Branches & Programs

PARK RESOURCE BRANCH
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2005
MANHEIM TOWNSHIP PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT

President Chris Lessig called the meeting to order at 10:15 am. The following members were present: President Chris Lessig, Recording Secretary Judy Houck, Membership Secretary John Mikowychok, President Elect, John Spencer and Members At Large – Ed Chubb, Lindsay Taylor

Minutes – The minutes have been posted on the website and were approved as submitted.

2005 Conference Program – Programs are set. Please see your Registration Guide for sessions relative to Park Resources.

2006 Conference – Chris and Judy are serving as the Co-Chairs for the 2006 Conference, which will be held at Seven Springs Resort. Discussion was held regarding conference formats, executive training, looking for something different. The Program Committee will need a representative from the Park Resource Branch.

2005 Park Operations School/Park Maintenance Workshop - Lengthy discussion was held regarding topics and formats for the workshops. PRPS President Carolyn Hanel had requested that we explore developing some type of certification program for park maintenance personnel. After much discussion it was decided that we were not in the position to “certify” people and the scope of park maintenance was extremely broad. Other workshops and seminars were discussed and we felt that maybe due to our limited capabilities, we should focus on informing our members about all of the other training programs which already exist rather than developing a new program. To develop a list of topics that our members would like to be offered at our Park Maintenance Workshop, a survey was developed which will be placed on the website, distributed at the Conference and included with the next edition of “Branches”. The last time a survey and list of topics was developed was in 1997.

Branches – The Winter/Spring Issue will go to press the 1st week of February. It will be out before the conference. John is still trying to contact the Bushkill Stream Conservancy for an Agency Profile. Environmental Signage will be the theme of the next issue.

Plan of Work – PRPS Institutes – Chris has received comments from DCNR and State Parks. We reviewed their suggestions and reworked the Vision and Mission Statements. Chris will forward this information to the Board of Directors.

Raffle – Judy still has raffle tickets available. Tickets and money are due to Judy by the conference. If you are not attending, please send everything to Judy before March 11th.

Old Business
PRPS Magazine – Spring 2005 – Dennis DeMara will be the member profile and the featured park program will be the Perkiomen Trail.

Old Business
Web Pages – Judy and John Spencer has sent information to Emily for the web pages. Meeting minutes are sent as soon as they are prepared. As a reminder:
The following are the topic areas and the member responsible for it:

> Local, County, State and Federal Parks – Chris Lessig
> Turf and Athletic Field Maintenance – Kurt Uhler
> Environmental Education – John Spencer
> Greenways, Trails and Open Space Protection – Ed Chubb
> Heritage Areas – Sherry Acevedo
> Historic Preservation – Lindsay Taylor
> Fisheries and Wildlife Management – John Mikowychok
> Watershed Protection – Gary Pinkerton
> Environmental Issues – Neal McNutt
> News – Judy Houck

Elections – The following members has agreed to run for the corresponding offices in Spring of 2005 – President Elect – Kurt Uhler; Recording Secretary – Lindsay Taylor; Membership Secretary – John Mikowychok. Elections will take place at the conference.

New Business
Growing Greener – the republicans’ new version will be released today; everyone should keep up to date with this issue and contact your local legislators to gain support for it.

Act 298 – Privatization of Services Act – Ed updated everyone on this issue and suggested we keep our eyes and ears open about this issue – we may need to act on it.

Announcements –

Neal McNutt and his wife welcomed their second child, a baby boy, on January 2nd.
Sherry Acevedo and her husband welcomed their first child, a baby boy, on January 13th.

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ALL!

Next Meeting – Wednesday, March 23rd – President’s Breakfast Meeting – PRPS Conference in Hershey – 8 am

With there being no further business to attend to, the meeting was adjourned at 12 noon.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Houck
Recording Secretary