Parks & Recreation Board Meeting Minutes - April 7th, 2025

​Parks & Rec Meeting Minutes
April 7, 2025 @ 7pm

Hybrid meeting was held both via Zoom and in person at the Township building.

• Call to Order
• Attendees: Helen Eckel-Wiener, Katie Brauchle, Anne Duzan, Brett Klukan, Elizabeth Malone, Jane Kennedy, and Sam Wiener
  
• Staff Present: Abbey Swan and Jessica Markovich
  
• The Parks and Recreation March 3rd, 2025, agenda was posted on the Township website and at the township building on February 28th, 2025. Agendas were made available to the public at the meeting. The 2025 Parks and Recreation meeting schedule was published in the Daily Local News on December 18th, 2024.
  
• Public Comment
  
• Minutes Approved – March 3, 2025
  
  • Helen caught an error with “impervious” being used instead of “permeable”
    
    • A vote was held to approve the minutes with a resolution of the discrepancy. The motion passed 7-0.
      
• Old business
  
  • Hybrid Meeting Policy – Action Item
    
    • The Hybrid Meeting Policy details the structure of Parks & Recreation meeting in a hybrid atmosphere. Helen asked for clarification that it essentially outlines the rules of if someone cannot attend a meeting in terms of notifying a head of time, which Abbey and Jessica confirmed. It was also explained that the policy will allow for meetings to continue should the Zoom room not function.
      
      • A vote was held to adopt the Hybrid Meeting Policy. The motion passed 7-0.
        
  • Riparian Buffer Tree Maintenance Recap – There was a good turnout this year! All the trees were able to be checked that day, and they were done in record time. It was discussed that this event will likely happen at least once a year for the foreseeable future as the trees continue to grow. Helen asked if the HOA performed tree maintenance on their own. Abbey explained that two members came to our event and that they had discussed us helping to organize theirs.
    
  • Caln Community Clean Up Weekend Recap – A success! In total, there were 116 volunteers, 189 bags of trash, 13 tires, 1 mattress, and miscellaneous electronics. For next year, the group discussed that it would be beneficial to place the areas that need the most attention to be at the start of the weekend/for an earlier shift as that is when most people tend to sign up. Suggested changes to be made for next year were also: buying smaller gloves for kids, shortening shift times down to 2 hours, having more reusable tools to bring to shifts, advising volunteers to bring thicker leather gloves and to purchase some, removing some locations and adding in others that need more attention. Brett also sugsted for next year also printing out safety guidelines should volunteers find any hazardous materials, such as needles, and bringing a first aid kit should anything happen, such as bee stings. Abbey mentioned that with shorter clean-up times, it would be easter to bring these kits and other clean-up tools as we will be able to attend each session for longer or the whole time. As there were ticks at the Acme location, Brett mentioned the possibility of including tick boxes there. Anne voiced concern about the chemicals that are included in these boxes, as it will affect other wildlife in the area. Helen asked if anyone knew of protection like bug spray that would be effective against ticks and safer for other wildlife and humans, and Anne explained that there are some out there. Abbey suggested then that we possibly include various types of bug sprays for volunteers to use if they would like to.
    
    •  Abbey proposed that as next year is America250 and that many municipalities seem to have their cleanups around the same time, we could try to organize a county-wide clean up. Abbey has already reached out to some people to gauge interest and there has been a great response so far
      
  •  Caln Elementary Spring Fair – April 11th
    
    • Helen had read out instructions for the Spring Fair from her contact at the school. The group was signed up to bring a tent, table, yard games, and bubble making station. If it rained, however, the group would not be able to do the bubble making station. Abbey suggested bringing coloring sheets should our table be moved inside. Helen asked if we could have handouts of our schedule/events to hand out and Abbey and Jess said that they were working on it. The group agreed that arriving at 5:30 PM should leave them enough time to set up.
      
  •  Summer Series Planning – June 14th and July 18th
    
    • The winners of the Facebook poll were Wonka and Finding Nemo! It was decided that the longer movie would be placed on the date that would allow us to start it earlier. For activities to go along with the movies, the group discussed some ideas: creating your own fish (potentially making it like a windsock to create movement), having a “Guess the Goldfish” container, making edible sand art. It was decided that there would be a craft your own fish for Finding Nemo. It was also suggested then to add a “Find Nemo” hunt in the park. For Wonka, Brett suggested a local chocolatier coming to speak about the process from bean to bar, but there were concerns on how much this presentation would be. Some other ideas were: bubblegum machine art project, making your own imaginary candy craft project, edible teacups, make their own chocolate bar, candy buffet. It was decided that something for Wonka will be solidified at the next meeting.
      
• New Business
  
  • PA Recreation and Park Society Member Dues – Action Item
    
    • The Board was asked if they wanted to reup their membership to the PA Recreation and Park Society, which would be $150 total for the entire board. The group discussed the idea of finding out if we could limit the number of memberships that we have in order to reduce spending.
      
      • A vote was held for Jessica and Abbey to explore options of reducing the overall number of people that we have subscribed while still maintaining access to the PA Recreation and Park Society information. The motion passed 7-0.
        
  • Wiffle Ball Field Proposal
    
    • A group had approached Abbey with a proposal of building a wiffle ball field in the back corner of the meadow. Brett asked about the dimensions of the field and what they would be adding to the field for it. The field would be 100’x100’, and their proposal stated that they would bring removable turf for home plate, but that they want to build a fence, back stop, and leave a trash can on site. They would also then spray paint with grass paint for the lines, and that would create a PVC strike zone that would also be removed. Abbey announced to the Board that we had just been awarded on Friday a $10,000 grant from PECO to complete the meadow, which would then remove the available space that they are asking to use for the wiffle ball field. Sam suggested some space in Municipal Park, but the flat area is planted and near it is owned by the school district. Due to the completion of the meadow project, the board decided not to support the project.
•  Adjournment