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CHARLESTOWN TOWNSHIP PARKS & RECREATION BOARD
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Present
| Parks and Recreation: | Chris Lawrence, Chairman, Marylou Forcine, Karen Schlichter, Jim O’Brien of PMYC, and Bryan Schlorff of PASC. |
| Consultants: | None |
| Staff: | Lisa Gardner, Recording Secretary, Tim Hubbard, Property & Safety Coordinator |
Call to Order:
7:30 p.m.Minutes for Approval-The January minutes were approved.
Announcements-
There are still two openings for volunteers on the Parks & Recreation Board.
Old Business
Charlestown Park
1-The free standing benches that are tilted still need to be repaired. An Eagle Scout project is in the works. Mr. Lawrence has revised the Township’s form for submitting an Eagle project to the Board of Supervisors, adding emergency plan and logistics for volunteers sections.
2-The stump is not going to be removed along the west side park trail.
3-There is no current solution to handicap access for the Coldstream Road side of the Park. PASC is using a golf cart for field #2 transport, and this seems to be working for now. Renaissance Academy could look into doing the same for their activities on Field 2.
New Business
1-Charlestown Park Clubhouse & Snack Buildings
A-Mr. Schlorff addressed the needs for the PASC as requested.
Summary (water, restrooms, a different building footprint, a larger protected/overhang area).
- Water for the snack shack sink
- Electricity to snack shack, for cleanup of late activities
- Restroom facilities on the PASC side of the Park since portable restrooms are far away (would need sewer line)
- The field house is only suitable for meetings. 60% of the facility is unused currently.
- The snack shack has very little shelter for inclement weather, expand footprint and shelter area would be helpful.
The club has saved $30,000 for lighting Field #1, a grant application is being prepared for this reason. But, there is also a light owned by the University between the parking lot and a trail, that doesn’t work. Mr. Lawrence said that there is an electrical estimate for the snack shack area, but it isn’t currently in the parking lot improvement plan for this summer, and would investigate further.
B-Mr. O’Brien addressed the needs for PMYC as requested.
Summary-(room for equipment storage and snack bar improvements)
- The fieldhouse is too small for PMYC meetings or functions.
- A larger snack bar, with more counter space, and sink with garbage disposal are wish list items
And due to a competitive football club in the area
- More lighting
- Expanding the field from 40’ x 80’ to 50’ x 100’
Currently the field’s width cannot be expanded due to trees/roadway in one direction, or a stony knoll in the other. Mr. Lawrence and Mr. O’Brien discussed raising the level of the field, or removing the aging white pines as possible options to address the width limitation; both to be discussed further with the Board of Supervisors.
Club and P&R Members discussed:
- Separate vs. combined facilities
- One and two story options
- Various locations for a combined facility
One location discussed was between the promenade and the uppermost field, perhaps having a 2 story building built into the knoll, with the meeting rooms upstairs for a level handicap accessible entrance. This would likely not be feasible, and was not considered a likely option, though the location itself was a possibility. Another variation was a single story building to house the shared use facilities, if widening the PMYC field was not possible and PMYC were to move their main field space to the open area across the promenade roadway. There are no plans to expand the functions of the kitchens.
The parking lot for PMYC is to be resurfaced later this year. The Township is slated to add curbing & lighting, and to better control stormwater runoff and erosion by using a permeable-surface island and re-grading the impermeable parking surface.
2-Charlestown Park Report
Mr. Lawrence provided an update.
- He will find out if any of the new Park facilities will be ready for PMYC’s opening day, March 7th.
- Earth Day is April 22nd, and the Township will be organizing the usual Earth Day events
- He wants Members to continue to find trail captains.
- He has joined Friends of the Wissahickon, and is using their successful ideas as a template for Charlestown’s trails captains program
- He described the new Park sign, having a stone facade, with inserts. Art has been provided to the sign-making company for printing.
- He led the discussion about the pros and cons of clearing snow from the Park trail.
- Restroom maintenance will be performed by Sodexo, since the University uses them.
- It is believed that Sodexo will also raise and lower the American Flag if needed, though it was mentioned that all-weather flags that are lit may not need to be lowered. Tim Hubbard will double-check the Flag Code for proper procedure.
3-Charlestown Day, September 24th, 2016
Mrs. Schlichter said the new date will not interfere with PMYC field usage and will not interfere with team parking. She asked Members to send her contact information for food trucks, and suggestions for this year’s beneficiary. Suggestions for local non-profits included the Colonial Theater, The Charlestown Historical Society, Phoenix Village Arts Center, and establishing a scholarship for an Eagle Scout/Gold Award Girl Scout that may have contributed a past project for the Township.
New information will be posted to the website as it comes in, and she will be presenting an update at the March Board of Supervisors meeting.
4-Trails
Trails for Tomorrow, a one day trail stewardship class, is on Saturday, February 20th from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the PA Equine Council in Schwenksville. It is free to attend.
Mr. Lawrence introduced the app called iMapinvasives. It is an online GIS-based data management system to assist citizen scientists and natural resource managers working to protect natural resources from the threat of invasive species.
5- Education
The CRC Watershed Association is sponsoring a watershed stewardship class called Backyard Solutions for Healthy Streams on February 28th at Penn State-Brandywine.
6-Social Media Updates
Mr. Lawrence is posting Park construction updates to Facebook at least monthly. He will be adding the sign up information for PASC soon.
Gateway Aesthetics
Mr. O’Brien discussed ideas to make the Park entrances more appealing. PMYC volunteers could help on their workday, but ideas for removing overgrowth along Coldstream Road, vs. PennDOT restrictions, and safety, turned the conversation toward the Park grounds. The University has had volunteers in the past, and also discussed the possibility of establishing an arboretum there. A few non-gateway but popular spots, for example one near the snack bar, need care.
The new signage will help mark the gateways better. How to get other owners to improve their buildings, that abut the Park, is something to consider. The first step would be to find out who owns, or will own, the various lots/buildings. Members were left thinking the Board of Supervisors may be the ones to further this discussion.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.