Pottstown Area Regional Recreation Committee

PARRC Meeting Minutes October 27, 2021, a Hybrid Meeting In Attendance: Michael Lenhart, Borough of Pottstown Jay Erb, North Coventry Township Craig Colistra, PAHWF Bill Keohane, Lower Pottsgrove Township Charlie Valentine, West Pottsgrove Township Tim Konetchy, Community Planner, MCPC Karen Nocella, East Coventry Township Tricia McCloskey, PARRC Planner Meeting notes: 1. Call to Order – 4:40pm. Pledge of Allegiance. 2. Introductions-none. 3. Meeting minutes from September 22, 2021, were motioned for approval by M. Lenhart and seconded by C. Valentine. All members present approved the minutes with B. Keohane abstaining. 4. Executive and Subcommittee Reports. a. Treasurer’s Report. C. Paretti was out but had emailed the report in advance of the meeting. B. Keohane reviewed the report and indicated that the balance in savings was $5,003.08, the balance in checking was $88.50 and the balance in the money market account was $20,004.79. b. Events Subcommittee. K. Nocella indicated that East Coventry Township will hold the annual Fall Festival on October 28th. K. Nocella asked the committee if anyone had heard if anyone was going to attend and that she had concerns about the weather. T. McCloskey indicated that it had been shared on the PARRC Facebook page. C. Colistra indicated that events like Fall Festival are opportunities to collect data from attendees. K. Nocella to call T. McCloskey to discuss preparing a survey for attendees. Other comments included discussion of raffles, swag and scavenger hunts for events. c. Financial Sustainability. M. Lenhart indicated there had been no meeting in the past, but that a meeting is being planned to discuss the topic of forming a PARRC 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and that the meeting may be in executive session. 5. Planner’s Report. T. McCloskey reviewed her activity for the last month. She indicated that a sign up tool for the newsletter created on the PARRC website by A. DeFlavia. She and C. Colistra made a presentation to Amity Township’s Park and Recreation Board regarding the benefits of joining PARRC. T. McCloskey reported that she prepared roughly ten grant applications for the seven municipalities to the PECO Green Region Program, Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning Commission, and the Schuylkill Highlands Minigrant program. She also was working on closing out three grants by the end of the month. 6. Old Business. a. Strategic Plan Tactics. Discussion of Subcommittees. M. Lenhart stated that the DEI Subcommittee discussion has been tabled until sometime in 2022. T. McCloskey stated that she would have a draft Marketing Plan for the Committee to review at the next PARRC meeting. b. Sharing Schoolyards Grants/Projects. K. Nocella spoke to East Coventry’s Park and Recreation Board regarding the grant, and she also discussed the Township’s Draft Agreement with J. Krumrine of Owen J. Roberts School District. One issue that was discussed was mowing the trail on the school property. K. Nocella indicated that the School District has agreed to do this rather than township staff. C. Colistra indicated that he will be presenting the Sharing Schoolyards concept to PMRPC at this evening’s meeting. He stated he will not be talking about specific townships or projects, just a discussion on 1  crafting agreements. C. Colistra mentioned that East Coventry can be used as a model for other municipalities and school districts. The county’s web tool will help to determine how many more people will have access to green spaces from the Sharing Schoolyards Program and can also be used when developing or revising municipal plans. c. 501(c)(3) Discussion. Discussed previously; B. Keohane indicated that C. Paretti has information regarding setting up non-profits. C. Colistra indicated that Aisha is going through the process right now for the Tri-County Health Council. 7. New Business. a. PARRC Regional Planner Parks Planner 6 month/annual review. B. Keohane asked the Committee if they had received M. Lenhart’s email regarding T. McCloskey’s upcoming review. M. Lenhart stated they will have a closed meeting in November and then review the results of the meeting with T. McCloskey. A one-on-one meeting was also held with M. Lane. M. Lenhart stated if any committee member wants to change anything on the forms, we should do it now. M. Lenhart stated that the individual forms should be sent back to M. Lenhart by November 8th. B. Keohane stated that the closed meeting will be held on November 17th at 4:30pm. 8. Grant Announcements. a. PMRPC: T. Konetchy stated that he has received five grant applications from the region so far. b. Schuylkill Highlands Minigrant Program. T. McCloskey stated she is working on two grants currently. c. Fish and Boat Commission Grants. T. McCloskey stated she was approached by J. Hurle of the Schuylkill River Greenway Association about this program and wondered if any municipality in the region was interested in applying, she could prepare the application and help to secure matching funds. K. Nocella asked T. McCloskey to reach out to A. Gryga at CMC to see if they can separate the boat launch separate from the rest of the planned facilities. K. Nocella said the Hill School might be interested in the boat launch for its crew team. J. Erb indicated that that depends on things like water depth. He stated that Noah Phillips with Take it Outdoors Adventures and could make an assessment. K. Nocella said she would reach out to him to see what he thought about the area of the river in Tow Path Park. K. Nocella also mentioned that the Wyndcroft School may be interested in the proposed sports complex at Tow Path Park and C. Colistra said he could assist with making a connection with the school. Regarding the sports complex. C. Colistra indicated that M. Lane knew of a program through DCED called RAC-P that provided grants to similar high-value recreation projects. T. McCloskey indicated she was aware of the program and that it had just closed or was closing soon. She indicated that this is the sort of program where municipalities will have to be in tough with their local representatives for assistance. She also stated that it may be open again in a few months. 9. Partner Updates • Douglass – not present. • East Coventry – K. Nocella stated that Fall Festival is this Saturday from 12pm to 3pm and Dawn White is coming to make her bird presentation. The Audubon Society will also be there. • Lower Pottsgrove – B. Keohane stated that the township is working on Gerald Richards Park improvements and that T. McCloskey just submitted a grant application for Sanatoga Park. • North Coventry – J. Erb stated that the Coventry Woods Bonfire is November 6th from 4pm to 9pm. A site meeting was also held with McMahon Associates to discuss their sketch plan of the Coventry Trail. McMahon had indicated that easements will be needed prior to requesting construction funding. J. Erb also indicated that it looks like Phase 1 will run from Route 724 to the parking lot, and that Phase 2 will run through the rest of the park. 2  • Pottstown Borough – M. Lenhart stated that the playground in Memorial Park has been successfully relocated. The next project they will be working on is an EPA grant Application for Pollock Park, which is due December 1. • Upper Pottsgrove – Not present. • West Pottsgrove – No updates. • PAHWF – C. Colistra asked if anyone has worked with Kaboom, a non-profit that work on playground equity. • CCPC – NA. 10. Public Comment. None. 11. Action item. M. Lenhart to send out review forms on November 1 with a return date of November 7th. 12. Next PARRC Meeting Agenda items –T. McCloskey to add the RAC-P grant to the next agenda. The next meeting is December 1 , 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 J. Erb and seconded by C. Valentine, 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: December 1, 2021 Location- Hybrid Meeting: in person-Borough Hall, 4:30pm. Zoom link to be provided on PARRC website 3