Pottstown Area Regional Recreation Committee

PARRC Meeting Minutes September 22, 2021 a Hybrid Meeting In Attendance: Michael Lenhart, Borough of Pottstown Jay Erb, North Coventry Township Craig Colistra, PAHWF Tom Troutman, Lower Pottsgrove Township Charlie Valentine, West Pottsgrove Township Tim Konetchy, Community Planner, MCPC Cathy Paretti, Upper Pottsgrove Township Tricia McCloskey, PARRC Planner Pete Hiryak, Douglass Township Meeting notes: 1. Call to Order – 4:35pm. Pledge of Allegiance. 2. Introductions were made-Tom Troutman was present representing Lower Pottsgrove and the group did a round of introductions. 3. Meeting minutes from August 24, 2021, were motioned for approval by C. Paretti and seconded by J. Erb. All approved; T. Troutman abstained. 4. Executive and Subcommittee Reports. a. Events Subcommittee. J. Erb indicated there has been no activity with the Committee since last month. Events should be sent to J. Erb. C. Valentine asked if that includes community events such as the Tree Lighting Ceremony and J. Erb indicated that it did. b. Financial Sustainability. M. Lenhart indicated there had been no meetings since the last one. Treasurer’s Report. C. Paretti put $20,000 into a 26-week business certificate of deposit and he balance currently in $20,000.68. There is now $305.00 in the savings account and $5,088.50 in the checking account. C. Paretti indicated that the savings account has a 0.02% interest rate and the CD account has a 0.68% interest rate. She stated that the CD will mature right before the next check needs to be sent so a quick transfer will need to be made. C. Paretti also brought up transitioning to a 501(c)(3) in order to be able to qualify for grant funding and to give more credibility to the group. C. Valentine stated that a non-profit status would also open up other fundraising opportunities, such as through local businesses. J. Erb stated that we should look into the costs associated with creating the 501(c)(3) as well as the on-going costs, such as the need to complete the yearly 990 Form. 5. Planner’s Report, Quarterly Report and Trails Report. T. McCloskey reviewed her activity for the last month. She indicated that the first edition of the newsletter was sent out to approximately 70 recipients and she has had additional requests to be added to the list. She continues to work on the Standard Operating Procedures manual including DEI policy. T. McCloskey also reported working on four grant applications, two for PECO Green Region and two for PAHWF. She has been working on the Shared Schoolyards program with East Coventry and Upper Pottsgrove and the two school districts. T. McCloskey also reviewed her Quarterly Report as to her time allocation and the Trails Report. Several trail counters are no longer collecting data and will either need to be fixed or replaced. J. Erb commented that he would prefer to see a list of numbers for trail use rather than the graphs. C. Colistra indicated that percent and percent change were probably the best ways to accurately show trail use. 1 6. Old Business. a. Strategic Plan Tactics. Discussion of Subcommittees. DEI Subcommittee. T. McCloskey distributed a DEI Booklet from NRPA and indicated the upcoming training offered by WeConservePA was probably a little advanced for where the group was with respect to DEI policy. She will send the link around to all members of the group. M. Lenhart indicated that actual setup for the DEI Subcommittee, according to the Strategic Plan, was probably not until January of 2022, and that group members should determine potential members for the subcommittee. b. Sharing Schoolyards Grants/Projects. C. Paretti said that Upper Pottsgrove received their check for $12,500. She also stated that CMC presented the master plan options for Hollenbach Park at the township Open Space Board meeting last week, and that the option that was less costly seemed to be the more popular option with the Open Space Board. She stated that the master plan options also included the potential for purchase of the adjacent privately owned parcel. T. McCloskey stated she will contact G. DeRenza for an update, since his Committee meeting was the day before. C. Colistra added the Diane Kripas of DCNR has asked him to give a presentation on the Sharing Schoolyards initiative in the Pottstown area, which will be a good opportunity to get the word out about PARRC and its projects in the region. c. PARRC Newsletter. Covered under a previous agenda item. 7. New Business. a. Draft Marketing Plan. T. McCloskey stated that A. DeFlavia and she have been working on the Marketing Plan T. McCloskey will have it pulled together for review by the group for the next meeting. 8. Grant Announcements. a. PECO Green Region and PAHWF Grants: M. Lenhart stated that PECO is due on the 30th of September and PAHWF is due on the 1st of October. b. PMRPC: T. Konetchy stated that the PMRPC grant program opened on September 1st and the due date is October 31st. A discussion of potential scopes took place. T. McCloskey indicated that she has potential projects for four of the municipalities and needs to know if West Pottsgrove and Douglass would like to submit applications. C. Valentine indicated that T. McCloskey should talk to S. Hutt about the potential for the proposed Veterans Park at the former pool site. P. Hiryak stated that Douglass would like to submit an application for the tennis court at Douglass Park and that he will have M. Powanda contact T. McCloskey to discuss. 9. Partner Updates • Douglass – P. Hiryak stated currently there are no events and no Park and Recreation Committee meetings scheduled. Additional work has been completed in Douglass Park and M. Powanda will contact T. McCloskey to setup an inspection. • East Coventry – NA. • Lower Pottsgrove – T. Troutman indicated the township is ready to sign the award the bid to the contractor for work on Phase 2 at Gerald Richards Park, and this should happen at the next Commissioners’ meeting. • North Coventry – J. Erb said that the Fernbrook Lodge Committee is making headway in moving the rehabilitation of the Lodge forward. Additionally, a site meeting was held on the Boat Dock project with the contractors, who are currently working to secure the DEP permit which may take until Thanksgiving to receive. The concrete/foundation work will probably happen spring of 2022. Also, J. Erb stated that Bonfire is set for 11/6, and that there will also be the goat race, night hike and a puppet show involving vultures. 2  • Pottstown Borough – M. Lenhart stated that the design is ongoing for the Memorial Park pedestrian bridge and that the project is on schedule. He stated that the King Street Bridge project is also on schedule, which means completion by the fall of next year. M. Lenhart also shared that the playground relocation project in Memorial Park was successful and the Borough is now working on site restoration. Between September 1st and 2nd, the park was flooded with between four and six feet of water, but the damage wasn’t as bad as the flood of 2019. FEMA may visit to inspect the damage. • Upper Pottsgrove –C. Paretti indicated that work on the master plan for Hollenbach Park is underway as discussed previously. The township would like to submit a PMRPC grant for a trailhead at Schwenk & Snyder Roads across from Sussell Park. The improvements at Sunset Park held through the Ida storm. • West Pottsgrove – There will be a bridge dedication at High and Grosstown Road tomorrow at 1pm. • MCPC-T. Konetchy indicated that the MontCo Pikes Study is underway and provided a link to learn more information about it. • PAHWF – C. Colistra reported they are busy with grant management, and Rachel is moving on from her position with the Foundation. October 1st will be her last day. • CCPC – NA. 10. Public Comment. None. 11. Action item. None 12. Next PARRC Meeting Agenda items – Please send to T. McCloskey. The next meeting is October 27, 2021, at 4:30pm. It will be at Borough Hall Council Chambers and a Zoom on-line link will also be provided. 13. Adjournment – A Motion to Adjourn was made by C. Valentine and seconded by J. Erb, meeting adjourned at 5:53 pm. Recorder: T. McCloskey 2021 Meeting Schedule (All meetings to be held at 4:30 PM at Pottstown Borough Hall, 100 East High Street, 3rd floor, Pottstown, PA 19464 unless otherwise noted): January 27 February 24 March 24 April 28 May 26 June 23 July 28 August 25 September 22 October 27 December 1 Next Meeting: October 27, 2021 Location- Hybrid Meeting: in person-Borough Hall, 4:30pm. Zoom link to be provided on PARRC website 3