have nested at FPW or Windmill for two years and we hope to continue to be free of nesting geese.

8. Next Meeting: April 13, 6:30 in person near the dock. Sunset will be at 7:30 that evening.

9. Adjournment: Linda moved and Judy seconded. All voted in favor of adjournment at 7:32

Respectfully submitted,

Susan

Monday February 9, 2026

7 PM on Zoom

Attendance: Allen, Kristine, Suzanne, Lisa, Judy, Scott, Chris, John L., Susan
Jan. 2026 minutes: Kristine moved to approve, Susan seconded. Unanimously approved with the correction to add Lisa’s name in attendance.
Treasurer’s report: Debbie sent a note that we have approximately $19,000 in our account. We have received $725 in individual donations in January, plus $334 from the Benevity and Verizon matches, totaling $1,059. $50 was in Willie’s memory.
Website: John F. Let us know that he has added an owl box story to the site. When he added the Jan minutes, he noted that our minutes are posted all the way back to 2020! Lastly, anyone with FPW content, a brief write up, or photos, please send to John. New content is always appreciated, it keeps the site fresh.
Membership: Kristine and Thelma worked together to add required IRS to our thank you emails. Susan will send this to Lisa in a printable version to be added to hand-written thank you notes.
Morristown Environmental Commission and Green Team: Suzanne has agreed to be our liaison to the newly reforming EC and Green team run by Stefan.
Bird boxes: Greg braved the weather and cleaned out the bluebird boxes and so they will be ready for spring nesting. He will circle back to one that is sheltering mice. He didn’t want to evict them in the snow and cold.
Plant orders for spring: Susan has begun placing spring plant orders. Particularly pleased to find purple milkweed. We will vote to approve expenses in March.
Volunteer days: Will begin when weather allows.
Next meeting: March 9, 7 pm on Zoom.
Adjournment: Susan moved to adjourn at 7:29, Kristine seconded, and all approved.

Monday January 12, 2026

7 PM on Zoom

1. Attendance: Kristine, Debbie, John F., John L., Linda, Greg, Jeanne, Thelma, Susan, Joan, Judy, Suzanne, Lisa and Marcia.

2. November 2025 Minutes: Kristine moved to approve the Nov 2025 minutes; Debbie seconded. All voted in favor with one person abstaining.

3. Treasurer’s report: Debbie reported that we have close to $18,500 in our account.

4. Website: John F. Continues to post our minutes and maintain the site. Discussion of new information followed. Susan will try to send photos and a narrative about some of the pocket restorations.

5. Membership: Kristine reports that we have over 400 on our email list and approximately 120 contributing members. Jeanne may join her tracking members and donations. They may decide to upgrade to a paid version of MailerLite that will allow access to technical support and more than 500 on our mailing list. This would cost Approx $165 yearly. All comments were supportive.

6. Owl Boxes: John F. placed two new owl boxes that were donated by Thelma. He also cleaned the existing one out and removed a fourth that was falling apart. We sincerely thank John and Thelma and applaud the MHS team that cleared a mass of thorny invasives to make way for one of these owl boxes.

7. Restoration Projects for 2026: A. Focus on maintenance of restored areas B. Begin to control invasives in the dock area in preparation for planting a shrub thicket. C. Plan to shift the main meadow ecosystem toward a forest All these will be discussed with Jean Epiphan for best practices.

8. Bat House: Thelma let us know that the bat house is ready to be installed when the weather warms.

9. Next Meeting: Feb. 9, 2026 7 pm on Zoom

10. Adjournment: Judy moved that we adjourn, Kristine seconded and all voted to end the meeting at 7:35 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan