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[2:52] - I'd like to call the September 16th, 2026
[2:56] meeting of the Spring Creek Watershed Commission
[2:59] to order at six 30.
[3:03] Maybe we could do a Roll Call
[3:08] and I'll go down the, the list from Beon.
[3:13] We have, John is here, right? Yep.
[3:16] - Here. - John Eaton Benner. David Robert Alternate.
[3:21] Benner Township College.
[3:24] - Gretchen Brant College. - And I see Lee's here as well.
[3:29] Ferguson, I'm here.
[3:31] And I don't know if we have folks in
[3:33] the remote.
[3:38] - Yes, we have Olivia Lapovsky from the RO is on online.
[3:43] - Okay. - Someone iPhone. That may be Doug Mason.
[3:48] Not sure. Okay. And then Jen, Don Brosky from Clearwater.
[3:52] Just joined. Okay.
[3:55] - And then Harris. Chris Morell. Chris Morell's here.
[3:59] Patton. I believe that both Susan
[4:02] and Doug will not be able to attend tonight.
[4:06] Spring Township. David or Mike?
[4:11] No. And State College. Olivia you said was online?
[4:16] - Yes. - Okay. And then anyone from
[4:21] Potter or Walker?
[4:25] - Okay. - I think that gives us a quorum, right?
[4:30] There's little old me. Oh, I'm sorry.
[4:33] - Loren now - Was half, boy, how did I miss that?
[4:37] Halfmoon Township, Copa Mepa Loren is here.
[4:42] Yes. I
[4:43] - Dunno. He said he was gonna join
[4:45] - By phone, as is our practice.
[4:49] Item three on the agenda is any Public Comment
[4:54] or written correspondence that would like to, anyone
[4:58] that would like to address the commission?
[5:04] We got one. No. Okay.
[5:08] Moving on then.
[5:10] Review and approval of the
[5:13] previous meeting minutes from July 15th.
[5:17] - I'll make that motion. Eaton,
[5:20] - I'll second.
[5:21] There's a motion and a second.
[5:23] Any comments
[5:25] or questions about the minutes from July 15?
[5:32] All right, in that case, I call the motion.
[5:35] All those in favor of adopting the July 15 minutes?
[5:40] Say aye. Aye. Aye. Those that are opposed, say aye. Okay.
[5:45] Minutes are done. New agenda items.
[5:49] Anyone that would like to propose an addition
[5:53] to the agenda, either here in the room
[5:57] or online?
[6:02] Okay. Hearing none, we will go to number six.
[6:07] Report by officers and committees.
[6:10] And the first one
[6:15] on the agenda, six A, the executive committee.
[6:19] We met what the fourth, we tried
[6:24] for the third Wednesday of August
[6:27] in the even numbered month,
[6:28] but it ended up, I believe, being the fourth.
[6:33] So that would've been August 26th.
[6:37] We met, and I believe Chris
[6:42] and Elise and David
[6:44] and I, the
[6:51] much of the meeting on the executive committee meeting was a
[6:55] follow up to our Public Hearing at SLO
[6:59] in July that was focused on the future
[7:03] of Rockview lands.
[7:05] And so we talked about the comments
[7:10] that had been made
[7:13] and reviewed the follow up memorandum that
[7:20] we had put together to kind of summarize the Public Hearing,
[7:24] we included, it included receiving
[7:27] written comments from Cliff cans who couldn't
[7:32] make the Public Hearing,
[7:34] but many of you may know, cliff, he was a regional
[7:38] and State College Borough planner for a number of years,
[7:41] and he submitted comments.
[7:46] Anything else from the executive committee, Chris
[7:49] or David that I didn't cover,
[7:54] or that won't be covered later?
[7:57] - No, I think just kind of really trying to focus on
[7:58] what we're gonna talk about in the second half
[8:00] of the meeting, which is kind of what our,
[8:02] what our focus is moving forward.
[8:04] - Okay. Yeah.
[8:08] - Yes, it, it really did continue
[8:09] to focus on the important issue of rock view
[8:12] and the possible turnover
[8:17] of, of state lands to, to whoever,
[8:19] which is sort of unknown at this point.
[8:21] So it's an effort to kind of get ahead of that a little bit.
[8:27] - And would it,
[8:29] would this be an appropriate time in your mind, David, to
[8:34] maybe cover item nine on the agenda as it relates
[8:38] to rockview?
[8:40] That's where we do a round table about watershed related
[8:44] news from member municipalities. David had a
[8:47] - Certainly yes.
[8:48] Thank you report. So I am the Benner Township
[8:53] representative, and I went to the Benner Supervisors meeting
[8:57] last week on Tuesday,
[9:00] and there was an agenda item on their meeting of,
[9:04] to discuss a possible
[9:08] conservation overlay to be placed on the rock view lands.
[9:13] And this was a letter that was sent to them from the
[9:17] Ben Township Planning Commission that recommended that.
[9:21] And a little bit of the background to
[9:25] that recommendation was to, to, to my understanding,
[9:29] representative Benninghoff had had expressed
[9:34] interest to, to have some kind of a protection of the,
[9:38] of the rock view lands.
[9:40] And this really follows
[9:44] a past effort that was made a successful effort when Rock
[9:47] View lands were divested what following the, the,
[9:51] the construction of the Interstate 95
[9:54] and where the site that's now, spring Creek Canyon
[9:58] and the Spring Creek Trail
[10:00] and so forth became, turned over
[10:04] to I think Fish and Boat Commission. There were
[10:07] - Four local partners, fish
[10:11] and Boat Commission, game Commission, Penn State
[10:15] and Banner Township.
[10:17] - So these four entities received different portions of
[10:22] that land that was, that had been previous prison land.
[10:25] It was kind of separated from them within the
[10:27] 95 construction.
[10:28] So that gave the opportunity to open up that canyon
[10:33] that had been restricted from public asset access
[10:37] for about a hundred years.
[10:39] Yeah. So that was a very positive development.
[10:42] And you know, there was a, an overlay that was put into
[10:45] that area, kind of a conservation overlay.
[10:48] And so this overlay then would help to connect
[10:53] that, that a proposed rock view overlay would help
[10:56] to connect the Spring Creek Canyon with the Rock View lands
[11:01] and then the Nittany Valley Conservation area.
[11:04] So there was discussion about that there.
[11:08] Counsel Mr. Beard
[11:13] described the proposal from the,
[11:17] from the planning Commission as to go over the entire site.
[11:21] And then that would be require,
[11:26] of course, public hearings, Public Comment.
[11:28] And that would open up a,
[11:30] a broad discussion about the Rockview property.
[11:34] So the Council for Inner Township, you know,
[11:41] explain to them that they could put a whole overlay on there
[11:46] and then come back later and modify it if need be.
[11:49] And, and, but the, the,
[11:54] the Supervisors were pretty receptive to that.
[11:58] I think that they were very open to input on that.
[12:01] They, they talked about the need for advisement, the need
[12:06] to have some technical advisement about what's there on the
[12:09] site and what areas would need to be protected.
[12:13] So that is a very forward moving idea.
[12:19] They're going to be discussing
[12:20] that further in the coming months.
[12:23] So that's pretty much where that is at right now.
[12:27] I know that there are some people in the public area
[12:31] that are also interested in having some sort
[12:36] of a conservation like that.
[12:37] So, so the commission is very open to hear from public on
[12:42] and municipalities and all partnership
[12:44] and all partners on this issue.
[12:48] - Thank you. It's not been
[12:52] that common in my memory that
[12:56] conservation, or excuse me,
[12:59] overlay zones are implemented.
[13:03] When I was on the Ferguson Township Planning Commission, oh,
[13:06] maybe 20 years ago,
[13:10] we did an overlay zone on down
[13:14] to specific parcel levels on the Tussie Ridge
[13:17] because we wanted,
[13:19] after studying development proposals, we wanted to kind
[13:24] of put it out there and make it part of the Ordinance that
[13:29] the lands associated
[13:33] on the side of the ridge were not
[13:36] always particularly stable.
[13:38] A lot of spring sinkholes, a lot
[13:40] of closed depressions, a lot of waterways.
[13:43] And so the Township put an overlay zone that
[13:49] alerted property owners that if they intended to
[13:54] bid, that there were certain suggested requirements
[13:58] that they come in and meet with the Township
[14:00] and be alerted to what
[14:04] was at play there.
[14:06] And Harris subsequently did a similar thing
[14:10] a while later, but that's very interesting to hear
[14:15] and something that I think we
[14:17] wanna talk about further.
[14:22] - Yeah, I would just would like to add that Randy Moya,
[14:25] the chair, had stated a couple times that regardless
[14:29] of whether an overlay is implemented
[14:31] or not, that in the long run there,
[14:34] he expects probably about 5,000 acres or, or more
[14:40] or thereabouts would, would need
[14:42] to be conserved no matter what.
[14:45] - So thank you - Again.
[14:50] I do, I would like to mention also, you know,
[14:51] it's not only Benner Township, that, that, that
[14:54] College Township has quite a few acres on that site as well.
[14:59] So anything that would take place would,
[15:01] would certainly weren't discussion among those two partners.
[15:06] - Right. As it splits out in the mapping that we've seen,
[15:10] it's about two thirds
[15:13] of the land lies in Better Township
[15:16] and about a third in college.
[15:19] So yes.
[15:20] - Diane, - This sounds very good to me.
[15:23] The Better Township is in the
[15:25] - Meeting.
[15:26] Would you like to come up and so everyone can hear you?
[15:33] - I'm Joanne. - Yep. Yeah, we can.
[15:37] - I'm Joanne Tosi Bey.
[15:39] I chair the NIT Valley Joint Planning Commission.
[15:42] This sounds very good to me.
[15:44] The commission is meeting tomorrow evening at six
[15:50] - Six or six 30
[15:55] - At six o'clock.
[15:57] We have not had anybody from Benner attend the
[16:00] meetings this entire year.
[16:02] Robert, could you come
[16:03] and repeat what you just said this evening at
[16:06] that tomorrow night so that,
[16:08] because we, when we have these meetings, they come up
[16:12] and people ask what's going to happen to Rockfield?
[16:14] At least having some information,
[16:16] I think will make people feel good. Yeah.
[16:18] - What, what time is the meeting?
[16:19] - Six o'clock and it's in the Banner Township six
[16:22] o'clock building. Oh,
[16:23] - Right in Banner.
[16:24] Yeah. Yes. I'll go. I'm gonna make
[16:27] - Make Great. Thank you.
[16:28] - Thank you, Joanne. Any other comments on that?
[16:33] Okay, then moving to six B on the agenda,
[16:39] the financial report
[16:41] or treasurer's report since July,
[16:45] and As it,
[16:51] I think people have come to understand that
[16:54] Clearwater Conservancy acts as the fiscal agent
[16:57] for the Watershed Commission
[17:00] and they maintain on our behalf
[17:03] two different custodial accounts.
[17:06] The primary one being a general administrative account that
[17:10] as of August 30, the balance
[17:13] was $35,090 and 61 cents.
[17:19] The second account is a phase three account that was
[17:25] re-designated back.
[17:28] It's now been three years ago, using money
[17:33] that was generated to conclude the step two
[17:38] or phase two plan of the watershed stewardship plan.
[17:42] And it was decided then that by the Watershed Commission,
[17:46] that those monies should be renamed
[17:50] the phase three account.
[17:53] And we have
[17:56] $2,150
[17:59] and 63 cents in that account with regard to approval
[18:04] to pay since our meeting
[18:09] two months ago, invoices from Elise
[18:14] as watershed coordinator for the months of July
[18:16] and August at 27 50.
[18:19] And then the legal notice
[18:22] for the July 15th meeting in public notice in the
[18:27] CDT for 180.
[18:29] I will put the
[18:35] notice for this meeting at our November meeting.
[18:41] And just a footnote, so that everybody is current as far
[18:45] as the 26 budget goes, the commission
[18:51] has over the last few years had
[18:56] 10 or 11, sometimes 10 and a half members.
[19:00] But I wanted to make clear,
[19:04] as I've done throughout the year, that we have two
[19:09] members to date
[19:11] that their contribution in 2026 is pending.
[19:16] That's Walker and Potter Townships.
[19:20] They had indicated in 25 that
[19:24] they were gonna not withdraw
[19:28] but Coast for a while.
[19:31] And leading up to this evening's meeting, we were approached
[19:35] by a gentleman from Walker Township
[19:40] and interacted with him, provided him with the agenda.
[19:44] He's interested in talking
[19:46] to Walker Township about potentially being named a
[19:51] representative from Walker.
[19:53] And I had hope that maybe he would make it tonight,
[19:56] but he's not on the remote.
[20:02] - Okay. No, Bob Igo is though.
[20:04] - Bob Igo is welcome, Bob. But that's my report.
[20:09] We're working on things with Walker
[20:12] and we'll get back to it.
[20:14] Another conversation with Potter as well. Any questions?
[20:22] - Okay.
[20:29] - Item six C.
[20:33] Elise Watershed Coordinator.
[20:35] - Yes. - So some
[20:38] of my updates are further down in the agenda,
[20:40] but things that are not in there, ag Progress days
[20:44] happened in August, so I attended that.
[20:48] I do what I like to call reverse tabling.
[20:50] Those tables are pretty expensive, so I take brochures
[20:53] around and talk to all the partners that are there
[20:55] and do some networking the other way around.
[20:58] So that was good to do. Had a great conversation with
[21:02] deps Small Business grant program
[21:04] for sustainability for the second year.
[21:07] So working further
[21:09] to establish our partnerships in that world.
[21:12] I also attended the Congressional Ag Summit hosted
[21:15] by Glen Thompson to just learn about some of the issues
[21:18] and resources that are available there
[21:20] and represented the watershed commission at the government
[21:22] and industry luncheon.
[21:25] Other projects that I've done a couple weeks ago,
[21:28] Clearwater Conservancy organized a day to go out
[21:32] to Tally Rand Park
[21:33] and help do some invasive management
[21:35] of the buffer that's there.
[21:37] So I attended, so did Lee Lee Ricks from the Conservation
[21:41] District and Clearwater Conservancy.
[21:44] So we helped get a handle on some
[21:46] of the loose strife that was there.
[21:47] And also Lee
[21:49] and I did kind of a joint interview with Clearwater's
[21:53] communications person, Lee about,
[21:57] or Leah, about how all of these partnerships come together
[22:01] and how all of the people that were helping the project on
[22:04] that day helped contribute to successful implementation.
[22:08] And then share some of the resources for other people
[22:10] that would want to help get a handle on their buffers
[22:14] or establish new ones.
[22:17] We've also been continuing
[22:19] with the two deck regenerative stormwater project.
[22:21] So our grant agreement
[22:23] with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission is finalized.
[22:26] Kevin, Abby and I have been working on that.
[22:28] It has been approved. I met with
[22:33] Iona Borich from the Sustainable Communities Collaborative
[22:35] to talk more about how we can work with her program.
[22:39] They filled up their classes for this fall semester,
[22:42] but if we identified a concrete project scope that we wanted
[22:46] to work with them on, we could potentially get in
[22:49] for the spring semester.
[22:50] But the watershed commissions engaged them in the past
[22:54] and they're very eager to work
[22:55] with us again any semester in the future.
[22:58] So continuing that relationship
[23:01] and also having some assistance from a guest
[23:03] that you'll meet on navigating that relationship.
[23:08] The last update I have is
[23:09] that the Watershed Cleanup Day planning committee has been
[23:12] meeting, I co-chair that committee
[23:15] with Bella Petita from Clearwater Conservancy.
[23:18] And traditionally they would start kind
[23:20] of meeting a couple months prior to the event,
[23:22] but we've changed it so
[23:23] that it can be productive year round.
[23:25] And we have bimonthly meetings to focus on
[23:29] identifying new sites, getting a handle on our outreach
[23:31] with the Public Works departments.
[23:34] I am meeting with Ty Coral
[23:37] and Mimi from the Centre County Refuse
[23:39] and Recycling this Friday.
[23:43] The county actually has a program called Keep Centre County
[23:45] Beautiful in the big spring cleanup.
[23:49] All of that reporting goes
[23:50] to keep Pennsylvania beautiful on the PennDOT level,
[23:53] but our county actually has a smaller program
[23:56] that they've been trying to expand on.
[23:58] So all of our cleanup efforts are gonna be
[24:00] counted towards that.
[24:01] And it also covers all of our trash disposal for anything
[24:05] that we do throughout the year,
[24:07] not just on the spring cleanup.
[24:09] So that committee meeting is coming up again in this
[24:12] September, but if anybody wants to get involved
[24:14] with Watershed cleanup day
[24:16] or has sites that you think need
[24:18] to be cleaned up, please let us know.
[24:19] We're really trying to overhaul our site list.
[24:22] We've broken a hundred sites
[24:24] and we've had over 800,
[24:26] almost 850 volunteers this past year.
[24:29] So it's a huge program and initiative.
[24:31] So any feedback from the commission
[24:33] or the town shifts is greatly appreciated.
[24:36] - Question, is there discussions with
[24:41] to you about doing the fall cleanup?
[24:46] - Yes, I'll briefly mention
[24:47] that under conservation and stewardship. Okay,
[24:50] - Great.
[24:51] Any questions for Elise?
[24:54] I'm sure other things will come up
[24:55] as we move through the meeting.
[25:00] Okay. Six D Atlas.
[25:03] - Our Atlas meeting will be the first one
[25:08] about three months will be
[25:11] this Thursday at Patton Township Building meeting room
[25:16] one to 3:00 PM a big part,
[25:22] you know, following on the, the second part
[25:26] of today's meeting, we're also going
[25:29] to have a discussion about how we're
[25:33] structuring atlas's efforts.
[25:35] - Okay. - From here on make sure that
[25:38] we aren't overlapping.
[25:41] - Okay. - Okay,
[25:43] - Great.
[25:44] So tomorrow at one
[25:45] - One to three.
[25:46] Okay. Patton Township meeting room.
[25:48] - Right. Okay.
[25:53] Six E, the Conservation and Stewardship Committee.
[25:57] - Yes. So our Conservation
[25:58] and Stewardship committee just met a couple weeks ago.
[26:04] One of the best things about
[26:05] that committee is the round robins that they do
[26:08] to share information.
[26:09] So we have the Centre County Conservation District,
[26:12] Penn State Extension, occasionally members
[26:16] of the Senior Environmental Corps all coming together
[26:19] to share what the conservation partners who are doing,
[26:22] doing work, what they need, what they're working on.
[26:26] So those conversations continue
[26:28] and it's really great to see the resource sharing
[26:30] and assistance that comes out of those.
[26:34] We did have a new member join our
[26:36] conservation and stewardship committee.
[26:40] It is Stacy Hall. Hall. Stacy Hall,
[26:44] - Right from Benner Township Planning Commission.
[26:47] - Yeah. So she joined
[26:48] and she is representing the State College Land Trust
[26:53] and is also a member on the Benner
[26:54] Township Planning Commission.
[26:55] So this past meeting was just a little bit
[26:57] of an introduction, but we're hoping to work closer
[27:00] with her in the future.
[27:02] - That's great. - And then the Educational Sign
[27:05] Project continues.
[27:08] So we are still working on developing educational signs
[27:12] for throughout the watershed to communicate the importance
[27:15] and relevance of different stewardship projects on the
[27:18] preservation of our water resources.
[27:21] We did a couple for Tally Ram that are finalized
[27:24] and we're just waiting for the whole bunch to get finished
[27:27] so that we can send that off to the sign company.
[27:31] Then Kevin kind of foreshadowed
[27:34] Trout Unlimited every fall they do a red count,
[27:37] which is basically counting the trout spawning areas
[27:40] throughout the stretches of Spring Creek
[27:43] for the past two years.
[27:45] We've partnered with that event to add a cleanup level to it
[27:48] so that all
[27:50] of the volunteers in the stream can help collect trash.
[27:53] And we also send some designated groups of volunteers
[27:57] to drive around to like fishing access sites.
[28:00] And some of the places along the stream that we don't hit
[28:03] either don't hit on watershed cleanup day
[28:05] or need more than once a year cleanups
[28:07] like East College Avenue.
[28:10] So last year we even had some TU volunteers
[28:12] that walked the entire stretch from Millbrook Marsh up
[28:16] to Walnut Spring, which was really cool.
[28:19] They got a lot of good stuff out of there.
[28:21] We get a couple hundred pounds with that event.
[28:25] So we're gonna have a subcommittee meeting in the next
[28:28] couple weeks to finalize our planning for that effort.
[28:32] Clearwater Conservancy,
[28:33] middle Susquehanna River Keepers Association
[28:35] and the Conservation District help us market
[28:37] that event last year.
[28:40] The number of cleanup volunteers
[28:43] actually outnumbered the number of red count volunteers.
[28:45] And so that's one of the things
[28:47] that's really important about this is that a lot
[28:49] of people wanna do cleanups
[28:51] and we make them sit through the lesson on reds
[28:54] and why it's important and why they should do that.
[28:57] Even last year they're like, can't we just get cleaning?
[29:00] And it's like, Nope, you gotta go listen to Bob Carline.
[29:03] So, yep. Yep. We're kind of,
[29:05] it's a little bit educational twist on that one
[29:07] and it's a good partnership.
[29:08] So that'll be happening again.
[29:10] I don't have a final date
[29:11] for the red count this year, but Okay.
[29:13] Typically it is the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
[29:17] - Okay. And I know that
[29:20] in the springtime following the Earth Day
[29:25] or circa Earth Day watershed cleanup, a lot of people
[29:31] on the commission had been approached by folks
[29:34] that either didn't get a chance
[29:35] or had family related conflicts.
[29:40] So what we decided then is that any
[29:44] of those folks to will direct them to Elise and Lee
[29:49] and get present that opportunity for them
[29:54] to be involved with a fall cleanup.
[29:57] So if anybody asks you about watershed cleanup,
[30:02] it's ongoing and there's another opportunity coming.
[30:05] - Yep. They've gotten over 6 million pounds
[30:08] of trash in the watershed over the years.
[30:10] - Alright. So, okay.
[30:16] Number six F the government's committee update.
[30:22] - So I met with Shane Adams,
[30:26] who's the new chair for that committee.
[30:28] Shane is the, he has a new title now,
[30:31] but he, he's the GIS Director
[30:32] with College Township, GIS Wizard.
[30:35] I like to call him. So he's been on
[30:38] that committee for a long time.
[30:41] He's a really great guy.
[30:42] We're very happy that he was able to take over
[30:45] for Kemp Baker, but I was able to sit down with Shane
[30:48] and Bella Petita from Clearwater Conservancy to talk about
[30:51] what do we really need this committee to be
[30:54] and what is his vision for it.
[30:56] And we're really gonna be using this as a platform
[31:00] to help support the partnership of
[31:04] under the MS four permits.
[31:05] Both Clearwater and the commission are an item
[31:07] to help facilitate some of the outreach.
[31:09] So we're gonna make that a good channel
[31:12] for the Township engineers to be able to collaborate
[31:16] with the conservation partners so
[31:18] that our efforts are just a little bit more aligned
[31:20] with what they want and need.
[31:22] And then also just creating more of a tone
[31:24] for sharing information
[31:25] and helping to identify projects that they need help with.
[31:30] So that'll be good. They are gonna talk about possibly
[31:35] renaming it, the engineering committee, just to kind
[31:37] of reduce some confusion on that end.
[31:41] But yeah, they canceled the last meeting,
[31:43] but they will be meeting again
[31:46] for the first time under Shane's leadership on October 15th.
[31:51] - October what? 15th. 15th. Okay.
[31:57] That's great. And then finally,
[32:02] six G, the authorities committee.
[32:05] - So similarly, I sat down with the chairs
[32:09] of the authorities committee.
[32:11] Those chairs are Ray Delina from Centre County Planning
[32:14] Office, and Pam Adams from the Centre
[32:17] Region Planning Agency.
[32:19] They co-chair that committee.
[32:21] Pam is pretty new to the committee this year
[32:24] and leading there.
[32:25] Right. Has been doing it for a few years now.
[32:29] And we sat down to just talk about
[32:30] how could we make this more beneficial
[32:33] for the water authorities that are in attendance.
[32:35] We don't wanna just talk to them and share information.
[32:38] We wanna make it, again, a more collaborative space
[32:40] for information sharing.
[32:43] So we decided that we're not gonna meet in September,
[32:48] but we're gonna meet in November on
[32:52] November 18th, kind of splitting the difference between the
[32:56] September and December meetings.
[32:58] December meetings are not historically well attended.
[33:01] So we wanted to, I'll be having another meeting with Pam
[33:05] and Ray to just strategize and think about what we wanna do.
[33:08] But we're hoping to have a discussion
[33:10] with the water authorities in presence to just see Okay.
[33:13] What they really want to get out of the committee
[33:15] and how we can help them better.
[33:17] - Good. I know that when we left the last
[33:21] committee authorities committee meeting,
[33:24] there was discussion about having
[33:30] Pam and potentially Jenna Argo come in
[33:32] and talk about the regional comprehensive plan.
[33:37] And I'm sure that's in the works
[33:40] as something that could be covered.
[33:43] - So we did discuss that.
[33:45] Pam pointed out that she's going to these water authorities
[33:48] to give that presentation.
[33:49] Okay. And she didn't want redundancy.
[33:51] So we were brainstorming with Ray
[33:54] how we could have a more specific conversation about like
[33:57] the septic systems
[33:59] or different components of the growth boundary
[34:01] that could be more of an area for discussion so
[34:04] that they're not getting a original presentation.
[34:06] - Okay. Great. - Please.
[34:12] - Well, in now since you have an engineering committee,
[34:18] I am, I'm, I'm, I'm,
[34:23] the discussion that you're gonna have
[34:24] with the authorities committee really will be dependent on
[34:28] the quality and the how current
[34:32] that engineering, you know, I, you know,
[34:36] it'd be wonderful if everybody had
[34:40] the A GIS wizard and every municipality.
[34:45] Yep. It's almost like now, you know, is this,
[34:50] is this something that we can make more of a watershed
[34:55] wide effort?
[35:02] I mean it's, we don't have any funding vehicle for it,
[35:06] but it's almost the, without the GIS mapping
[35:10] and those, and the growth boundaries
[35:12] and locating those facilities
[35:15] and the assets, you're,
[35:20] we're sort of having a roundabout discussion about where's
[35:23] my territory, where's your territory?
[35:26] Right. So, I mean, if, if we can meld,
[35:31] I'm not saying put the two committees together,
[35:33] but make those two committees work.
[35:36] Yeah. So that they,
[35:39] they can leverage the information from each other.
[35:42] Yeah.
[35:43] - I recall that discussion with the governments committee
[35:48] and Shane had been Shane Adams.
[35:52] Now the chair had been real involved with outreach
[35:57] amongst the MS four
[36:01] partners, I believe.
[36:03] Didn't he tell us, Elise, correct me if I'm wrong, that all
[36:06] of the MS four four partners are using it.
[36:10] - Yes. - And that includes Spring Township now.
[36:15] So it is an appropriate thing to keep talking about.
[36:21] - When you say they're using it,
[36:23] - The, I'm sorry.
[36:25] The GIS
[36:26] - Oh, okay. Yeah.
[36:27] - Program that Shane worked with others,
[36:31] but to, what was the first part of it?
[36:38] - Well, to make sure that we are all right.
[36:41] Everybody has that current Yes.
[36:44] - And it's what I was struggling for the name
[36:48] of the GIS oh
[36:49] - RGIS - Well it's a, it's Art View GIS, but he updated it.
[36:55] Maybe you recall the name that he used.
[36:59] - I can give a little bit of context. I'm not quite sure.
[37:01] Yeah. But whenever the Watershed commission was working
[37:05] and is still working on their public project viewer,
[37:08] the Storm Water Work group,
[37:09] and for those who don't know,
[37:11] the public project viewer is a shared GIS map
[37:14] that HRG developed.
[37:16] And we have like the growth boundary, the
[37:19] sewer service areas, the water authorities service areas.
[37:23] We've been kind of trying
[37:24] to compile on a watershed level within the delineated
[37:27] watershed boundaries, that information,
[37:29] and then also input projects that have occurred over time so
[37:34] that it can be a bit of a project planning tool.
[37:36] And when the stormwater work group looked at that item,
[37:40] and they were very interested in understanding where
[37:44] stormwater infrastructure was,
[37:46] where outfalls are, all those things.
[37:49] So Shane came into the stormwater work group
[37:51] and gave a presentation about something he's done.
[37:55] He developed A-G-I-S-A whole workflow for it. Right.
[37:59] That all of our local MS four partners use
[38:01] to record their stormwater BMPs.
[38:04] Right. And his work was so good
[38:08] that it's actually highlighted as a case study
[38:10] by ARC GI by Esri.
[38:12] Right? Yes.
[38:14] So that is something that we don't necessarily
[38:17] get the information for, but we do know that it's happening
[38:19] and we have somebody that understands
[38:21] that work flow available.
[38:23] - Right. Yeah. I'm just saying that moving
[38:27] beyond storm water, you know, just the Right, the, the,
[38:33] the, the, the sewer and the water service Yes.
[38:37] Areas. Yes. Not only just the boundaries,
[38:39] but also where the lines might be so that we
[38:43] - Can That's a good point.
[38:44] - So that everybody can move forward smartly.
[38:48] - Yeah. - That's the,
[38:51] - Okay.
[38:52] Anything else on authorities? Okay.
[38:57] Moving to old business, we wanted to include
[39:02] reference to the July
[39:06] adoption of the budget.
[39:08] And earlier this week, I sent
[39:12] to all the watershed commission members,
[39:16] both the elected and appointed members, as well
[39:21] as to our member municipal offices, a
[39:27] budget transmittal letter,
[39:30] and then the budget that was adopted in 2027,
[39:35] or excuse me, in July.
[39:37] This is for next year's budget.
[39:39] And then also a
[39:43] questions had come up in our presentations
[39:47] for the 2026 budget.
[39:49] We also sent a
[39:54] municipal contribution spreadsheet
[39:56] and where we've been at since 2022 when we were at
[40:01] 10 cents per capita.
[40:02] And then two years, 24
[40:05] and 25 at 15 cents,
[40:08] and then 26th the current year at a quarter 25 cents.
[40:14] And the budget adopted in July kept
[40:17] that 25 cents per capita.
[40:19] So that was part of the
[40:23] information that went out.
[40:27] And I can report that last night
[40:31] I was at Ferguson to review the budget
[40:36] and get comments from them.
[40:39] So everyone, just in the context
[40:42] of the watershed commission in relation
[40:44] to our municipal members,
[40:47] we adopt our 2027 budget early,
[40:51] I think relatively speaking in July.
[40:54] So that, but at this time, as municipalities are
[41:00] starting to AMAs
[41:04] and hold work sessions to prepare
[41:08] for their 2027 budget, they have the information
[41:13] from the commission.
[41:15] And as it's been
[41:20] a practice
[41:23] that individual members from the
[41:28] watershed commission, whether elected
[41:30] or alternate appointees, will reach out
[41:35] to their municipality to say, the Watershed Commission.
[41:40] You got information about the budget, do you want
[41:43] to put it on a public meeting?
[41:45] If so, we'll come and make a presentation or talk about it.
[41:50] The idea being that
[41:54] we're trying to feed our budget information
[41:59] into the existing budget development process.
[42:05] So any questions about any of that?
[42:12] Normally what we do in the timeframe is once
[42:18] there have been from early September
[42:22] until October times to interact
[42:26] with municipal members, then we will look to
[42:32] develop invoices
[42:34] and send out municipal contribution invoices
[42:38] for the 27 budget.
[42:40] And that usually happens in quarter number four
[42:44] toward the middle of October.
[42:49] - Yeah. We, we budget season
[42:53] has just started.
[42:54] So Right. The initial
[42:58] conversations are happening.
[43:00] So it's timely to send it out at this time. So Right.
[43:04] Having just survived the first finance
[43:09] committee meeting of budget season.
[43:12] - Yes. Yes.
[43:13] Well, and Belmont Borough Council,
[43:16] you have two new members, right?
[43:18] - Yes, we do. Yeah. Yeah.
[43:20] - So there's alerting curve there for
[43:24] - Yes, yes.
[43:28] Yeah. To vests and Marissa.
[43:32] What's Mariah Kessler? Mariah Kessler. Good.
[43:36] - Yeah. - Thanks Joanne. Okay.
[43:39] - And John informed me this evening that with
[43:44] Randy Brack Bills stepping away from the Watershed
[43:48] Commission and Borough Council,
[43:50] that John is the designated rep from Borough Council.
[43:56] - Yes. And Zach Kelly will be our alternate. That's
[43:59] - Great.
[44:00] Yeah. Anything else about the budget?
[44:05] Okay. Next thing on old business
[44:09] is an update on the rock view lands
[44:12] and things that have been percolating
[44:15] since the Public Hearing.
[44:20] And I understand, Barbara, you'd like to
[44:25] share your viewpoints.
[44:27] Please come up to the,
[44:29] - Where is it that I should do - This?
[44:31] Here. I'll take care of the podium.
[44:33] I can't hear right over here. Over here. Okay.
[44:37] I have some books to give to the, okay.
[44:41] I'll take care of that. Can go talk. My name is
[44:45] - Barbara Fisher and I'm a resident of State College since
[44:51] 1965.
[44:53] - Wow. - I come
[44:55] before you this evening as a veteran of
[45:00] several major issues in our watershed.
[45:05] And the rock view issue
[45:10] has me completely spellbound.
[45:14] It is an incredible opportunity of a lifetime
[45:18] to have this many acres of open space between two
[45:24] thriving growing communities of Beon and State College.
[45:29] A cushion in between is just
[45:32] an amazing situation.
[45:37] I am hearing from people that with a sense
[45:40] of remorse from them, that the people feel
[45:46] that the land will not be honored
[45:50] and that they have no voice.
[45:54] I feel differently. I feel we have a strong case
[45:59] of making a significant difference.
[46:02] We have all the ingredients to do so,
[46:05] and the will to do so in order
[46:10] to do it, we've gotta figure out
[46:13] how can we have a strategic plan to make it happen?
[46:18] And we need to figure it out in a very,
[46:23] very serious way.
[46:26] The first step as I see it, is to have professionals
[46:32] evaluate what is on the rock view land.
[46:35] What are their assets?
[46:37] Where are their, are there very outstanding
[46:40] agricultural soils?
[46:44] Is there significant water resource in the groundwater
[46:48] that could be used for the future needs of our watershed?
[46:52] What are the threats to it?
[46:55] Is, is Interstate 99 a major impact?
[46:59] What are its vulnerabilities? Where is the level?
[47:03] Have we exceeded the level
[47:04] of recharge already in covering up our land?
[47:09] How can all this impact Spring Creek
[47:12] and our fishing tourism attraction?
[47:16] So once those assets are, are
[47:21] carefully assessed, then I also feel
[47:25] that these professionals should interpret
[47:28] what they are to the rest of us.
[47:31] And that should be our guideline in everything that we do.
[47:35] So that the land comes first and its integrity comes first.
[47:40] And by having that as our highest priority,
[47:44] then we can come to more easily
[47:48] consensus of what to do.
[47:51] The second thing is, I think we need to have a base of a,
[47:55] of a, a foundational base
[47:59] and a candidate for that could be the Department
[48:01] of Conservation and Natural Resources.
[48:04] That's their role to protect resources.
[48:08] We would need that help from the government
[48:11] to really make this work beautifully.
[48:14] And also within the Department of Natural Resources,
[48:18] conservation Natural Resources is a section for parks.
[48:24] So the third part of this would be we,
[48:28] we are missing a table in a sense of
[48:30] where we can all get together and figure this out
[48:33] and work together on this.
[48:35] And so the third part is we,
[48:38] I see an initiative starting now
[48:40] with having a work committee trying to figure out how,
[48:44] how to go about this.
[48:46] And that's, that could be the genesis of a council,
[48:48] or whatever word we want to use.
[48:51] I, it's very imperative that we have a,
[48:57] a group, a council, a group of people that,
[49:00] that are pulling together all types of interests
[49:03] and a diversity of people in a way that, that they can be
[49:08] delegated to what needs to happen.
[49:12] And if you could use the analogy of an orchestra,
[49:16] and an orchestra has a conductor, well,
[49:19] we can have the council be a group of conductors,
[49:23] but then in the orchestra we've got a section for the, the,
[49:28] the strings and another section that,
[49:30] that does the brass and so forth.
[49:33] So that's the way it is in our,
[49:35] that's why we have this terrific strength and potential.
[49:39] We have all these different categories of willing partners
[49:44] that can enter into working together on making
[49:48] rock view a dream.
[49:50] Examples of some of those categories are the agricultural
[49:54] groups such as the d the different
[49:59] people at Penn State working on
[50:04] my mind is blanking, right?
[50:06] But, okay, that's one group is the agricultural people like
[50:09] the Conservation District
[50:11] and the Ag extension is another,
[50:16] you know, those are people that could play with that.
[50:19] And then there's also groups like in in,
[50:22] in our planning commissions and,
[50:24] and our, our governmental groups could all lend a hand.
[50:28] And then there are the nonprofits
[50:31] and there's the tourism industries and so forth.
[50:34] Everybody can play their part.
[50:36] But if you could have this, the conductors tell
[50:41] specifically what tasks each group should do, it,
[50:46] it, it won't be as difficult to pull the whole thing off.
[50:51] And one of the tasks that I see that could happen would be
[50:56] to have a communications network.
[50:59] So there could be a site on the computer
[51:04] where people could, could share their ideas for rockview
[51:09] and we could collect them.
[51:10] And then, like we did
[51:12] with way back when we had the people come from all over the
[51:15] country world to help us
[51:17] with our Spring Creek watershed years ago,
[51:19] what they did is they took those, those ideas
[51:24] and they found where there was consensus
[51:26] and then they went back to the people
[51:28] and said, well, which do you rate?
[51:30] Which do you want the most?
[51:31] So this is building a chorus within your orchestra of
[51:36] who wants what we want as, as in a consensus way
[51:40] of what we wanna do.
[51:42] But it should always be tempered with the integrity
[51:45] watching out for the land itself.
[51:50] Okay. So principles in running this whole thing should be
[51:54] that no one group should be the dominant force that we all
[51:59] seek to work together as a team.
[52:02] What are some ideas of how this, this could happen?
[52:07] What, what, what are some ideas of a view?
[52:10] Well, I see as being like trifold, one would be
[52:15] a park, two would be an, an extensive use
[52:19] of the agricultural land.
[52:22] All kinds of ways.
[52:25] Pollinator gardens
[52:27] and gardens that would teach us how to,
[52:33] to work with, with organically gardens where people,
[52:37] different groups, we not, not me, can come in and,
[52:42] and have 50 acre tracks
[52:44] and grow food for the hungry gardens,
[52:46] where the prisoners could also help work on their land.
[52:50] And one of the task forces could be an economic task force
[52:54] that could show how we can actually save type taxpayers
[52:58] money by doing all these different types of things.
[53:02] So in addition to the agriculture, the third part,
[53:06] which is sort of maybe a newer part, is
[53:10] to have it be a learning ecological learning center
[53:14] where we could actually have people
[53:19] do research as well as learn how to have,
[53:23] make the best of, of their,
[53:25] their own home gardens like Doug Tmy suggests.
[53:30] And this could be a showcase for our state.
[53:32] We could bring in tourism to see
[53:34] what this learning center can show,
[53:36] because we've got all this wonderful research and, and,
[53:40] and energies at, at Penn State
[53:43] that the sustainability initiative
[53:46] and all the students we could, there's
[53:48] so much material here we have to work with.
[53:51] So I think it's extremely exciting.
[53:53] And I have a book for each of you
[53:56] from Doug Talley's latest book called
[53:59] Nature's Best Nature.
[54:01] What is the Nature's Best Promise? Nature's Best Hope. Yes.
[54:05] And he, he could, he could, he could be one
[54:09] of the projects on this learning center
[54:11] that could really take us really up at a high level.
[54:17] I just wanna share with you that today my van driver,
[54:21] I asked him, what do you,
[54:23] what do you think should happen with Rockview?
[54:25] He said, it should be environmental, that we should work
[54:29] with the land and that we should learn how to care for it.
[54:33] And then he said, I wanna walk with my son.
[54:38] I wanna hike with him, whether it is
[54:41] where it could be of real beauty.
[54:43] That was his wish.
[54:46] So I feel that you are a significant
[54:51] potential for us, you the commission in playing a very,
[54:56] very important role in bringing
[54:59] a very amazing scenario to fruition
[55:04] because you have the, the commitment
[55:08] through stewardship and you have the skills of leadership.
[55:12] I think it would be wonderful if when we
[55:18] in the future drive by Rockview
[55:22] and we see treetops not
[55:27] rooftops, we see fields of green
[55:31] that beckon to us to come
[55:35] and rekindle our love of nature. Thank you.
[55:41] - Thank you, thank you.
[55:46] - I think that at our Public Hearing at slo,
[55:51] Barbara's comments stimulated a great amount of
[55:56] thought and inspiration.
[55:59] I know that probably everyone in this room has had
[56:04] conversations with family
[56:06] or neighbors since that Public Hearing.
[56:11] I can report that.
[56:14] The letter that was sent by Clearwater
[56:17] and the 12 stakeholder groups to the governor
[56:21] and tried unlimited senate letter.
[56:23] We sent a letter conversations amongst all of those
[56:30] entities are ongoing about how to formulate
[56:35] the community
[56:40] task force that you're referencing.
[56:43] And that was included in those letters to the governor.
[56:47] So those discussions are ongoing
[56:51] and there has been meaningful progress.
[56:57] I'm not really at liberty to get too far out front on
[57:02] those discussions,
[57:04] but I think everyone should be aware that they're going on
[57:08] and that there's work underway
[57:13] to start to formulate along the lines of
[57:19] your suggestions, Barbara,
[57:21] that community task force.
[57:26] - Thank you. - Any other comments about Rockview
[57:31] or things that we should be paying attention to?
[57:35] David's comments from earlier about the discussions ongoing
[57:39] at Benner are most significant
[57:42] and Yes, Gretchen.
[57:46] - Yeah. I
[57:52] I I guess I'm, I'm wondering since I'm a rep from college
[57:57] and a third of the land is in college, I,
[58:06] I just wonder what role
[58:10] the Township can play
[58:13] and just don't want there to be an opportunity
[58:18] or opportunities where we could have done something
[58:22] that might have made a difference
[58:24] and then somehow we didn't see it in time or,
[58:27] because I mean, there's, there's
[58:32] definitely, I I can say unanimous desire amongst the council
[58:37] to good do everything, you know, that, that we can,
[58:41] to make Barbara Fisher's words come true.
[58:46] The question is, you know, for those who are
[58:51] experienced and experts in local government, how do we,
[58:55] how do we actually make this happen?
[58:57] And it's, it, it's, you know, kind of
[59:02] seen into the future
[59:04] and then seizing on those opportunities that maybe aren't
[59:09] that visible, you know,
[59:12] to, to most people.
[59:14] Right. So anyway, I I,
[59:20] I, I, because I haven't really gotten a lot of straight
[59:23] answers from people
[59:25] that I've asked about process, process, process.
[59:28] 'cause that's normally my default. Yes. Yes.
[59:32] And I, I just kind of feel like
[59:35] what I would normally do would be to follow the process.
[59:39] Yes. And usually that produces good outcome, right.
[59:44] That everybody is okay with
[59:45] because they were a part of the process.
[59:47] Right. This time with this particular instance, lots of,
[59:51] I hear lots of references to the Spring Creek Canyon project
[59:55] and there that those references were made again tonight
[59:58] about that and sort of to mimic that
[1:00:01] or di ditto that to do that again.
[1:00:03] Right. So I wasn't around for that back then,
[1:00:07] but just as, as a rep from college, I wanna say I want
[1:00:12] to do whatever I can do.
[1:00:13] Yep. In my role as a rep from college,
[1:00:17] I'm just not exactly sure Right.
[1:00:20] How to execute that. Right.
[1:00:22] But I definitely, from anybody
[1:00:24] that knows more than I do about it, would love to do that.
[1:00:31] - If I could. A good comment, if I could comment
[1:00:33] on that just a little bit.
[1:00:34] I think everybody's kind of on that, in that situation,
[1:00:38] the state as well as the municipalities don't know what
[1:00:42] to do with this because things have been done
[1:00:46] where there's been prison sites closed in the state before,
[1:00:51] and then they were given over to perhaps to the Department
[1:00:55] of Natural Conservation and natural resources
[1:00:57] or some other uses, but they were, you know,
[1:01:00] maybe 25 acre sites.
[1:01:02] This is almost a 6,000 acre site.
[1:01:04] It's a whole magnitude difference.
[1:01:07] And so that's one of the problems is, well some,
[1:01:11] something that I've heard is in discussions is a suggestions
[1:01:15] that everybody needs to come to the table.
[1:01:17] But the problem is there is no table,
[1:01:20] so the table needs to be formed.
[1:01:22] Right. And this is kind of a first step towards Right.
[1:01:26] That towards getting together at least a, you know,
[1:01:30] a local vision for so we can show a local vision.
[1:01:33] Yeah. You know, and,
[1:01:34] and you know, the, the idea
[1:01:39] of the conservation overlay that was talked about earlier,
[1:01:44] it really kind of, it, it doesn't prevent
[1:01:49] future development,
[1:01:50] but it does put kind of a little pause on it.
[1:01:53] And, and as far as the municipal wherewithal
[1:01:58] to, to do something with the lands, no,
[1:02:02] there is existing Zoning that's, that is applicable.
[1:02:05] Right. So, you know, a lot of the land is zoned
[1:02:09] for agriculture of forestry and so forth.
[1:02:12] Yes. There is some that's zoned commercial. Right.
[1:02:16] So you know that that's already in place.
[1:02:19] And so it's kind of looking forward a little bit to,
[1:02:24] you know, preventing pre, not preventing
[1:02:26] but presenting a vision, I
[1:02:28] - Think.
[1:02:29] Yes. Why
[1:02:30] - Can to the Zoning issue
[1:02:33] that has been brought up to me before,
[1:02:37] and I was speaking with Paul AKs office
[1:02:41] and they said Zoning, Zoning, Zoning.
[1:02:45] That that's, that's the key.
[1:02:47] And so I, I know that there's Zoning
[1:02:51] existing already, but Right.
[1:02:53] If the Township,
[1:02:56] and here I'm speaking as one of five, if the Township were
[1:03:01] to need to change the Zoning in order
[1:03:06] to prepare for an overlay or,
[1:03:11] or whatever would be positive
[1:03:15] to make these goals be achieved, then
[1:03:20] I would think it would be a good idea to start working on
[1:03:23] that sooner rather than later. Right.
[1:03:25] - And - I, so, and I'm not a Zoning expert Yeah.
[1:03:28] But just as a member of the commission. Yes. Okay.
[1:03:34] Anybody who knows a lot about Zoning
[1:03:38] and sustainability may, may wanna come and talk to me.
[1:03:44] - Yes. Well I can reassure, reassure both of you that
[1:03:48] in the discussions that are underway about the formulation
[1:03:52] of a community group
[1:03:57] to move forward, Benner
[1:04:00] and College Township will be active members.
[1:04:04] That is a given.
[1:04:06] And those discussions are underway now.
[1:04:10] So I think that it's
[1:04:15] not too far in the future.
[1:04:16] There will be more information about that.
[1:04:19] - Yeah. And I was also told by Paul Teaks office that
[1:04:26] That route of using Zoning
[1:04:30] to help achieve these goals is pretty solid
[1:04:35] in that, according to them, the people that I talked
[1:04:39] to in his office, the state will not go against
[1:04:43] local Zoning.
[1:04:46] They will not do that. And so,
[1:04:48] but if it's already in place Right, then it's solid.
[1:04:52] But if it's like, oh, we'll talk about that later. Right.
[1:04:55] And then I know everybody's saying it'll take years,
[1:04:58] but it's kind of like travel.
[1:04:59] Right. You know? Yeah.
[1:05:01] You rush, rush, rush, rush, rush to wait. Yeah.
[1:05:04] And so I'd rather rush, rush, rush
[1:05:07] to have something established Yes.
[1:05:11] In, in terms of Zoning than to wait until we hear, oh,
[1:05:16] this is gonna be decided in this state committee tomorrow,
[1:05:20] state legislative committee tomorrow or Right.
[1:05:22] You know, I I, right. You know,
[1:05:23] that's a hypothetical, but Right.
[1:05:25] Anyway, yeah. The, the i I know that the Zoning
[1:05:28] is really key. Yeah,
[1:05:30] - It is.
[1:05:31] It is. Anything else?
[1:05:36] - I had like to just add a little bit more clarification on
[1:05:39] the work group and that approach, the watershed commission,
[1:05:44] we have our storm water work group, which was self-organized
[1:05:48] by the Fish and Boat Commission
[1:05:50] and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission.
[1:05:52] And they operate on a work plan so
[1:05:56] that they can identify projects
[1:05:57] and kind of move more agilely than a,
[1:05:59] than a traditional committee that's not necessarily ruled
[1:06:02] by one one organization.
[1:06:05] And so we had discussion on the rock view work group at the
[1:06:09] last meeting and then it was discussed again in the
[1:06:12] executive committee meeting.
[1:06:14] And so we're going to proceed
[1:06:16] and just so the commission knows kind of the strategy,
[1:06:18] because it is a huge issue
[1:06:20] and it's easy to get really big really fast
[1:06:24] throughout the spring.
[1:06:25] We have had educational sessions throughout the community,
[1:06:30] we've had the public hearings
[1:06:32] and the primary partners that have been a part
[1:06:35] of those initiatives include Clearwater Conservancy,
[1:06:38] the Centre County Farm Bureau, College Township,
[1:06:41] Benner Township, the Chamber of Business and Industry
[1:06:44] and Mountain Knee Conservancy.
[1:06:47] And so one of the first steps
[1:06:51] to just getting this conversation off the ground
[1:06:53] and building that table for people to sit around is
[1:06:57] that we are going to organize an initial kind
[1:07:00] of kickoff meeting with those partners in those initiatives
[1:07:03] that have been sending these letters
[1:07:05] and part of the campaign to begin with.
[1:07:08] And then they can kind of think about the strategy
[1:07:11] and the work group and as one cohesive work group,
[1:07:15] we can then think about how are we going
[1:07:17] to then synthesize the community's vision,
[1:07:20] how are we gonna communicate, you know,
[1:07:22] the best practices for this situation.
[1:07:24] So that will be coming up
[1:07:26] and any input that you have into the conversation,
[1:07:30] we need any input that we can get
[1:07:32] or feedback that we could get.
[1:07:33] But that's kind of just a little bit about the strategy for
[1:07:36] how we'll get things off the ground.
[1:07:38] - Right. - Well if I can ask a, just a quick question.
[1:07:40] Are you talking about an additional work group
[1:07:42] that we're looking to form or are you talking about the work
[1:07:44] group that's existing
[1:07:46] - That's under discussion about how it would be organized
[1:07:51] and not, there's a, there is agreement
[1:07:55] that there shouldn't be one local entity that controls it
[1:07:59] and it's, which makes it
[1:08:05] a little bit more challenging to organize.
[1:08:07] But all of
[1:08:11] what Elise mentioned is at play
[1:08:16] - And, but kind of talking about the groups that are kind
[1:08:18] of loosely speaking right now.
[1:08:20] Right. Not talking about a duplicated effort. Right.
[1:08:24] - Yeah. Right. Yep.
[1:08:25] A singular effort that will mobilize folks
[1:08:29] and have a sit down so that many of the ideas
[1:08:34] that Barbara suggested suggested with
[1:08:39] experts in certain areas associated with
[1:08:44] the land, the water, the forest, the recharge, as well as
[1:08:50] governmental involvement, as well as understanding
[1:08:56] the need for a communication network, how
[1:09:00] information can be spread, all of those things are being,
[1:09:05] they're part of those discussions.
[1:09:07] Yeah. Yeah.
[1:09:09] And I can reassure you, I've been involved in a few of them
[1:09:14] with a lot of the organizations that are working
[1:09:19] to try and pull this together
[1:09:21] and the commission is one of the organizations that's
[1:09:26] urging this to come together.
[1:09:29] - Yeah. - Okay.
[1:09:35] - I just would like to thank Barbara again
[1:09:37] and when she speaks about rock view, I kind
[1:09:40] of envision this jewel and,
[1:09:42] and when Barbara describes it's a, some
[1:09:43] of the facets on the jewel, there are many facets here
[1:09:47] and we need to bring this to light.
[1:09:50] - Yeah. - Yeah.
[1:09:55] - Moving back to the agenda, I know we've got conversations
[1:10:00] for the second part of the meeting.
[1:10:04] Seven C, the county action plan,
[1:10:07] the sub-award program.
[1:10:11] - Yeah. So this is a, a grant program I, that is facilitated
[1:10:15] by the Centre County Conservation District
[1:10:18] and HRG Engineering, they have a sub-award grant program.
[1:10:22] It actually ends today.
[1:10:23] But I just wanted to give an update that Kevin Abbey
[1:10:28] and I were able to do some outreach with Ferguson Township
[1:10:30] so that they could apply for the grant program.
[1:10:33] So I know it is closing,
[1:10:35] but it's great that this conversation has resulted in
[1:10:39] help being able to help with more applications.
[1:10:42] So one of the contenders
[1:10:44] for the program will be an expansion of Lawn
[1:10:47] to Meadow conversion at Two Deck Park. Right
[1:10:51] - On the Township owned portion of two Deck Park.
[1:10:55] Yes. Yep. That's under discussion. Yep, yep.
[1:10:57] - And there's a couple other applicants where even
[1:11:00] the HRG coordinators are kind of sharing the awareness
[1:11:04] for whatever maintenance is the barrier
[1:11:07] to why people aren't applying our acres.
[1:11:09] My work crew is able to come in
[1:11:12] and help reduce that barrier
[1:11:13] through the establishment phase,
[1:11:15] which we'll talk about in a minute.
[1:11:17] - That plays right into seven DI know you wanted
[1:11:20] to make sure everyone was aware of the
[1:11:27] activities from the summer with the My Work program
[1:11:33] and Ethan is here so we want to acknowledge Ethan Baldwin.
[1:11:38] Yes, go ahead Elise.
[1:11:40] - We'll whip through this presentation quickly as a team.
[1:11:44] But the, just a refresher, we hosted a My work
[1:11:47] crew this past summer through Acres.
[1:11:50] The students get paid by the Office
[1:11:51] of Vocational Rehabilitation.
[1:11:53] We don't contribute, we just host it
[1:11:55] and develop the work plan.
[1:11:57] So this crew was able to go out
[1:11:59] and help all of the different community partners with
[1:12:02] successful implementation of watershed stewardship projects.
[1:12:06] So I'll let Ethan also introduce himself.
[1:12:10] - Hi, I'm Ethan. I am currently serving
[1:12:13] as a full-time AmeriCorps member
[1:12:14] for the Keystone Water Resources.
[1:12:16] But as at least had mentioned, I was hired
[1:12:19] as an acres job coach for this my work crew.
[1:12:22] So this slideshow here is gonna go over
[1:12:25] some of the stuff that we did this summer.
[1:12:27] That's my crew.
[1:12:29] - Yeah, we have Owen Lu. I'll go left to right. That's me.
[1:12:32] You probably know me. I'm Elise Owen Ludwig.
[1:12:35] We had Chris Aiden and then Ethan is on the right.
[1:12:38] So this was our work crew and we had a whole lot of fun.
[1:12:43] - These are the partners that we worked with
[1:12:45] for the projects over the summer,
[1:12:47] including Centre County Cap.
[1:12:54] Here are the projects that we did just very briefly,
[1:12:58] we're gonna go through these.
[1:13:01] So this is out at Calvary Church Managing Invasive Species.
[1:13:05] This is part of the CAP program maintaining the nurse crop
[1:13:10] as we tried to establish a native meadow out there by the,
[1:13:16] forget the name of it, but it's the bike park
[1:13:17] that's at Cal Church.
[1:13:19] - Yeah, I think it's the Hamer Bike.
[1:13:21] Mountain Bike Trail that's right
[1:13:22] between Calvary Church and Climb Knee. It's
[1:13:25] - Right there.
[1:13:26] - This is the Calvary Church in Harris Township. Yep. Yep.
[1:13:30] - These are trees lining the Hamer bike park.
[1:13:33] These, these little tubes at the base of the trees.
[1:13:38] We were trying it out. It's a way to effectively water them
[1:13:42] throughout basic the week.
[1:13:45] This is currently, well this photo was taken maybe two weeks
[1:13:49] ago, but this is currently what it looks like right now
[1:13:51] after the work we did this summer to establish this meadow,
[1:13:55] maintain it, make sure that it's thriving
[1:13:58] and from
[1:14:00] what we've heard people are loving the do right now.
[1:14:03] - The feedback is that it's a wonderland.
[1:14:05] And also I sit in on the Centre County Cap monthly meetings
[1:14:10] as a partner and they have multiple
[1:14:12] of these projects throughout the, the watershed
[1:14:16] and other watersheds in Centre County.
[1:14:19] The Calvary project was the only one, this was the pilot
[1:14:22] for getting our, my work crew involved
[1:14:23] in the establishment phase.
[1:14:24] And when they were through showing the status updates
[1:14:27] of the various project, they went through all of them.
[1:14:30] Some of them had some issues here or there or whatever.
[1:14:33] And they pulled up the calvary one
[1:14:35] and they said this is what an
[1:14:37] establishing meadow should look like. Yeah. So
[1:14:40] - That's great.
[1:14:41] - And then also building on the watershed cleanup day, we
[1:14:45] threw the right in the ring on like
[1:14:47] their first week of work.
[1:14:48] They helped organize and supervise 60 volunteers from St.
[1:14:53] Joe's down in Philadelphia.
[1:14:54] They were up for a Penn State camp. Wonderful.
[1:14:56] So they did some cleanups along the roads
[1:14:59] and then also helping out in Bald Eagle,
[1:15:01] which does need more attention
[1:15:07] - On West Whitehall Road.
[1:15:09] In Ferguson Township there's Windy Hill Farm,
[1:15:12] there's a riparian buffer running alongside a stream on
[1:15:16] this farm.
[1:15:18] We went out there and replaced a lot of the tree tubes
[1:15:20] that are currently closing,
[1:15:24] establishing trees in that buffer.
[1:15:27] - That one's worth mentioning. Ethan.
[1:15:30] This is a, a conserved property that sits
[1:15:36] just across Route 45 from the Musser gap.
[1:15:40] This is the home of Brandt and Cindy Pasquinelli
[1:15:44] and it's got a huge wetland area
[1:15:49] and slab cabin run flows through Windy Hill
[1:15:53] and it has been in the system.
[1:15:58] There's a beautiful spring at Windy Hill
[1:16:01] that has been monitored by
[1:16:04] the data collection in the watershed for 25,
[1:16:09] maybe even 30 years.
[1:16:11] It's immediately adjacent to, yeah. Right. Yep.
[1:16:14] At your pointer is the spring
[1:16:16] and this is immediately,
[1:16:17] this property's immediately adjacent to the greenway
[1:16:21] that goes from Musser and comes up to Whitehall Road
[1:16:26] and to the new regional park.
[1:16:28] Thank you. Yeah. So
[1:16:32] - This is the Tom Tig Monarch Butterfly Way station
[1:16:36] that our group constructed this summer.
[1:16:39] Right there it was just a patch of grass
[1:16:42] and now it is mulched over.
[1:16:44] We planted milkweed in there.
[1:16:47] Very specific kind of milkweed that monarch butterflies
[1:16:52] only go for when it's that turn for their lifecycle.
[1:16:56] It's coming along very nicely.
[1:17:01] In Ferguson Township we worked with HRG
[1:17:07] using maps that they provided with RJS.
[1:17:10] We placed these MS four storm drain medallions
[1:17:15] at, I'm gonna say just shy
[1:17:18] of 200 different drains and two work days
[1:17:23] - That the feedback on that one is
[1:17:25] the work crew always outperforms the work
[1:17:27] that they're handed and so they were blowing
[1:17:30] through placing these medallions.
[1:17:32] - That's great. They couldn't give us the maps fast enough.
[1:17:35] - No. - This is a sneer butterfly
[1:17:39] satellite garden at the U-U-F-C-C church
[1:17:44] off of West Whitehall Road.
[1:17:48] I believe it's adjacent to the yards out there. Yeah. Yeah.
[1:17:51] We cleaned up the garden, allowing them
[1:17:55] to land new stuff in there.
[1:17:58] - Our work crew also got trained in how
[1:18:00] to use dissolve oxygen meters and so they went out
[1:18:02] and did some dissolved oxygen assessments and then also
[1:18:06] provided some much needed extra feet in kicking
[1:18:08] around the stream, finding temperature loggers
[1:18:09] for Keystone Water Resources Center.
[1:18:16] - This was July?
[1:18:17] - Yeah, this was the July commission meeting tour
[1:18:20] that they attended. Yeah.
[1:18:22] - We attended a a FAC UHAA facility tour
[1:18:27] tour of the facility, learned a lot about water treatment,
[1:18:31] and I would say I was incredibly
[1:18:33] impressed with the facility.
[1:18:34] And so was Owen. He, he was pretty into it.
[1:18:39] - That's what getting through all of these different
[1:18:42] projects and getting the exposure, like, yes,
[1:18:44] it's helping successfully implement projects
[1:18:46] and it's also contributing so hugely
[1:18:49] to workforce development of underserved populations.
[1:18:53] So I'm so glad that they were able
[1:18:55] to get all this different exposure.
[1:18:56] We were able to be agile and respond to what they wanted.
[1:18:59] And I had a great time working with the crew.
[1:19:02] On one of my lunch breaks, I brought my cat
[1:19:03] to two deck park and we walked him around.
[1:19:06] So again, we had a lot of fun.
[1:19:08] - Yeah. It's much needed. Very important work.
[1:19:10] - So by the end of the summer, we ended up with building
[1:19:14] that reputation where we had a lot of different people,
[1:19:16] like be font burrow, coming to us
[1:19:18] with things that they needed help with.
[1:19:20] We even ran out of time
[1:19:21] before we could get through everything.
[1:19:23] 'cause you know, towards the end everyone was
[1:19:24] like, wait, no, we need this too.
[1:19:26] So we already have a wait list of projects
[1:19:29] for this program next summer.
[1:19:31] So if anybody else has any ideas,
[1:19:33] it's never too early to share them.
[1:19:36] - That's wonderful. Thank you Ian. Ethan, you're
[1:19:39] - Very welcome.
[1:19:40] - Yeah. The, the only question I have, the, the,
[1:19:45] the medallion that you're placing,
[1:19:49] would it be possible to make that like a regional,
[1:19:53] regional medallion at, like,
[1:19:58] when I'm out in the Pacific Northwest,
[1:20:01] it's like everything is for the salmon.
[1:20:04] So every time you see a drain
[1:20:06] or anything, the,
[1:20:07] the little medallion says protect the salmon.
[1:20:11] And, you know, yeah, there's, we come up with a cute, yeah,
[1:20:15] cute little logo for our medallion,
[1:20:19] for within the, the watershed,
[1:20:23] - It would be an item for discussion.
[1:20:24] Yeah. With these medallions, I will say they were purchased
[1:20:27] by the Township as part of the MS four permit.
[1:20:29] Right. For them to get credit for.
[1:20:31] So they are quite expensive
[1:20:33] and so they were kind of sitting in the closet
[1:20:35] and they didn't have the manpower to install 'em.
[1:20:38] So we were able to get them out
[1:20:41] of the closet and into the field. That's
[1:20:42] - Great.
[1:20:43] Okay. But now you're, now, now you're out of medallions
[1:20:46] and you got more places to go.
[1:20:47] Yeah. Yes. Okay.
[1:20:50] - Okay. - I've seen some medallions on campus
[1:20:53] and I think they key into the ches,
[1:20:55] the water scale, Chesapeake Bay.
[1:20:59] Okay. Could I ask now we've talked about the work group for,
[1:21:04] for Rockview, but I don't think we've ever,
[1:21:06] we haven't officially established it.
[1:21:08] Do we need to do that now or?
[1:21:11] - Well, the, the discussions
[1:21:13] that are underway in the community, I think,
[1:21:18] take immediate precedence.
[1:21:21] It's not something we will own.
[1:21:24] So it isn't something that we need to implement.
[1:21:28] We will be part of it.
[1:21:31] So I think that's
[1:21:34] to come up when we hear back from our partners.
[1:21:39] - So it's not one of our typical work
[1:21:41] groups. This is a different,
[1:21:43] - At the moment it's not different
[1:21:45] - Thing.
[1:21:46] Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
[1:21:47] - Interesting. I do just wanna chime in as somebody
[1:21:49] who rides up at Harvest Fields a lot, it's awesome.
[1:21:53] Like, you guys did a heck
[1:21:55] of a job up there seeing it from years past to, you know,
[1:22:00] I think two weeks ago was probably the last time I rode out
[1:22:02] there when it looked like that.
[1:22:04] It's awesome. So great work.
[1:22:07] - That's great. Okay, moving to new business,
[1:22:12] you wanted to announce our, we've selected
[1:22:16] our 26 27 AmeriCorps member,
[1:22:20] Alicia McIntyre.
[1:22:22] - Yeah. We interviewed five candidates
[1:22:24] and we're very excited
[1:22:25] to have Alicia start on the 25th of September.
[1:22:29] She will be hosted in the Ferguson Township building, so
[1:22:33] we've got the keys made up for her waiting for her arrival.
[1:22:36] Her desk will be right next
[1:22:37] to Ethan Baldwin Keystone's AmeriCorps member.
[1:22:39] So there'll be close collaboration there.
[1:22:42] But she is extremely eager.
[1:22:44] She has such a passion for this work.
[1:22:47] She's a mother and she's just ready
[1:22:49] to really get out there and make a difference. Yeah.
[1:22:52] - Good. And then finally
[1:22:58] under new business call for projects.
[1:23:00] - Yeah, I think we can kind
[1:23:02] of bundle this into the educational topic,
[1:23:05] but just to set Okay.
[1:23:06] A, I guess make a comment
[1:23:08] and feel free to pitch in when we get to the next item,
[1:23:11] but we really would like to see some input
[1:23:14] of potential projects from each municipalities.
[1:23:18] We want to create a, a list of different projects
[1:23:21] that we could have throughout the watershed.
[1:23:23] So anything that you can do as representatives
[1:23:26] of your townships or your community, if you see
[1:23:30] or identify a potential project
[1:23:32] or a potential pitfall that could use our help,
[1:23:35] we really could use your help in identifying them.
[1:23:38] - Okay. Yeah. - Any you're,
[1:23:42] - You're saying for the Spring Creek Watershed commission
[1:23:46] or are you saying for like the,
[1:23:50] with the acres students and
[1:23:54] - Both. Yeah. But
[1:23:56] - I think Okay.
[1:23:57] - Once projects come forward, we can figure out the best way
[1:24:01] to link them in.
[1:24:03] - Okay. Yeah. - Acres is one tool that we have
[1:24:05] to make it happen.
[1:24:07] - Okay. - Okay.
[1:24:09] And then number nine are around the robin about
[1:24:14] watershed related news from member municipalities.
[1:24:18] Anyone have something they'd like to share?
[1:24:23] - Yeah, I went from Benner Township.
[1:24:26] There's been, you know, a number
[1:24:28] of discussions ongoing there about some potential
[1:24:34] Zoning changes that could, you know, we impact the water.
[1:24:40] One of them is, is development of a,
[1:24:43] a data center Zoning Ordinance.
[1:24:45] And that's, that's ongoing
[1:24:47] and that is going to be probably brought up
[1:24:50] for public review and comment in the next few months.
[1:24:56] Also, there looking at an agritourism Zoning
[1:25:03] to, I'm not sure exactly, you know, what,
[1:25:08] what the overall reach of that is,
[1:25:10] but, you know, they are looking at, you know, local tourism
[1:25:15] and it would, you know, basically help
[1:25:18] to control just access and things like that and,
[1:25:22] and manage any kind of like, you know,
[1:25:25] tourist tourist festival or something.
[1:25:27] Okay. And then as we, as we already discussed, looking at
[1:25:32] potential conservation overlay map right
[1:25:37] onto the rock site.
[1:25:39] - Thanks. - Yeah. Anyone else?
[1:25:43] - I'm, I'm gonna ask Joanne,
[1:25:45] do you have anything from the planning side for Beon?
[1:25:55] - The reason John is asking me
[1:25:57] to do this is I chair the Ordinance ad hoc
[1:26:00] committee for the Borough.
[1:26:02] We just finished and have sent out proposed
[1:26:09] Ordinance updates on fees in lieu of parks so
[1:26:13] that we can help improve our park system
[1:26:16] and improving the planning for
[1:26:22] traffic impact studies.
[1:26:24] When we looked at the both of those sections,
[1:26:26] they were both one sentence long
[1:26:28] and didn't give any clear say what we were going to do
[1:26:33] or how we're going to do it.
[1:26:34] It's now about 10 pages long,
[1:26:38] but that's, they were just sent out last week
[1:26:42] for the 30 day review to the municipalities
[1:26:45] and to the NI Valley Joint Planning
[1:26:48] Commission and to the county.
[1:26:49] All three groups are looking at it right now.
[1:26:54] I wanna thank Elise for giving us
[1:26:58] coming walking around.
[1:27:01] Krause Park with us, the Spring Creek Watershed Commission,
[1:27:05] and I don't know if it's Keystone Resources
[1:27:07] or Keystone Water Resources Center.
[1:27:09] Okay. They're going,
[1:27:11] we have a Krause Park at the very end comes
[1:27:13] to a very narrow tip
[1:27:15] and we've been losing a lot of land to AR erosion.
[1:27:19] So she agreed for the next two years we're going
[1:27:22] to be actually marking to see how much land we're doing
[1:27:26] and figure out how to mitigate this problem so
[1:27:28] that we don't lose more of the park
[1:27:30] that's right into the stream.
[1:27:32] - That's wonderful. - And you spoke of data centers.
[1:27:37] The Ordinance ad hoc committee in Bellon has for the last
[1:27:42] three months or so, has just kind of a general overview
[1:27:45] of what's going on, how's this happening, what's happening?
[1:27:48] At our meeting last week,
[1:27:50] we actually started looking at model Ordinance
[1:27:53] and saying, this is what we can and can't do.
[1:27:56] Knowing that, that within each region
[1:28:01] you have to be able to have a used put somewhere.
[1:28:04] So we're looking at what Beon can do without hurting
[1:28:08] our citizens and businesses.
[1:28:10] And one of the things
[1:28:12] that the NI Valley Joint Planning Commission is tomorrow
[1:28:16] is looking at an inter municipal agreement to talk about
[1:28:21] how we share uses and have it put in official language.
[1:28:24] Right now we say we do it,
[1:28:26] but there's nothing there to, to say
[1:28:29] that we should be doing it.
[1:28:30] Right. So that's gonna be a discussion
[1:28:31] at tomorrow night's meeting.
[1:28:34] - Thank you. That's a topic of conversation at a lot
[1:28:37] of the member municipalities last evening.
[1:28:41] Ferguson is looking at
[1:28:45] following the model that college developed in terms of
[1:28:51] making data centers a
[1:28:56] conditional use so that any
[1:29:00] that were presented would have direct involvement
[1:29:04] of the decision makers as you go forward.
[1:29:07] But yeah, lots going on there
[1:29:11] and a lot of discussion for some
[1:29:15] of these things came out of the authorities committee when
[1:29:20] Cory Miller, along with Ray Linas
[1:29:23] and Pam Adams talked a lot about what's out there,
[1:29:27] what can be done, what does the NPC allow
[1:29:31] Municipal planning code in Pennsylvania.
[1:29:34] Yeah. Anything else on around the watershed?
[1:29:40] Okay. If not, let's move to item 10.
[1:29:47] And it's my understanding that rather than have
[1:29:52] a educational topic from outside,
[1:29:55] there was interest coming out of
[1:29:59] discussions at the Watershed Commission about
[1:30:04] talking a little bit about the format, the history
[1:30:08] of the commission, and where it might go in the future.
[1:30:14] I can give just a brief intro.
[1:30:17] Many people in this room know this,
[1:30:21] but if you're newer on the scene, you might not recollect
[1:30:26] or remember, but in the,
[1:30:30] the Spring Creek Watershed Commission came out of
[1:30:35] and was created by Centre County back 30 years ago.
[1:30:39] And it resulted from an international
[1:30:44] contingent of folks that came to the watershed, worked
[1:30:49] with Clearwater Conservancy, Centre County,
[1:30:53] the Conservation District,
[1:30:56] Western Pennsylvania Conservancy was involved,
[1:30:59] I think the Pennsylvania Environmental
[1:31:01] Commission was involved.
[1:31:03] And what was decided in the mid nineties was
[1:31:07] that there should be a government oriented
[1:31:13] entity, the Penn, the Spring Creek Watershed Commission,
[1:31:17] as well as a citizen group,
[1:31:20] which became the Spring Creek watershed community.
[1:31:24] And they worked hand in hand for many years.
[1:31:29] After 10 years, the county went to
[1:31:33] local government and said, this is what's been accomplished.
[1:31:38] During that first 10 years, the model Ordinance
[1:31:42] for stormwater that was known
[1:31:44] as the Spring Creek watershed Ordinance,
[1:31:47] was developed in the county
[1:31:49] and was adopted by many municipalities within the watershed.
[1:31:54] And the county went to member municipalities
[1:31:57] and said, we think this bird has fledged
[1:32:01] and it's time if it's gonna continue,
[1:32:05] that the municipalities take it on.
[1:32:08] So in 2007,
[1:32:14] there are a total of 14 municipalities
[1:32:18] that have some small large
[1:32:21] footprint in the watershed.
[1:32:24] And 12 of those 14 municipalities
[1:32:28] decided this is a good idea
[1:32:31] and created under state law
[1:32:35] the Spring Creek Watershed Commission.
[1:32:38] And it was part of the
[1:32:42] intergovernmental cooperation law that allowed
[1:32:47] municipalities to come together
[1:32:49] and formulate this group in
[1:32:53] 2007.
[1:32:55] So next year will be the 30th overall anniversary
[1:33:00] and 20th of the watershed commission made up
[1:33:04] of individual and municipalities.
[1:33:09] That has been a very useful charter document
[1:33:14] or enabling legislation, if you want to call it that.
[1:33:18] It came with, and the commission developed bylaws.
[1:33:23] Those bylaws were last reviewed
[1:33:27] and revised three years ago when it became apparent that
[1:33:32] the executive committee
[1:33:37] and leaders on the watershed community
[1:33:40] or commission should not strictly be elected officials.
[1:33:45] The first, what would've been 16 years,
[1:33:50] the person sitting in this chair
[1:33:53] and the vice chair, Chris
[1:33:55] under the bylaws had to be elected officials.
[1:33:59] And when we saw that in 23, we were looking at
[1:34:04] a situation where we didn't have elected officials that
[1:34:09] were active and prepared to do that.
[1:34:12] We revise the bylaws amongst other things to
[1:34:16] allow an alternate member of the commission to be
[1:34:22] a chair or vice chair.
[1:34:24] And Bob Igo, if he's still with us,
[1:34:29] was the first alternate from Harris that served
[1:34:32] as vice chair.
[1:34:34] And then when Randy stepped down, I stepped forward in
[1:34:40] July to be the chair.
[1:34:43] So that's sort of how we got here.
[1:34:47] And in the last
[1:34:52] few years, Milberg has stepped back
[1:34:55] and said that they don't want to be involved anymore.
[1:34:59] That left 11 Potter Township
[1:35:02] and Walker were active until Potter
[1:35:07] until 2025.
[1:35:10] They stepped away or told us that their
[1:35:15] on pause during this year
[1:35:17] and Walker also this year.
[1:35:21] But there's continuing discussions about how
[1:35:24] to reengage them.
[1:35:27] So Elise,
[1:35:30] - Yeah.
[1:35:31] So thanks Kevin
[1:35:31] for just giving us a refresher on the history.
[1:35:35] I know I've been involved with the Watershed Commission
[1:35:37] for almost maybe even four years now, so I can speak
[1:35:40] to it in recent years.
[1:35:42] And I think there's been a really massive beautiful shift
[1:35:44] that's occurred historically.
[1:35:46] There's been so much planning that's happened
[1:35:48] with the Watershed Commission.
[1:35:49] There's phase one, two,
[1:35:51] and three of these plans
[1:35:53] that you can find on our website under stewardship plan.
[1:35:56] And a lot of time, energy
[1:35:58] and money has been inspe invested into,
[1:36:01] on a watershed level looking at what are the threats
[1:36:04] to Spring Creek, what are potential solutions,
[1:36:06] what are potential strategies?
[1:36:09] And now with phase three, we're in the implementation phase
[1:36:13] of the, we need to do things phase.
[1:36:17] So that's great that we're now focusing on implementation
[1:36:21] and we have all of those experts that have pitched in on
[1:36:25] what it is that we need to implement in a, in order
[1:36:27] to protect for Creek
[1:36:29] and what are some of the threats that
[1:36:31] we should be paying attention to.
[1:36:34] One of the things that I have noticed in
[1:36:37] probably the past two years is a big tone shift
[1:36:39] with the community and the conversation.
[1:36:42] And now some of being able
[1:36:44] to bring together the partners in a watershed thinking lens
[1:36:49] where you're looking at an integrated system
[1:36:52] of the water authorities and the government and the business
[1:36:54] and you know, all of that on one cohesive level so
[1:36:58] that there's again, a shared table to be able to,
[1:37:00] to tackle these issues.
[1:37:02] Some of the management practices in the plants don't
[1:37:04] necessarily need to be things
[1:37:05] that are put in by the commission.
[1:37:07] Like Clearwater, they've got a beautiful repair buffer
[1:37:10] program, how can we support them?
[1:37:14] There's so many things we can do
[1:37:15] and even in the most recent past year, I've been seeing
[1:37:19] community members and partners start to come to us
[1:37:22] or our committees and say, you know, here's something
[1:37:25] that we need help with or here's what we're doing.
[1:37:28] And then we're able to figure out how we can,
[1:37:30] as the watershed commission working across the
[1:37:33] municipalities and across the organizations, bring
[1:37:36] that successful implementation to fruition.
[1:37:40] So those are some of the biggest things that I have noticed.
[1:37:44] There's numerous things in our plans
[1:37:46] that I feel like we have made progress towards,
[1:37:49] like assessing
[1:37:50] and collecting resources, identifying the best practice,
[1:37:53] getting out into the community and,
[1:37:55] and educating, you know,
[1:37:56] we're not a regulatory agency at all.
[1:37:59] We are volunteer municipal teamwork.
[1:38:02] And so being able to get out
[1:38:05] and kind of educate on the issues of Spring Creek
[1:38:07] and spark those conversations
[1:38:09] is something that's been ongoing.
[1:38:11] And then also, I know that the watershed commission's
[1:38:14] looking towards, you know, gradually increasing capacity so
[1:38:17] that we can have time to look at more
[1:38:18] of these things more holistically.
[1:38:20] So those are some
[1:38:21] of my observations from the past couple years
[1:38:24] of the Watershed Commission and,
[1:38:25] and where we've been at in transitioning from all
[1:38:29] of this planning into successful implementation.
[1:38:32] And I think that we have such a great group
[1:38:35] of resources at the table now,
[1:38:37] and now, you know, Chris agrees it's a good time
[1:38:40] to have a discussion about where we get to go from here.
[1:38:44] 'cause it's not, you know,
[1:38:45] us just saying, here's what we should do.
[1:38:46] It's, it's a, it's an ongoing collaborative conversation.
[1:38:52] - Yeah. So I'll chime in here with kind of my view
[1:38:57] of it having just joined the commission in January
[1:39:02] to kind of, you know, bouncing off some of the things
[1:39:06] that Kevin said where, you know,
[1:39:07] over the past few years we're starting to lose some
[1:39:11] of our members looking at what the,
[1:39:14] what makes this organization vital?
[1:39:17] Like, you know, if we're losing members,
[1:39:19] I think there's a lack of vitality
[1:39:21] that we show the public in what we do.
[1:39:24] And I think that's, you know, maybe just kind
[1:39:27] of the public facing of it.
[1:39:29] You know, the baseline, what we have,
[1:39:30] the Atlas is a fantastic project.
[1:39:32] The monitoring that we do is a fantastic project.
[1:39:35] And I think one of the things that we're starting
[1:39:36] to do a lot better is fostering partnerships really
[1:39:41] for the good of the watershed.
[1:39:42] And what I see as being an opportunity right now is for us
[1:39:46] to really get together
[1:39:49] and focus on what it is we do,
[1:39:52] why we do it, and how we do it.
[1:39:54] And I feel like this is something that was really kind
[1:39:57] of missing when I came in
[1:39:58] and through the discussions with executive committee,
[1:40:01] you know, really trying to figure out,
[1:40:04] you know, what is our focus?
[1:40:05] And I think it's to really preserve, protect
[1:40:09] and promote very specifically the Spring Creek watershed
[1:40:12] and to be a partner for the municipalities to come
[1:40:16] to with their ideas.
[1:40:18] I think at no point should we ever necessarily dictate,
[1:40:20] but I wanna be a trusted partner.
[1:40:22] I wanna make sure that, you know, kind of
[1:40:24] what Elise was saying, you know, calling for projects
[1:40:26] for from municipalities, ways that, you know,
[1:40:29] if we have the expertise, if we have,
[1:40:32] if we can connect the dots.
[1:40:33] And I know there's a lot of other organizations
[1:40:35] that are doing that same work as well,
[1:40:37] but I think if our focus is very specifically the Spring
[1:40:40] Creek watershed, letting that be where we spend our effort,
[1:40:44] where we spend our time, I think there's really a lot
[1:40:48] of opportunity there for us to grow.
[1:40:50] And you know, another thing
[1:40:51] that really got me very specifically
[1:40:54] interested in this conversation is looking at our budget
[1:40:57] for next year where we do have a shortfall
[1:40:59] and we're looking at, you know, I think
[1:41:02] as an elected official, I don't think you can keep tapping,
[1:41:06] you know, more per capita, you know,
[1:41:12] I don't wanna say donations, that's not what it is,
[1:41:14] but we can't keep asking
[1:41:15] for more from the member municipalities.
[1:41:19] I think what we do need to do is really start to invest in,
[1:41:24] you know, a list of projects that we have kind of ready
[1:41:26] and on hand looking at grants, looking at capacity grants so
[1:41:29] that we can actually fund Elisa's work, which would free up
[1:41:34] the money that we get from municipalities
[1:41:36] to do work specifically within the municipalities.
[1:41:38] Looking at upstream, downstream, looking at some
[1:41:42] of the municipalities that have dropped recently
[1:41:44] and showing them, you know, we have projects that we can do
[1:41:48] that are in your region.
[1:41:51] This is how we become a vital partner.
[1:41:53] And, you know, really looking at the momentum we have
[1:41:56] with the stormwater work group in identifying, you know,
[1:42:01] really kind of, I don't wanna say easier projects,
[1:42:03] but projects that are doable by a smaller organization
[1:42:08] and really starting to stack those wins as we, you know,
[1:42:12] get the capacity to take more on, we can start
[1:42:15] to match grants that come in.
[1:42:17] We can start to really make a difference across the
[1:42:20] entirety of the watershed.
[1:42:22] And I mean, for me, I think that's, that's the kind
[1:42:25] of organization I would like
[1:42:27] to see the watershed commission be like all serving
[1:42:31] specifically the health of the Spring Creek watershed.
[1:42:34] So again, that's kind of just what I've
[1:42:37] synthesized over the past nine months or so.
[1:42:41] And I'd be interested to hear from people that have been
[1:42:43] around here longer
[1:42:45] or you know, even the, the newer members, you know, kind of
[1:42:48] what you've seen, what you see
[1:42:51] or you know, just that's me kind of spouting
[1:42:53] what I see moving forward.
[1:42:56] So
[1:42:57] - If I might, just, in our founding documents,
[1:43:01] it was anticipated that as the commission started
[1:43:06] to do projects that they,
[1:43:10] the commission would define a
[1:43:15] project or a program
[1:43:17] and communicate to the municipalities where
[1:43:23] the question would become, are you interested in this?
[1:43:26] Is this one that you might like to participate in?
[1:43:29] And the, it speaks to the fact that municipalities would,
[1:43:34] you know, raise a hand and say, yeah, well
[1:43:36] that sounds interesting, give us more.
[1:43:39] And then the format is that
[1:43:44] the commission would then formulate a specific budget
[1:43:48] that would cover the cost of doing
[1:43:51] that program or that project.
[1:43:54] And for the, let's say three
[1:43:57] or five municipalities that were interested there would,
[1:44:02] they'd be presented with a budget
[1:44:06] where the commission would propose, here's the partnership,
[1:44:10] here's the project, this is how it could work, this is
[1:44:13] how it would get funded.
[1:44:14] And then go back to those municipalities to,
[1:44:20] apart from their administrative contribution,
[1:44:23] look at a specific project and decide yay or nay.
[1:44:29] My share of let's say $5,000, 10,000,
[1:44:35] fill in the blank suits our municipality
[1:44:40] and we'd like to go forward.
[1:44:41] So that was laid out in the documents 20 years ago.
[1:44:46] And it was used in the development of the
[1:44:51] developing the phase two plan.
[1:44:56] The, after the initial phase one was done in 2003,
[1:45:01] then we went back out to the commission, went
[1:45:04] to municipalities and said, phase two is gonna cost this.
[1:45:08] Are you interested in participating?
[1:45:11] There were private sector participants, some
[1:45:15] of the municipal authorities threw in money
[1:45:19] and I'd be hard pressed to remember the number,
[1:45:23] but the account that gets reported
[1:45:28] every two months at now that it has $2,100,
[1:45:33] that's the remnant from doing the phase two plan.
[1:45:37] So to your point, it was
[1:45:42] envisioned that the commission would do this,
[1:45:45] and here's kind of the protocol.
[1:45:49] Yeah.
[1:45:50] - When I kind of see the moment that we're at right now,
[1:45:53] it's, it's time to do it.
[1:45:56] Yeah. And you know, again, seeing the, you know,
[1:45:59] us going a little bit over budget next year,
[1:46:01] like it's Right, I see freeing up the funds to start
[1:46:04] to do the projects, to get us back to a, you know,
[1:46:08] really a, at least a break even.
[1:46:10] Yes. If not, you know, starting to stockpile a little more
[1:46:14] so that if we do find a project where we need to draw funds,
[1:46:18] we can support that.
[1:46:21] - And one other thing, just as a footnote, the
[1:46:25] watershed commission, with the exception of doing that,
[1:46:29] to my knowledge, with the exception
[1:46:31] of doing the phase two plan, has always been all volunteer
[1:46:36] until we started to bring in an AmeriCorps
[1:46:41] with Elise and others to have help.
[1:46:46] So, and you know, our,
[1:46:52] we've been very frugal
[1:46:54] and while we have a small budget, I think your,
[1:47:00] your point's well taken that it's a good time to
[1:47:05] start looking to do more.
[1:47:06] - Well yeah. And especially having asked, you know,
[1:47:09] raise the municipal share from 10 cents over, what,
[1:47:11] four years ago to,
[1:47:13] - It was - 25 now. Six, six
[1:47:16] - Years.
[1:47:17] 2022. It was
[1:47:17] - 2022. Yeah.
[1:47:18] - Yeah. It was 10. Yeah. - So four years ago,
[1:47:22] - That's five.
[1:47:23] - Is it, it's 2026 right now. - Right? 22, 23, 24, 25.
[1:47:27] - In any case, in any case, you have to come here knowing,
[1:47:31] knowing that we can go back to the municipalities
[1:47:33] and say, this is what you're getting
[1:47:34] for your increased chair.
[1:47:35] Right. I think that's, that's really a position of strength
[1:47:38] where we can come in
[1:47:40] and really again, prove that we're vital.
[1:47:41] Maybe invite some of the lapsed members back in. Yes.
[1:47:46] - Yeah. And the budget letter that I sent out tried to
[1:47:52] characterize what's been going on in 2026,
[1:47:56] because when we went through the budget process last year,
[1:48:02] a number of municipalities, college, Benner, Ferguson,
[1:48:07] all said, make sure you keep us up
[1:48:10] to date on what you're doing.
[1:48:13] And so that's in there.
[1:48:14] - Yeah. And it's a good letter, so I appreciate that. Yep.
[1:48:19] - Yeah. If I may speak a little bit about the history.
[1:48:22] So, you know, that international group that came in,
[1:48:26] you know, it also involved the Chesapeake Bay Foundation
[1:48:29] and, you know, there were scientists that came from Europe
[1:48:32] that came from different states, came from Maryland
[1:48:35] and so forth, all came here to study this
[1:48:37] because they, they, they recognized the significance
[1:48:42] of this watershed and they found that,
[1:48:48] that there was a need for a commission
[1:48:50] because there's such development going on.
[1:48:54] And that was kind of the push that,
[1:48:58] that needed somebody to be looking at the watershed
[1:49:01] and keeping an eye on things.
[1:49:04] And so, like I say, out of that came plan development,
[1:49:09] you know, there's these different documents.
[1:49:11] We have the phase one plan, phase two plan that have,
[1:49:14] have established goals, metrics, you know,
[1:49:19] that we can't lose sight of either, you know, and,
[1:49:22] and a lot of that has already identified these threats that,
[1:49:26] that need that we need to keep our eyes on.
[1:49:29] So, you know, one thing that we can do is kind of revisit
[1:49:32] that a little bit and refresh ourselves on some of
[1:49:35] that basic, you know, it was a lot of hard work.
[1:49:39] I was on one of the technical committees that was looking at
[1:49:45] did we have enough data
[1:49:47] or do we have gaps that we need to fill and so forth.
[1:49:50] Well, there were some gaps,
[1:49:52] but overall, you know, this is a very,
[1:49:55] very well studied watershed, so there's no lack of expertise
[1:50:00] and the commission has that role to bring
[1:50:02] that expertise together.
[1:50:04] And I think that there was some struggling to do that
[1:50:10] until we finally hired some staff, you know,
[1:50:13] because up until that point it was all volunteer
[1:50:17] and that's difficult.
[1:50:18] You know, you have municipal members who have their,
[1:50:20] their duties, you have private citizens, you know,
[1:50:23] we're just trying to contribute their time.
[1:50:25] So that was really the shift in the whole drive
[1:50:30] of this commission when,
[1:50:31] when finally started hiring some help.
[1:50:34] Yeah. And you know, that's our watershed coordinator,
[1:50:37] that's our AmeriCorps member.
[1:50:39] And you know, we,
[1:50:42] we do now we are facing some budget shortfalls
[1:50:45] because of that need.
[1:50:47] And we do have the cushion to allow this to continue.
[1:50:51] And we need that staff to help build
[1:51:00] grant request and,
[1:51:01] and look at, you know, money streams and so forth.
[1:51:04] So it's not something we can just do as volunteers.
[1:51:08] So I guess, you know,
[1:51:12] I I, I've seen the change in the commission
[1:51:15] and I, I think it's, it's, it's a, it very good direction
[1:51:19] and continuing this direction, I think
[1:51:21] that we can really help protect the watershed as,
[1:51:25] as Chris is saying, should be our goal.
[1:51:28] - Yeah. I think, I think it's just very important
[1:51:30] to really stress that this is an opportune time to strike.
[1:51:33] I think, you know, the work that Elise does is incredible,
[1:51:35] and I think it's going to allow us
[1:51:36] to do much more than we've done in the past.
[1:51:40] And I don't want to be like, you know,
[1:51:41] I'm sounding the alarm, oh my God, we need
[1:51:43] to get our budget in line.
[1:51:44] I think we can sustain a few years of this to make sure
[1:51:47] that this is something we can do.
[1:51:48] But I felt that it was important
[1:51:50] that we have this discussion.
[1:51:52] So that's actually front of mind for everybody
[1:51:55] that's on this commission, that we are really trying
[1:51:57] to pivot right now to a project
[1:52:02] and grant funded organization.
[1:52:06] So really starting to find the projects
[1:52:09] that we can work on across the watershed.
[1:52:11] And I will say, you know, with development being, you know,
[1:52:14] really the major threat
[1:52:16] and with stormwater runoff being a major threat, looking at
[1:52:19] that as being kind of a, a focus right now
[1:52:22] because we do have the stormwater work group, knowing that
[1:52:25] that's a problem that needs to be solved across the entirety
[1:52:29] of the watershed, and finding projects
[1:52:31] where we can really make
[1:52:34] differences one location at a time.
[1:52:37] I, I do think it's an opportunity to again, show
[1:52:40] that we are a vital member of the,
[1:52:43] of the conservation community.
[1:52:46] - And one of, I'm sorry, one of the things that,
[1:52:49] that Elise talked about was that pub, what was it?
[1:52:53] The public, public project viewer.
[1:52:56] So that's a, you know, helps to
[1:53:00] put us in the spotlight a little bit, you know, show
[1:53:03] what we're doing and all.
[1:53:04] But, you know, Barbara had made the suggestion in her when,
[1:53:09] when she addressed the, the commission here that
[1:53:14] we need to really involve the public a lot and,
[1:53:17] and perhaps, you know, have more of a a,
[1:53:23] some of these projects and so forth shown on the website.
[1:53:27] I believe that. That's right.
[1:53:32] So anyway, enough
[1:53:36] - Want, again, kind of get looking at the projects
[1:53:38] and the call for projects specifically
[1:53:39] that Elise, you are looking for.
[1:53:41] You know, can the elected officials on this board
[1:53:46] just get something out in your community newsletters?
[1:53:50] I know like Harris does send out the newsletter,
[1:53:51] just put out a call for Yes.
[1:53:53] You know, do you, what do you see in the watershed?
[1:53:56] Put it out to every citizen that receives an e update. Yep.
[1:54:00] You know, like we're looking,
[1:54:00] that's a really good suggestion.
[1:54:01] We're looking for, we're looking for projects
[1:54:04] and you know, don't just go to the electeds
[1:54:07] or go to the planning, like put it out to the public,
[1:54:09] say like, we are looking, we're looking for work.
[1:54:13] And as we can amass, you know, a list, then we can start
[1:54:17] to match, you know, find a grant, say this project,
[1:54:21] this project, this project.
[1:54:23] And it kind of gives us a little bit of momentum
[1:54:26] to start, you know, moving forward. Yeah.
[1:54:28] - Ethan, - Building on top of that,
[1:54:33] - I, - I think in the role that I serve
[1:54:37] as an AmeriCorps member with the Keystone Water Resources,
[1:54:40] I, in a very small capacity, could potentially help you
[1:54:46] find new projects
[1:54:47] and add to that list of projects that you want to do
[1:54:49] that concerns the health
[1:54:50] and the integrity, integrity of the Spring Creek watershed.
[1:54:55] So more specifically, just for contact's sake,
[1:55:00] it's gonna be my responsibility to carry out the Water
[1:55:05] resource monitoring project that Keystone executes
[1:55:08] by going out into the watershed, going into streams,
[1:55:12] collecting water samples, accumulating data, processing
[1:55:15] that data and publishing it.
[1:55:17] But while I'm out there in the actual physical watershed,
[1:55:20] I am the eyes
[1:55:22] and ears on the ground taking note of
[1:55:27] the health of the waters in the streams itself.
[1:55:30] If I noticed an impaired
[1:55:33] or eroding stream bank, such as the one in Tally Park,
[1:55:38] I can be there to take note of that, document it
[1:55:41] and, sorry, I believe she brought it up and bring that up
[1:55:45] and make it aware to the attention of the commission
[1:55:49] as was mentioned before, I'm gonna be
[1:55:51] in the next desk right.
[1:55:53] Over from the Commission's AmeriCorps member. Right.
[1:55:56] You know, I'll be working very, very closely. Yeah.
[1:55:59] And it's a, it can be a collaborative thing, while
[1:56:03] the things I'll be noticing will be
[1:56:06] directly from the streams.
[1:56:08] You may want a larger scope of different projects.
[1:56:12] That's just one area that I can be of help to.
[1:56:15] So I just wanna put that out there.
[1:56:17] - Thank you. That's fantastic. That's great.
[1:56:20] Everybody pitching in. Yep.
[1:56:23] - I mean the, the information
[1:56:32] Township Supervisors and Borough councils are like waves
[1:56:39] and so what, how, how, how,
[1:56:45] how they balance and how they think
[1:56:48] can change every two to four years.
[1:56:50] - Sure. Yeah. Yeah.
[1:56:52] - And so, you know,
[1:56:57] the, the collecting the information
[1:57:01] and thinking about
[1:57:05] those possible projects is also one of those things.
[1:57:10] So you have to wait for the time
[1:57:11] that you have the receptive audience
[1:57:14] - Correct.
[1:57:16] - And the given community.
[1:57:20] So it is, I-I-I-I-I,
[1:57:26] I do like your idea of making the observations
[1:57:32] and then coming back to
[1:57:36] the commission and we have been having the opportunity
[1:57:42] at that, at that point Yeah.
[1:57:45] To say, do we think we, we have a program
[1:57:50] and do we think that we have the interested communities?
[1:57:55] Because that's, as I say, it's always a wave
[1:58:01] and that sometimes that that project is going
[1:58:06] to go and maybe sometimes you're gonna have to wait for two
[1:58:09] to four years Yep.
[1:58:11] When that project does go. Yeah.
[1:58:14] - Well I think that starting that dialogue was part of what
[1:58:20] Elise brought to me was that
[1:58:26] it's a process and we need to start talking about it now
[1:58:29] and working toward it so that
[1:58:33] we can start putting projects on the table that we
[1:58:37] put a call for projects in the agenda.
[1:58:40] I think the committee meetings
[1:58:42] that go forward are gonna have that implementation focus so
[1:58:47] that while we can talk about
[1:58:51] other things, the idea of partners coming forward
[1:58:56] and pitching in to move projects forward
[1:58:59] is at the base of everything.
[1:59:02] Yeah.
[1:59:05] - I would just like to add, you know,
[1:59:07] there's been talk about, you know, a lot about storm water.
[1:59:12] One of the biggest concerns of mine is base flow
[1:59:16] and, you know, base flow, you know,
[1:59:21] it needs protected as well.
[1:59:23] And they do go somewhat hand in hand
[1:59:25] because, you know, storm water flashing is generated from
[1:59:29] impious surfaces and impious surfaces reduced base flow.
[1:59:33] So a lot of it is just focusing on reduction
[1:59:37] or control of impervious surfaces.
[1:59:39] So we are way beyond the tipping point.
[1:59:43] The normal tipping point for a watershed like ours
[1:59:47] and our base flow is what has saved us up to this point.
[1:59:54] - My favorite statistic, not, not that it's a great thing,
[1:59:56] but most trout populations crash over
[2:00:00] after nine to 11% impervious surface.
[2:00:03] And our watershed has exceeded that since 1995.
[2:00:07] And so it's just that, that steady stream of,
[2:00:10] of groundwater coming outta the ground,
[2:00:12] but it's still declining, like base flow's declining.
[2:00:15] And one of the things mentioned in our watershed planning
[2:00:18] eras is identifying the recharge areas.
[2:00:22] And I do think one of the great things
[2:00:24] that we've done is working
[2:00:25] with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission,
[2:00:27] bringing Graham Markowitz in talking
[2:00:29] with the Centre Region Planning Agency,
[2:00:31] and making sure that those blue zones of critical
[2:00:34] recharge areas are identified and protected.
[2:00:37] And I know that's something we've been really pushing into
[2:00:39] the rock view conversation as well.
[2:00:42] - And it's been a nice connection with Clearwater as well,
[2:00:44] because it fits right into how they look at properties
[2:00:48] that they should be trying to help
[2:00:52] owners conserve.
[2:00:54] - Yep. - Yeah. But is there, okay, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna,
[2:00:58] I'm gonna put on my little understanding
[2:01:00] or probably go in the, on the edge
[2:01:04] of what's really knowledge,
[2:01:07] but is the rock,
[2:01:08] is the rock view property really the recharge area
[2:01:12] as opposed to what's out beyond Ferguson, Patton
[2:01:17] and Half Moon Township?
[2:01:19] - There's several throughout the watershed.
[2:01:22] So the Scotia Barons is a big one.
[2:01:26] The forested canopy is one of the things that contributes,
[2:01:28] there's a lot of different things that go into that layer.
[2:01:31] One of it is, does it have trees
[2:01:33] and you know, is it already forested?
[2:01:35] And so that makes it one of those blue zones.
[2:01:38] It's not gonna say like, once it's been developed on,
[2:01:41] those maps aren't gonna show it as a recharge area anymore.
[2:01:44] Even if it was one of them, you'd have
[2:01:46] to dive down deeper into the layers of it.
[2:01:48] But Rockview does have critical recharge areas on it.
[2:01:52] - Yep. Okay. Alright.
[2:01:54] Yeah, I mean I'm just being from Mont, you know,
[2:01:57] we always look at what comes out of the big spring, so.
[2:02:00] - Understood. It's important. Yeah.
[2:02:05] Anything else that we haven't covered?
[2:02:07] Anyone from the audience that wants to contribute?
[2:02:11] Thank you Ethan. Appreciate you being here.
[2:02:14] Welcome as an AmeriCorps,
[2:02:16] we look forward to working with you.
[2:02:18] - Thanks for having me. - Yeah.
[2:02:20] - We didn't even ask you, where are you from?
[2:02:22] Ethan? Rhode Island.
[2:02:24] - Rhode Island, - Okay. Okay.
[2:02:28] Very nice. Yeah. Hope you didn't like the sea.
[2:02:33] - It's, it's Been
[2:02:38] an exciting time At Ferguson Township.
[2:02:42] We have a new manager and a new public works director.
[2:02:47] And so having the AmeriCorps members
[2:02:50] in building six at
[2:02:53] Ferguson has been pretty exciting.
[2:02:56] So, well, if there's nothing else, I guess we have
[2:03:02] a couple matters of, let me get back to my agenda here.
[2:03:07] I didn't mean to put it away, but matters of record.
[2:03:11] Thank you. Always.
[2:03:15] Our event calendar, we try to maintain that.
[2:03:19] Item 11, our next regular meeting will be our last
[2:03:24] regular business meeting of the year.
[2:03:26] That's November 16th.
[2:03:28] And our friends from Penns Valley Conservation Association
[2:03:34] are gonna come and present.
[2:03:37] As John indicated earlier, Atlas meets
[2:03:42] tomorrow at from one to three at Patton.
[2:03:46] And then again October 15th.
[2:03:49] - That was just old habit Atlas is now meeting bimonthly.
[2:03:53] Okay. So they're only gonna be meeting
[2:03:56] in September, like tomorrow.
[2:03:57] Okay. And then, so basically they're every Thursday
[2:04:00] after watershed commission
[2:04:01] - Meetings.
[2:04:02] So it would be September 17th
[2:04:03] and then November 17th. Correct.
[2:04:05] - Okay. - At Patton one to three. Yeah.
[2:04:09] Government committee.
[2:04:10] October 15th is going to be here in College Township 11
[2:04:15] to noon conservation and stewardship committee.
[2:04:19] November 10, three to four 30.
[2:04:22] And they do that at the Willowbank building room
[2:04:24] 1 44 in Bellmont.
[2:04:28] And then the authorities committee
[2:04:31] is November 18th from one 30 to two 30.
[2:04:35] That's in the be font Borough offices.
[2:04:40] And the, is there a, give me the update.
[2:04:45] What do I call the former armory as compared
[2:04:50] to the, what was always the Beon Borough building?
[2:04:56] - I'm, I'm gonna defer to Joanne. Joanne
[2:04:59] - Is - I always,
[2:05:00] - What should I call it?
[2:05:01] Armory building. Which one are you talking about?
[2:05:03] The The former armory
[2:05:05] that we had two of 'em, that's why I'm asking.
[2:05:07] Oh, okay. The one on Spring Street right across from
[2:05:10] where you have your meetings.
[2:05:11] It's called the Borough Building. The Borough Building now.
[2:05:14] Okay. Thank you. And that meeting is one 30
[2:05:17] to two 30 in the oak room on the second level.
[2:05:22] That's the first floor. Okay. First floor.
[2:05:26] That's also a debate that's being settled. Yeah.
[2:05:29] Depends which ready you go in. Yes. Anything else?
[2:05:34] - And if you go to Bellon
[2:05:35] and ask somebody where the Borough building is,
[2:05:37] you're better off saying The armor rebuilding.
[2:05:39] - Understood. Yeah. It's 3 0 1 North Spring Street.
[2:05:43] Everybody a motion to Adjourn?
[2:05:48] - I'll make that motion. - Second Chris? Yeah. Okay.
[2:05:52] Alright. All in favor? And we're adjourned. Thank you.
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