Charlestown Township Parks & Recreation Board Great Valley Middle School Thursday, September 19, 2019

Present

Announcements

Marylou Forcine has announced that she is stepping down. Ms. Smith is interested in joining and Mr. Beyer also has another person interested.

Minutes for Approval

The August minutes were approved.

Old Business

New Business

Charlestown Day

Charlestown Day was a success, many people showed up. Mr. Hubbard and Mr. Beyer commented.

• The race needed more preparation and an earlier start on advertising.
• A Zombie Race may change next year’s event.
• There may be some type of security protocol for next year.
• Mr. Longua volunteered for next year’s CTD.
• Mrs. Csete wants a list of this year’s helpers.
• Less activity took place in the pavilions.
• The food vendor was not as close to the families as it could have been, and if moved, it would free up more parking.
• More safety cones are needed for a run.
• The advertising needs a blast right before the event, use online race forums- post early.
• A Corn Hole Tournament is an idea for next year, plus games for other ages.
• Music was positioned well this year.
• Please keep ideas coming.
• University volunteers were great.
• Clean up was easy.

The objective of Community Day is to get people acquainted with the Park itself. Partnering with a group to raise funds is a secondary goal. The non-profit pavilion had more traffic which is not like it was in the past. The profit and non-profit groups may be mixed together next year.

Charlestown Park

• A permanent trash can is now in place for the soccer club.
• Davey was there today for a willow that was down.
• There is a species of short needled evergreen that has succumbed to a fungal blight.
• A Tree of Heaven may be used as a bait tree for the Lantern Fly.
• Ms. Armstrong suggested checking about using bait trees.

Club Reports

PASC is having a movie in the Park night on 9/27 using the kicking wall.

PMYC-no report. Mr. Hubbard said they aren’t emptying their new trash cans. They need someone to empty them after every practice. The cans aren’t retaining their exterior finish as well as they should.

Trails

Mr. Beyer discussed potential workdays (10/5-10/12-10/19-10/26). Frequent walkers are noticing repairs done. There is one more bridge to repair, and more trail burritos are probably needed. There hasn’t been any Boy Scout attention this year. Mr. Beyer wants to the trail when it is very rainy. The Beyer’s may host a cocktail party for leadership on a Saturday night in October.

• The Thompson Trail needs mowing, and blazed posts, Mr. Beyer will discuss with Mr. Thompson. The lower part of the Thompson Trail is indistinguishable, there are many dead trees.
• The Pickering Dam Trail needs to be reblazed near the creek.
• The McDevitt trail was not visited.
• Mr. Beyer will reach out to the EAC regarding invasives. A lot of effort to pull Mile-a-Minute Vine has paid off, and the coverage isn’t as bad as expected.
• The Charlestown Park Trail near the creek needs to have the diverter post reset.
• The Brightside Trail will obtain i.d. tags for the unique trees. Mr. Beyer needs someone knowledgeable to help.
• Mr. Beyer wants to have a fall response from corporate volunteers and hopes Ms. Smith will be able to coordinate.
• Graffiti has been reported on the concrete bridge again.
• Lastly, Mrs. Csete has reminded him it is budget time

Email Lists Discussion

• The EAC wants to discuss merging email lists.
• Mr. Beyer has Sue Staas’ list plus a list of current responders from that list.
• Mr. Lawrence has a good list. It includes anybody that has every responded plus 600 Facebook responders.
• Ms. Armstrong is interested in making an opt-in list.
• Mr. Lawrence said they missed an opportunity at Charlestown Day to get email addresses.
• They discussed ways to reach every resident, newsletters, signups, and repercussions of merging email lists. Next Door isn’t moderatable so the Township will not use it much.

EAC Report

Ms. Armstrong mentioned a talk happening next week, by Dr. Veda Maany. It is about The Environment and Your Health, covering how land uses impact our health. Ms. Armstrong said the EAC plans to have three discussions a year. She also mentioned a talk about cooking with invasive species.

The riparian buffers at Brightside are on the next Board agenda.

It is reported that the Lantern Fly is less toxic lately since some of our bird species are beginning to eat them.

There is a suggestion about a joint annual meeting with the EAC and P&R before budget time.

Adjournment

Adjourned at 8:35 p.m.