Charlestown Township
Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC)
Meeting Minutes
Monday, January 9, 2023

Meeting was held at Township Office 11 General Warren Blvd., Suite 1. Armstrong opened the meeting at 7:09.

Attendees:
Carol Armstrong, (Chair), Meg Solomon (Secretary), Sharon Richardson, Pete Goodman, Stephanie Yocum. Visitors: Jill Green

Note: Chris Heleniak is our township manager. c.heleniak@charlestown.pa.us.

The EAC monthly meeting was opened at 7:10 following the closing of the 2023 organizational meeting.

December 2022 minutes were approved.

NEW BUSINESS

  1. Pickering Creek salt concentration has increased to the point of concern. Charlestown is part of the Pickering Creek Watershed. Same concern for Valley Creek. Goodman wrote an article about this for the Charlestown Township newsletter.
  2. Earth Day - Csete requested that the EAC be responsible for the cleanup on Earth Day. The official date is April 22, a Saturday. Many people will have other things planned for that day. Armstrong recommended choosing a different day, i.e., April 15th for the Charlestown-specific Earth Day. Can tie in with Walkers ’Adopt a Highway’ plan. Will vote in February.

ONGOING

  1. Recruitment and Candidates for EAC board - no real update. Ashley Piatek still being considered but she did not attend January meeting. We will see if anyone comes to the February meeting.
  2. Bird Town - We are officially the 37th Bird Town in PA. Bird Town executive director will come to the BoS meeting first Monday in February. Armstrong encouraged everyone to come and bring others.
  3. Pennsylvania Native Species Day, May 18th, 2023- we need to educate Charlestown residents about native species to protect in our area. Include birds, animals, water species, plants/trees. Goodman, Green, and Armstrong will host a sub-committee to address.
  4. Proposal for synthetic turf fields at Charlestown Park (Artificial Turf or AT) - there is a lot of information about the negative effects of the chemicals in the turf that accumulate over time. Maintenance also includes adding tire material. Fields being considered are close to the stream which is rated High Quality. Grass is not more expensive. Turf gets hotter than asphalt. Armstrong wants to make BoS aware of the environmental and health risks so that they can better evaluate the options. Armstrong drafted a letter to the BoS. Cost should not be a consideration. EAC members need to read the summary that Goodman wrote and provide feedback by the 16th.
  5. Naming of headwater tributaries at Charlestown Park - perennial stream that starts at Charlestown Park. There is a process for naming. Armstrong researched historical records. No reference anywhere to the name Coldstream. Tom Committa recommended Foster Run. Another possibility is Wagoner. Armstrong will research this name.
  6. Nature News -draft completed and sent to EAC. Richardson will send Solomon a list of garden-related activities that are upcoming to include in NN.
  7. EAC Website - Section on information about discarding household items -on hold. No time to do research.
  8. Keep PA Beautiful - Charlestown 2023 budget approved. Walker can get started with the road clean-up project.
  9. Mushpekat Creek - Goodman still working on completing the application for official naming - The USGS contacted him. More is required because it is an Indigenous name.
  10. Battery Collection - Armstrong shared pictures of battery collection receptacles. Proposal is to buy one of each of the circled items. Indoor bucket to go in foyer of township building. Outdoor receptacle in Charlestown Park. Armstrong needs final approval from BoS. Hubbard and Helniak need to be involved. Parks and Rec must agree as well. We will start with all alkaline batteries.
  11. RES Proposal - meeting scheduled on February 8th from 6-7. Everyone needs to accept or reject the invite.
  12. Township Newsletters - (1/15, 4/15, 7/15, 10/15): Csete suggests we shorten our articles to a page. Our next submissions will be about the wildlife sanctuary and about salination of our waterways. Future topic ideas include:‘what to do when you hit a deer’ (good topic for fall).
  13. Community Education - no update.
  14. White Pine Disease - Armstrong will talk to Jim Thompson.
  15. Brightside and Deerfield riparian buffers - no update.
  16. Charlestown riparian buffer opportunities - we can go look at the site in Charlestown Park near the playing fields. Need to pick a date at the February EAC meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 9:15.