Democrats Celebrate the Opening of Summerhill Park Trails

Mayor Bob Conley, Councilwoman Maureen Byrne, and Planning Board member Rachel Ehrlich recently joined Council President and Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Advisory Committee Liaison Astri Baillie, and representatives of Madison’s Parks Advisory Committee and the borough administration, along with a bunch of enthusiastic residents for the opening of the new hiking trails in Summerhill Park on National Trails Day – June 1. Conley and Byrne are running for re-election in 2019 and Ehrlich is seeking her first term on the Madison Borough Council.

Summerhill Park is a large, interior wooded park bordered by properties on Dehart Place, and Ridgedale, Central, and Fairview Avenues.. The park can be accessed by trail heads off of all four streets with the main entrance located off of Ridgedale Avenue. There are approximately 1.5 miles of hiking trails within the park’s 25+ acres that provide walking connections to downtown Madison, other borough parks and recreational facilities and two of our schools. Future plans call for the creation of two additional trail segments and the elimination of undesirable, invasive plant species within the park.

The candidates noted “that the creation of the trails illustrates important aspects of how we plan for, manage, and pay for our open space and recreational facilities. Summerhill Park property was first created with funding support from the state’s Green Acres Fund in the 1970s. The construction of the new trails was paid for with a $42,000 grant award from the Morris County Trails Construction Grant Program and a $10,600 matching contribution from Madison’s Open Space, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund.”

“This is just another example of how the Open Space Trust Fund leverages borough dollars with grant money from the state and county,” stated Councilwoman Byrne. “The purchase of the 49 acres that form the MRC as well as Livesey Park and the fields at the former Bayley Ellard High School were all paid for with a combination of Trust Fund seed money and county and state grants, as was the recently-completed METC exterior preservation project.”

Mayor Conley continued “The plan for the trails and the preparation of a successful grant application to the Morris County Trails Construction Grant Program was a collaborative effort involving the Land Conservancy of NJ, the Borough Administration, the Parks Advisory Committee and the Open Space Advisory Committee. The construction of the trails by Caruso Landscaping was contracted for and managed by Borough Engineer Bob Vogel, and ongoing maintenance will be provided by the contractor with support from Madison’s Department of Public Works.”

“I often hear how much Madison friends and neighbors enjoy access to our park lands. For all of us, it’s an important part of what makes Madison such a great place to live,” concluded Rachel Ehrlich. “The opening of the new trails highlights the importance of effective planning and collaboration to best utilize funds from the Morris County Trails Construction Grant Program and the Open Space Recreation, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund. Many organizations came together to make these great Summerhill Park trails a reality. Bob, Maureen, and I encourage all Madison residents to come out and take a walk through this unique wooded park located within the very heart of Madison.”