Notes from Annual Meeting, August 24, 2023

Board Member Attendees: 

Barry Pinkowicz, Ira Josephs, John Paulson, Kelly Johnson, Janilyn Pinkowicz

Meeting Minutes:

The meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m.  Barry Pinkowicz, President, introduced the FOCCB Board members.  Barry requested approval of the minutes from the prior annual meeting. John Paulson made a motion, which was seconded by Ira Josephs to approve the meeting minutes from the former 2022 Annual Meeting.  Minutes were approved unanimously.

Ira Josephs volunteered to count the proxy votes for the FOCCB Board members.  Sixteen proxy votes were sent in via email prior to the meeting.  In addition, there were six votes submitted during the annual meeting a total of twenty-two votes were counted, and the slate of candidates was approved per the proxy. 

Barry Pinkowicz advised that Sarah Sivilich, FOCCB Board Member, was unable to continue her tenure on the Board.  Sarah did a wonderful job managing our website and creating a page for the “Plants of the Chester Creek.” John MacFarland, with the Aston Historical Society, provided Sarah with all the pictures and plants he has identified to date along the trail for our website.  Sarah will be greatly missed! 

Financial Report presented by Treasurer, John Paulson. Revenues and expenses were reviewed. This report is available upon request for review.  Ira Josephs made a motion to approve Treasurer Report.  Janilyn Pinkowicz seconded the motion.

Kelly Johnson spoke regarding open positions on our FOCCB Board.

We had a great response, and several people reached out.  We are looking for someone to coordinate trail maintenance at least four times a year.  We are also looking for someone to maintain our website.  Please email info@chestercreektrail.org if you are interested.  Kelly also advised that we have an annual meeting t-shirt sale – Short sleeve t-shirts are $10, and long-sleeved t-shirts are $20.  See Kelly after the meeting if you are interested in any of these items.

Ira Josephs spoke regarding the Bike Coalition, Circuit Trails, and their long-term and short-term goals.  He also spoke regarding the East Coast Greenway.  Ira mentioned the need for Circuit Trail signage on our trail (we need permission from the County).  Barry to follow up with with Ira and the County on this.

Acknowledgements:

• Flower garden planted on the trail donated by Wolf’s Apple House headed up by Amy.
• Milkweed was planted around the brick/garden area off Mount Alverno Road. This was to help support the Monarch butterflies.  Hollywood Landscaping provided the plants and the landscaping. 
• Hollywood Landscaping has graciously donated their time and services to weed and mulch the Mount Alverno Garden area several times a year.
• Kathy de Jong of Gentle Doctor in Home Vet Care has graciously sponsored 4 pet stations each year. Stephanie Savy of Steph’s Pet Sitting LLC has also sponsored 1 pet station each year.  Due to their support, it keeps our pet stations replenished with pet care bags.
• Thank you to Delaware County for all they do to maintain the trail, especially Mark Manfre from Delaware County Park & Recreation.
• Historical signs are being placed along the Chester Creek trail. Six signs will be placed at different strategic points along the trail.  They will contain a QR code that once scanned will take you to our website and will provide additional history and pictures that could not fit on the sign. The signs are as follows:
• Churches Around the Chester Creek (Complete and on trail)
• Schools Around the Chester Creek (Complete and with sign company-will be ready shortly)
• Railroad Stations Around the Chester Creek (Future sign)
• From Rails to Trails (History of the Chester Creek Trail) (Future Sign – In progress)
• Mills Around the Chester Creek (There will be 2 future signs)
• Steps have been placed at the Mount Alverno Parking Area leading to the trail. This was Xavier Schaffer’s Eagle Scout project from Scout Troop 225 sponsored by St. John Fisher’s Catholic Church in Boothwyn.  A special thank you to Glen Clark, Scout Master Emeritus and John Middletown, Assistant Scoutmaster Committee Chairman for all their hard work and assistance on this project.
• A new garden area was placed along the new steps at the Mount Alverno parking area. This was graciously donated by Hollywood Landscaping.
• Through donations and fund raising we were able to purchase a new metal sign with the Chester Creek Trail logo which was stolen off the decorative rock that is placed at the Mount Alverno Trailhead Garden area. This has now been replaced and has been concreted around the edges to hopefully prevent future theft from occurring.
• Our brick fundraiser was a huge success. Over 100 bricks were purchased and placed on our brick pathway on the trail at the Mount Alverno garden area.  The money generated will go towards the new historical signage and other trail improvement projects as needed.
• The two stumps in the middle of the Mount Alverno parking area were removed to assist parking.
• FOCCB purchased a new bike pump to replace the broken one near Knowlton Parking area. This will be placed shortly.  The original bike pump will be fixed and switched out as needed if the other one breaks down. 

Guest Speakers:

John McMullan (Middletown Twp Manager) & Jennifer Maull (Director of Park & Rec)

• John McMullan and Jennifer Maull provided a presentation on all the trails in Middletown Twp.
• There are currently about 15 trails in Middletown. Jennifer presented a list of all the trails, their location, if they were paved or unpaved, and the distance/miles for each. 
• Parking is being proposed to be added to the Indian Orchard Trail
• Sleighton Park Trail is very popular and is paved.
• Proposed new trails: Sleighton Farm Trail, Mint Trail, Lenni Trail, and Chester Creek Trail (Phase 3).  The Mint trail (First Phase) will be 1.2 miles and will loop down from the wawa train station and will terminate at the culvert that will be connecting with the Chester Creek Trail.  Hopefully, construction will start sometime in November 2023.

Phase 3 (Chester Creek Trail-Lenni Rd to Wawa Train Station):

• John advised that Middletown is looking into acquiring property off Lenni Road which would give us approximately 40 parking spaces.
• In addition to acquiring a property for the trail connection and parking, Middletown is also currently looking into acquiring an easement on a property on Lenni Road to extend the trail from Lenni Road to the Wawa Train station.

Peter Williamson Assistant Director (Open Space & Trails Delaware County Planning Dept)

• Peter provided a presentation and spoke regarding Phase 1/2/3, and a Potential Phase 4
• Maps of the different phases that the County is currently working on were shown and explained. Peter mentioned the Circuit trails as well as the Mint Trail. 

Phase 1

• The County is currently working on parking concerns. They have applied for grant money to extend the Knowlton parking area.  They are waiting to see if they will be awarded the grant money in the Fall of 2023.

Phase 2:

• If everything goes as planned, construction to begin early 2025 for Phase 2 (Creek Road to Bridgewater Road). Construction costs will be approximately 7.6 million dollars.
• Additional parking for Phase 2 will be in the vicinity of Endless Pools (but not on their property). There will also be a small parking area off Bridgewater Road.
• The crossing area on Dutton Mill Road was discussed. There will be an island for the pedestrians in the middle of Dutton Mill Road, as well as flashing/warning lights to warn approaching traffic of pedestrians crossing.

Phase 3:

• Peter spoke about the extension of the Chester Creek Trail to the Wawa Train station

Phase 4

• The County wrote a grant to do a feasibility study of a potential trail in Chester Township/Upland.

Questions from the audience:  Time provided for question-and-answer period. 

• It was mentioned that we need lines painted on the trail. Barry advised he will be following up with the County.
• Concerns with E-Bikes on the trail. Kelly advised that the County is working on new standard rules for the trail.
• Lungren Road – Lights flashing all the time. Middletown said $16K to replace the blinking lights – not in the budget.  The County is looking into a solution to this issue since parts are no longer available. 
• John MacFarland gave an update on the plants that are on the Chester Creek trail. He had Sara Sivilich add the pictures and plants to our website for all to enjoy. 
• Someone mentioned that more Porta-Johns are needed along the trail. Barry mentioned that he will follow up with the County. 

Barry thanked everyone for coming out.  Meeting was adjourned at 8:22 p.m.

John Paulson made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Ira Josephs seconded the motion.

T=Shirts, Hats, and Bricks were for sale before and after the meeting.