Charlestown Township Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) Meeting Minutes Monday, December 12, 2022

Meeting was held at the new township office – 11 General Warren Blvd., Suite 1, Malvern. Armstrong opened the meeting at 7:09.

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

November 2022 minutes were approved.

NEW BUSINESS

1. The organizational meeting will be held at the beginning of the January monthly meeting. Officers will be elected.
2. Pennsylvania Native Species Day, May 18^th, 2023 – we need to educate Charlestown residents about native species to protect in our area. Include birds, animals, water species, plants/trees. Goodman and Green will host a sub-committee to address.
3. Naming of headwater tributaries at Charlestown Park – perennial stream that starts at Charlestown Park. It needs a riparian buffer. There is a process for naming. Armstrong will research whether locals already have a name they use and report back to the EAC in January.
4. Proposal for synthetic turf fields at Charlestown Park (Artificial Turf or AT) - the fields being considered are close to the stream and turf produces toxic chemical byproducts. Athletic leaders want AT because they think (requires further analysis) it is cheaper and easier to maintain and for the aesthetic. It is in the literature that synthetic fields increase the risk of concussions. Turf drainage cannot be contained and would further contaminate our water. Walker expressed the idea that this involves our park and the BoS should be involved. Armstrong will draft a letter to the BoS.
5. Weeds Inc -. FYI -Doing work for private owner to convert lawn to native species meadow. Good organization. Money is available from DCNR.

ONGOING

1. EAC Website – Section on information about discarding household items – action item is to collect information, fact check it, curate it. Green suggested involving the community in a volunteer capacity at an individual level. Armstrong will write an email to our mailing list. Solomon will send updated email addresses to Armstrong. Responses will come to Solomon.
2. WeConservePA – Network conference is on Feb.25, 2023.
3. Keep PA Beautiful – Walker waiting for official approval of the EAC budget. He will follow up with BoS about approval date.
4. Recruitment and Candidates for EAC board – Ed John continues to seem interested. We will wait to see if he can come to the next meeting. Armstrong will contact Nick Biondi.
5. Birdtown – Goodman sent off the application. Great news and work by Goodman.
6. Stream Naming (Mushpekat Creek) – Goodman to complete the application for official naming.
7. Battery Collection – No update.
8. RES Proposal – no update.
9. Township Newsletters – good article for January (short paragraph) about money being available via grant with DCNR. Green will write the article and email to us. Armstrong will write an article about the presentation we did on Wildlife Rehabilitation. Another good article would be ’what to do when you hit a deer’.
10. Community Education – no update.
11. <Brightside and Deerfield riparian buffers – no update.
12. Charlestown riparian buffer opportunities – we can go look at the site in Charlestown Park near the playing fields.
13. Chesco Conservation Ordinances – Armstrong suggests we all look at this together – experience.arcgis.com/experience/af7fd3eb64de447abb16847ef39ae110/page/Conservation-Subdivision-Ordinances.

Meeting adjourned at 9:15.