AD HOC REGIONAL PARK COMMITTEE
Thursday, May 15, 2008, 12:15 PM
COG Building – Forum Room

AGENDA

Please bring you calendars to the meeting.

1.                  CALL TO ORDER

Mr. Klees will convene the meeting.

College Township               Dan Klees, Chair

Harris Township                Cliff Warner, Vice-Chair

Ferguson Township              Richard Mascolo

State College Borough         James Rosenberger

Patton Township            Jeff Luck

Penn State University      Dan Sieminski

2.                  CITIZEN COMMENTS

Members of the public are invited to comment on any items not already on the agenda (five minute per person time limit, please). Comments relating to specific items on the agenda should be deferred until that point in the meeting.

3.                  APPROVAL OF MINUTES

                ● The draft minutes of the March 20, 2008 meeting (just prior to the consultant interviews) are enclosed as Attachment #1.     ACTION

                ● The draft meeting summary from the April 1, 2008 Joint Work Session is enclosed as Attachment #2.                              ACTION

4.                  WHITEHALL ROAD PARKLANDS

ACQUISITION: Closing has been tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 30, pending completion of the necessary title work by the Attorneys. The purchase price of the land is $230,775 per the COG Articles of Agreement (November 2006) to authorize this purchase. A state grant in the amount of $159,000 was secured to assist with this acquisition. Ferguson Township has previously agreed to provide the balance of the local funds (up to $100,000) for the acquisition and related costs. At this point it appears that the actual cost to Ferguson Township will total $98,260.41 (based upon estimated closing costs). The Regional Parks Fund will advance the $159,000 until the state grant reimbursement is received.

MASTER SITE PLAN: In mid-April, PA DCNR announced that they had awarded a grant for $40,000 to prepare a Master Site Plan (MSP) for the Whitehall Road Parklands. The application was submitted by COG in September. The timing of this grant is outstanding, since the Oak Hall MSP includes some important conceptual work with regard to the appropriate facilities at both sites. (More discussion on this topic below.)

5.                  POOL RENEWALS FUNDING PACKAGE

The closing on the $7.9m bank loan was held on May 1. The COG Finance Committee will review the closing statement (listing the associated fee deductions) at their May 20 meeting. Final details for the construction management process are being prepared.

6.            POOL RENEWAL PROJECTS:

WELCH POOL: As a result of the Joint Work Session and the April 14 School Board meeting:

-        the two Letters of Support (for Welch Pool and MMNC) were provided as requested,

-        the Superintendant relayed that the School Board will resume discussions on the Shared Access/Parking Recommendation in late-June.

The CRPR Staff completed and submitted the PA DCNR Grant Application for $400,000 on April 25. A decision on that grant application is expected in October.

PARK FOREST POOL: The project has been approved for bidding by PA DCNR staff. Bids will be publicly opened at 3PM on Wed., June 4 in the COG Forum Room. The Authority will then consider action on the bids at their June 12 meeting. It is proposed that the bid figures and the architect’s recommendations also be provided to this Committee for individual member review prior to Authority action (the Ad Hoc Comm. Meeting is now set for June 19, unless the committee wishes to reschedule the meeting to formally act on a recommendation to the Authority.

7.            OAK HALL PARKLANDS – MASTER SITE PLAN

All necessary documents have been completed with PA DCNR and Pashek Associates to proceed with the Oak Hall Parkland Master Site Plan (MSP). A task schedule is attached for discussion (Attachment #3).  The committee is asked to discuss the following aspects of that schedule:

A.            Discuss the overall approach with respect to scheduling MSP meetings vs. regular Committee meetings vs. member’s summer schedules.

B.            Discuss the involvement of the CRPR Board, as voting members of the “Project Study Committee,” in the process. Board members have offered to attend those meetings, when scheduled.

C.            Discuss the various options with respect to incorporating the Whitehall Road Parkland MSP process. Mr. Woodhead will also outline the necessary separation of the 25-acre option tract c/o Ferguson Twp. (since it should be                        included in the MSP process, but is not yet eligible for state funding assistance).

8.            2009 COG BUDGET PROCESS

Agency Staff are beginning to work on the 2009 Program Plan. While the work program for 2009 is clear, the Committee should discuss / finalize (by mid-July) the funding formula they would like staff to utilize so that portion of the Budget Proposal can be prepared. One option suggested earlier is to continue the 2007 and 2008 amounts for 2009. As a reference, the following budget data is provided:

9.            YMCA SPORTS COMPLEX

Mr. Jeff Hall, CRPR Rec. Supervisor, will update the Committee on a recent planning meeting conducted by the group. General plans and costs were distributed at that meeting.

10.         MUSSER GAP GREENWAY / TRAIL PROPOSAL

                                In April, the COG General Forum has asked the Committee to make a                                                              recommendation on the feasibility of “regional funding” of the local costs associated with the proposal coordinated by ClearWater Conservancy. The committee should establish how / when they would like to discuss this issue.

11.         HESS SOFTBALL FIELD COMPLEX

                                Status Report / Schedule of the proposal from Harris Township: Ms. Farkas

12.         ADJOURNMENT

                        Next Committee Meeting:               Thursday, June 19, 2008, 12:15 PM

                                Plus Master Site Plan Meetings (when finalized)