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West Goshen Township
Parks and Recreation Board Meeting
July 21, 1999
Minutes
Attending: Les Bair, Bob Cifone, Kathy McDevitt, Michael Pillagalli, Jennifer Grey-Rice, Ed Smith and Joe Waters
Township Representatives: Sharon Lynn, Kathy Hahn, Ken Lehr, Al Roth and Kent Wise
Friends of the Park: Kelly Cifone and Peggy Niemeyer
Meeting called to Order: 7:07 PM by Chairman Joe Waters
After a review of the minutes submitted for the June 16, 1999 meeting, a motion was made by Michael Pillagalli to accept the minutes as submitted. The motion was second by Les Bair and
passed.
The Financial Report dated June 30, 1999 was reviewed.
Joe Waters stated that the report indicated a transfer of $26,863.85 from the Restricted Capital account into the Capital Reserves account. Joe Waters asked when and how funds are transferred out of the Restricted Capital account. Sharon Lynn indicated that the $26,863.85 is for payment of work completed on the new Tennis counts at the Community Park. Funds are transferred into the Capital Reserves account periodically as approved and/or budgeted.
Parks:
Kent Wise reported that the crews are busy watering the trees and shrubs at the Community Park. Due to the heat and lack of rain, the crews spent only 1 week out of the last month cutting grass. The balance of their time was spent cutting back the over-grown areas at Township Parks. The crews completed filling in the area along Fern Hill Road with top soil from Freedley Field. There is enough top soil remaining at Freedley Field to complete the play area currently under construction. Kent Wise informed that several upgrades are being planned for Freedley Field. Work to fill in the ruts in the areas around home plate is currently underway. The remainder of the work to rebuild the pitchers mound and fill in the low areas in the outfield will begin once the grant for additional funding has been approved. Kent Wise indicated that the work on the new Tennis Courts at the Community Park has been completed. The contractor still has to clean-up the areas around the Tennis Courts. The new Tennis Courts will be opened to the public on Monday, July 26th. The railroad tie wall at Coopersmith Park has been coated with a "sealer". Additionally, 5 to 6 of the oak planks in the walking bridge have been replaced. Kent Wise reported that the new signs for the Community Park are in. The installation of the new signs is contingent on the availability of the stone mason. The proposal for the new sign at the Township Building had to be re-submitted with two additional bids due to a technicality. The new Bulletin Board sign at the Community
Park was vandalized over the past week-end.
A new piece of glass had to be installed at a cost of $53.00. Finally, Kent Wise indicated that due to the drought conditions, he may need to start work on some of his winter projects in order to keep the crews busy.
Recreation:
Al Roth reported that everyone is busy as the Summer Camp program enters the 5th week of activity. The staff is doing a great job, all of the trips to date have been successful, attendance is good and there are no injuries to report. There are currently 87 children registered for the Summer Camp program at Coopersmith Park. Barker Park and the Community Park are both at full capacity. Al Roth reports there have been very few requests for refunds this year. Due to the extreme heat, 1 or 2 of the scheduled clinics had to be postponed. Al Roth thanked Kent Wise for all the effort and support he has provided for the Summer Camp program. Sharon Lynn asked if there was any damage at the Community Park that resulted from juice containers being left out of the refrigerator. Al Roth indicated that the councilors left some juice containers on the picnic tables and that someone had splashed the juice from these containers on one of the walls inside the
pavilion area. Al Roth indicated he had talked with the councilors about this situation so it will not happen again.
Friends of the Park:
Les Bair reported that the Friends currently have $12,074.71 in their treasury account. The Friends raised $100.00 selling sodas and water ice at the July 3rd Decorated Bike Parade. The Friends are currently contacting sponsors and lining up volunteers for this years Community Day event. Kelly Cifone reported that the Friends have raised enough sponsorship funding to cover the cost of this years Summer Music Series. The Friends are still looking for baby food jars to support the sand art craft scheduled for Community Day. Finally, Kelly Cifone announced that Pat Kelly is the new vice-president of the Friends. Pat Kelly was recruited during this years Summer Camp registration.
Old Business:
Kelly Cifone reported that 75 children participated in this years Decorated Bike parade held at the Community Park on July 3rd. The magician was excellent and a good time was had by all.
Ken Lehr reported the following attendance figures on the Summer Concert Series events held to date:
Children's Concert (June 13th) - 375 attended.
Mardi Gras Night (June 27th) - 325 attended.
Swing Band Night (July 11th) - 400 attended.
The remaining events of the Summer Music series are:
Classical Night - July 25th featuring "Shaw Strings".
Night at the Islands - August 8th featuring the "West Chester University Percussion Ensemble" and "The Mango Men".
Country
Western Night - August 22nd featuring "Country Joe and the Honky Tonk Heroes".
Kathy McDevitt reporting on Community Day informed that she is currently working on the budget for this years event. The goal is to have the budget complete by the August Park and
Recreation Board meeting.
Ken Lehr reported he has signed a contract with the Children's Theater group to perform from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. The group will provide their own stage (flat bed truck) and offer performances of "Interactive Theater" as well as a "Puppet Show". To date, the following acts have been booked:
Loni Gamble (Moetown Band) - $3,250.00
Middle Earth Theater (Children's Theater) - $1,500.00
Sunflower Mime - $275.00
Pony Rides - $500.00
Del Bittle - $300.00
Kathy McDevitt indicated that the "Turks Head Jugglers" would also be available to perform at "our" price.
Kathy McDevitt asked if anyone knew of someone that could make figures with balloons since the "balloon artist" that worked at the Decorated Bike parade is not available for Community Day.
Kathy McDevitt would like to contract 3 character artists for Community Day. Chris Knowles, a character artist that has worked with Kathy McBratney in the past would be available to perform at a rate of $50.00 per hour. The Show Stoppers were also contacted and they would be able to provide 3 character artists for 3 hours at a cost of $350.00. Kathy McDevitt indicated that the current budget could support hiring the 3 artists form Show Stoppers. Jennifer Grey-Rice suggested looking through the phone book to see if other artists were available at a more reasonable price. Ken Lehr and Kathy McDevitt will contact the Art Departments at Immaculata College and West Chester University to determine if either of these colleges can recommend someone that would be available for Community Day. The members of the Park Board recommended exhausting all other options before offering a contract for Community Day to the Show Stoppers. The Community Day Sub-Committee will meet again on August 5th to continue preparations for the upcoming event.
Ken Lehr reported that 150 people attended the first performance of the West Goshen Township's Theater Series ("The Servant of Two Masters") on Saturday, July 17th. The extreme heat and
the Saturday evening schedule had an impact on the attendance. Ken Lehr informed that everyone enjoyed the event. An article about the Theater Series recently appeared in the Philadelphia
Inquirer. The next event for the Theater Series is William Shakespeare's
"As You Like It" scheduled for August 15th at 6:00 PM. The raindate for this event is August 28th. At this time, there is no event planned for October. Ken Lehr indicated that he is currently looking into the options that are available for the October time frame. The following events have been tentatively scheduled for the fall season:
Children's Theater (Middle Earth Studios) - September
The Snow Queen - November
Christmas Carol - December
Kelly Cifone reported that 7 tickets have been sold for the Radio City bus trip scheduled for Saturday, November 16th. The bus will depart at 11:00 AM and return at 11:00 PM.
Kelly Cifone informed that surveys have been sent out to all of the people that ordered tickets for the Baltimore trip. The responses received have all been very positive and indicate that there is interest in future trips planned by the Township. The Friends have also planned a bus trip to Washington on Saturday, October 16th. The bus will depart at 8:00 AM and return at 8:00 PM.
New Business:
Joe Waters and the entire Park and Recreation Board offered congratu- lations to Les Bair who was recently named Department Head and Director of Tax Claims and to Dan Dixon on his promotion to
the rank of Sergeant.
Ken Lehr reported that the Friends received a payment in the amount of $250.00 from John Leary from the revenues generated at the concessions stand during the month of June. This
represents the largest monthly payment the Friends have received to date.
Joe Waters informed that the supervisors have again reserved the "pocketbook wheel" booth at the Goshen Fair.
Anyone interested in volunteering their time to assist in the running of the booth can sign-up for specific time slots in the lunchroom at the Township Building.
Al Roth asked if anything could be done to construct a new and/or add to the existing storage areas at the Community Park. There currently is not enough storage area to hold the Clinic
Equipment, Refrigerator and other items required to support the Summer Camp program.
Kelly Cifone suggested building a new concrete block storage area at the Community Park. Jennifer Grey-Rice asked if someone could contact the area Little Leagues to see if they would be interested in joint venture with the Township to share the cost of constructing a new storage area. Kent Wise recommended against involving the Little League with this issue. Joe Waters indicated he had talked with Dan Dixon about the possibility of building a wall behind the amphitheater to create an additional storage area. Kent Wise stated that this would take away from the picnic area inside that pavilion. Peggy Niemeyer suggested adding on to the concession stand to create additional storage area. Kent Wise estimated that the cost of a new 10 foot by 20 foot concrete block building would be very expensive (between $50,000 and $75,000). Discussion on this item will be continued at the next Park Board meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 PM. The next meeting is scheduled for August 18th.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ed Smith
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