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Charlestown Township
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Minutes recorded for meeting on May 9th, 2018 at the Great Valley High School Library, 225 N. Phoenixville Pike, Malvern, PA 19355. Meeting was held from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Attendees were Carol Armstrong, Richard Findlay, Pete Goodman, Veda Maany, Greg Nesspor, Daniel Walker, and Kevin Kuhn
Each attendee introduced themselves and their backgrounds relating to their interest in participating in Charlestown Township EAC.
We identified and designated leader positions and discussed briefly the organization. Positions identified as follows:
Chair: Pete Goodman (will be absent in June, July and August)
Vice Chair: Carol Armstrong
Recorder: Veda Maany
EAC education about the workings of Charlestown Township. It is important for us to know how our Township government works so that we can work with and within it to promote a strong environmental ethic and stewardship within the township government and its residents. We need a working knowledge of the functions and interactions of boards and commissions, as well as a working knowledge of township ordinances that impact the environment.
Members volunteered to represent the EAC (liaisons) at the township’s boards and commissions as follows: (respective meetings can be found on the township website calendar):
Board of Supervisors – Veda Maany
Planning Commission – Dan Walker
Parks a & Recreation Board – Richard Findlay
Historic and Architectural Review Board – Greg Nesspor
Minutes from various township board meetings and commissions are posted on the township website.
We also identified key persons to know:
Dan Wright– township engineer and zoning officer
Ed Theurkauf– performs open space surveys and involved in MS4 regulation
Tom Comitta– planning commission
Linda Csete– township manager
Goals, Projects, and Tasks discussed:
- Eagle Scout Projects for and within the Township. Discussed how projects are developed and executed. Richard will reach out to Andy Motel and Sue Staas to co-ordinate. Richard will put together a one pager on what Eagle Scout projects are about and the nature of projects that would qualify. He may identify specific ideas or that will come collectively from the EAC.
- Stream assessments of watersheds in the township and potential watershed projects. Discussed how water is managed and regulated in Charlestown Township, and USGC national guidelines for testing quality. Carol has agreed to speak with Linda about mapping headwater streams and documenting baselines. We also discussed identifying and mapping unnamed streams.
- Produce a Community Education Series of Presentations on environmental topics for the residents of Charlestown. As a start to have a table on Charlestown Day on Sat 9/15 (10-2) — Carol will arrange.
- Pipeline issues. We discussed the 5 pipelines in the township– specifically Adelphia, Buckeye, ETP (formerly Sunoco), and transcontinental. There are federal regulations mandated by homeland security requiring that every 5-10 miles pipelines be exposed and accessible. This has been contentious for several residents. We discussed having a more streamlined access for assistance for residents with issues. FERC also holds public hearings to before approving new projects.
- Additional ideas for EAC Goals, Project and/or tasks.
Reaching out to residents to implement green infrastructure such as rain gardens and composting.
Litter control and organizing clean-up.
“Ready for 100” (renewable energy sourcing) which was presented at last Township Board of Supervisor’s meeting — Charlestown has a 20% green commitment — the Board is having an ongoing discussion regarding the campaign.
EAC meeting with key people:
We will be meeting with Linda M. Csete, Township Manager on 6/13. Questions for Linda: What has she been doing? What is in her library? Who are her sources? What are environmental needs for Charlestown?
Meeting to be determined with Victoria Laubach, Executive Director, Green Valleys Watershed Association — longtime member of an EAC and EAC supporter
Next Meeting: Wednesday June 13th at 6 pm. We will be meeting every 2nd Wednesday of the month in the high school library. The following items were agreed to at the meeting and further information will be provided at the next meeting.
Carol Armstrong to invite Linda Csete to present at our next meeting.
Richard Findlay to look into ideas for Eagle Scout projects.
Carol Armstrong is to look into stream mapping and naming.
Pete Goodman is to look into pipeline issues.
Veda Maany is to look into litter and litter control.
Charlestown Day Table — what should it look like?