Charlestown Township Parks & Recreation Board Great Valley Middle School Thursday, September 20, 2018

Present

Announcements

There were no new announcements.

Minutes for Approval

The August minutes were approved.

Old Business

There is always a need for volunteers for Trails, Charlestown Park, Charlestown Day, and Tree Tenders.

New Business

1. Charlestown Day 2018 Recap Report

The students from the Sports Management studies at the University of Valley Forge ran the basketball tournament. The students are already planning for next year. This year there were only 10 participants. They will advertise earlier and reach out to local youth and service groups. Scout Nemeth will also spread the word.

Mr. Findlay suggested more variety of food trucks and Mrs. Schlichter stated that other main food trucks will only come if no other competition is there. Mr. Brian Schlorff will be taking Mrs. Schlichter’s place on the Board for Parks and Rec.

Mrs. Schlichter gave a review of the Day:

• All vendors had positive comments.
• Vendors suggested getting more UVF students involved.
• Vendors suggested a 5k or to use UVF students to organize a 5k.
• Vendors suggested running until 3 or 4 p.m. since there were many coming right before the closing announcement.
• Thank you to Kristin Heisey, her social media posts were the reason for a large draw from non-local visitors.
• $19,000 came in.
• Theurkauf Design and Planning, Mitratek, and Karen Beam Architect LLC, were the major sponsors.
• The banners were the largest expense followed by the bounce units.
• The food truck, The Mobile Mess Hall, had 106 sales, many after 1pm.
• There were 15 non-profit groups and 13 for profit groups represented.
• There were no band or noise complaints. Next year the band may need a stage.
• Since the Philadelphia Aquatic Center has been announced, the Park may see a large surge in visitor and vehicular traffic.

2. Charlestown Park Report

Mr. Lawrence discussed the Tree Tender program. The Penn State Extension, along with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, teaches those interested in the biology, trimming techniques, and mulching techniques, that are best for trees. The participants receive certifications. A group of Tree Tenders can be formed if there are 5 or more. Tonight, with Mr. Beyer stating that he may join, there would be enough for Mr. Lawrence to establish an official group. There are many resources available to official Tree Tender groups.

Mr. Maurer received a $3,000 estimate to repair the drain area by the soccer fields. He can go ahead with the project, once the Township Engineer visits the site for approval. The previously approved kicking wall project also needs to go to the Township Engineer. There may still be some trees in need of removal. Mr. Lawrence asked Mr. Maurer to verify this fact, and contact him, if Davey Tree needs to return.

Lantern Fly extermination was discussed, and Mr. Lawrence will call Bartlett Tree Experts to see if there are any measures the Township can take. Mr. Findlay stated that the dog station bags need to be emptied and refilled twice a week. Pavilions are very busy. This spring Phragmites will be removed and replaced with native species.

3. Brightside Farm

There was a brief discussion about horse trailer parking at Brightside. There is room in the new lot for 2 trailers.

Scout Nemeth has scheduled his project work days as 9/29, 10/13(cement pour day), and 10/20. He has made some smart design changes and is still waiting for information from Mr. Wright and the sign fabricators. He may need to adjust placement of the sign vs. the dog station. Lastly, he has a plan to prevent the mowers from mowing the wildflower area.

Although the growing season was bad, this Sunday there will be a food co-op event. Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Kuhn weren’t sure if Mr. Buck will need to formally go through the bid process to repair the aging fence posts and chicken wire. Mr. Buck will obtain bids on the current design of the fence.

4. Trails

Mr. Beyer reached out to every person on Mrs. Staas’ contact list since the last meeting. He intends on getting everyone together at Brightside Farm. All the trails are in a bad state due to heavy rains, erosion, fallen trees, and Mile-a-Minute vine. He plans on Trail Work Days being October 26th and 27th. He will advertise in the Newsletter, Mrs. Csete’s Friday email, and on social media. He wants to send groups of people to each trail, and is hoping the scouts and other groups can help. Scout Nemeth was willing to contact his troop and a few service groups at school.

A huge thank you to Mr. Buck who removed 20-30 pounds of trash from a trail location.

Only 2 people showed up for the Butterfly Walk because it was raining.

5. EAC Report

Mr. Findlay stated that they are:

• Setting up a system to monitor 1000 septic systems in the Township.
• Setting up a system to name streams in the Township.
• Sent comments to Adelphia regarding pipeline comments, and are waiting for a response.
• Starting a write in campaign, since researching the oil valve change over to a gas blow out valve project. They have discovered that if the pipeline would have been built as a gas line, this would not be the place for a valve.
• Reviewing the long-awaited response from PennDOT regarding the herbicides used along Charlestown Township roads. They reported that they use a selective mixture, and the report mentions line of sight for traffic and stormwater. The EAC is looking at the report while noticing what other adjacent Townships are doing instead.
• Forming new Eagle Scout Projects to repair riparian buffers and erosion from the wet summer.
• Charlestown Day attracted volunteers to support the six active members of the EAC as they had hoped. They also found one person that they would like to add to their membership.

Other Business

Adjournment

Adjourned at 8:40 p.m.