Meeting Minutes: Songbird Sanctuary Master Plan Steering Committee Meeting # 2 Date: Tuesday, May 7, 2019 Time: 10:00a.m. to 11:30a.m. Location: Conference Room 2 Township Building Persons attending: Kathie Vondracek, Lance King, Kristina Aneckstein, Jon Kaufmann, Centrice Martin,

David Pribulka Purpose of Meeting: Receive update on the Arbor Day event, discuss location for signage prepared by US

Fish and Wildlife, and begin to brainstorm ideas for park design and explore concept sketches

On Record

1. Mr. King reported that 17-18 volunteers showed up and worked on the woodchip trail network to plant pine trees. Volunteers removed some of the invasive species including the Garlic Mustard and the Dogbane in the pollinator garden area. The ground was too saturated due to the rain for planting.

2. Mr. King shared US Fish and Wildlife designed and printed signage that highlight this cooperative project and inform on how the habitat restoration is a multi-year, three step approach aimed to do the following: 1) remove non-native, invasive vegetation by mechanical means 2) control regrowth with targeted herbicides 3) re-establish native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants that provide habitat for native insects, birds mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.

The Committee discussed locations for the signs. Two signs will be placed along Bluecourse

Drive, one at the edge of the property heading toward West College Avenue and one at the edge

of property before light at the intersection of Westerly Park and Bluecourse Drive. One sign to be

installed near the parking lot near or around the Owens Drive culd-de-sac. Two signs to be

installed near the pollinator garden area near the residential homes. Mr. King did not have a date

for signage removal. The group discussed the signage durability and how well and for how long

the signs would sustain weathering conditions.

Ms. Vondracek shared that two residents living near the pollinator garden approached her during

the Arbor Day event to inquire about the event and future plans for the park. In response to

hearing residents ask about Park plans, the Committee discussed possible options for engaging

communicating with neighborhood residents and citizens on the master planning efforts. The

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possible options the Committee discussed included an onsite open house, pamphlets, mailings

and a neighborhood walk and talk with residents to inform on the park plans.

3. Reviewed survey results. 9 responses since the survey went live Wednesday (5/1) afternoon. CRPR promoted via their social media platforms. Township promotes on website and social media platforms. Committee agreed to slightly tweak the survey. Members agreed edit question 2 and question 3: change “bike path” to “dirt bike path” and change “community garden” to “community vegetable garden” to better define the park feature in the survey. Members agreed to email their networks to promote the survey.

4. Comments during discussion and brainstorming exercise: a. The Committee discussed the floodplain area. Kristina is going to check with the County

to determine if any recent changes were made to the floodplain to determine if the Township’s GIS layers are correct.

b. The Committee acknowledged that, as of now, survey responses indicated additional parking as a lower priority based on respondents ranking proposed features. However, the Committee discussed parking as being a feature that is often pursued as a higher priority after a master plan is implemented. Members agreed to still keep parking as a feature that is considered as a future option to include and identify location and cost estimates in the master plan as a floating option that may or may not be pursued in future years.

c. Committee discussed the park features for consideration during the brainstorming process. Ms. Martin shared that the park features identified for survey were inspired by exploring websites for passive parks. The Committee is not limited to the park features in survey and the survey has an open-ended comment sections for citizens to share ideas.

d. Penn Terra recently surveyed the Park. Ms. Aneckstein will overlay the survey map on the map presented at the meeting. Mr. King shared that the Township will put boundary markers on the property and corner split rail fence with section fence to visualize the boundaries.

e. On behalf of the Master Gardeners, Ms. Vondracek expressed interest in having benches throughout the park.

f. Ms. Aneckstein sketched a proposed path for a dirt walking trail and a dirt biking path trail, independent of each other, on the property as seen in the attached map.

g. Handwritten notes taken to capture all initial ideas suggested as part of the brainstorming process:

i. Benches ii. Educational signs to identify the following:

1. Common birds 2. Different species 3. Define the word “passive”

iii. Kiosk at Entrance iv. Dirt walking paths v. Nesting boxes vi. Screech Owl box vii. Buffer zone between the walking and biking dirt paths

h. Doodle Poll will be used to schedule the next meeting