Call to Order: Keldeen Stambaugh for Barry Schoch

July 19, 2017 Minutes

Attendance: Barry Schoch, Keldeen Stambaugh, Marcia Nye, Cindy Hogeman, Carl Dickson, Gary Myers, Doug Charney, Geoffrey Knight, Rob Martin, Al Saxton, Mike Shaull, Brian Douglas, Stewart P. Robinson, Norman Lacasse, Tim Poole, Dan Harder, Diane Kripas, Becky Schuchert, Bob Johnston

Review/approval of minutes: Motion to approve by Carl, seconded by Marcia. Approved without changes.

Treasurer's report - Marcia Nye. Marcia noted that all the profits have been entered and about half of the expenses have been paid. Last year at this time our balance was $79,000. This year it is $93,000. Motion to accept treasurer's report: Gary, seconded by Carl. Approved.

Committee Reports: Barry now leading meeting

Membership - no report. Geoff requested to step down as chairman due to his charimanship in the Planning Committee. Barry accepted his change in committee assignments.

Development/Special Events: Tour-de-Belt report: Diane Kripas. The Wrap up meeting for Tour de Belt was held Monday July 15 at the Boro on Front St. Suggestions discussed at that meeting will be considered for next year. Diane invited suggestions for next year's Tour de Belt from the Board and others attending tonight. This year's participation was terrific and without accidents. No sag wagon pick-ups were needed. No EMT activity required. Consideration for next year: the EMT stationed at HACC, increase fees or not, increased riders, add a children's ride, ,types of sponsor packages offered, spacing out riders effectively, possibly more marshalls. Keep in mind the purpose of the TdB is family fun (not a race) and stressing safety. The post ride event at THE BORO was a success and a popular addition to this year's Tour de Belt.

Governance - no report

Public swimming in Spring Creek (Old Business) will be moved ahead in the agenda. Due to people swimming in the creek along the Greenbelt at multiple locations many concerns were raised. Due to the increased numbers of swimmers this year damage at the Five Senses Garden has occurred in planted areas as well as along stream banks. Other locations have experienced damage as well to the stream and banks. Trash has been left behind. Destruction of creek habitat plus erosion caused by moving rocks de-stabilizing the stream banks to build additional dams were only some of the issues. The discussion was spirited covering the problems and possible solutions. Legal issues due to no swimming ordinances at some locations, additional signage, policing strategies, jurisdiction issues due to multiple municipalities were discussed. After all aspects were covered Barry offered to write a letter on behalf of the Greenbelt explaining the issue and our concerns to Dauphin County Commissioners, Swatara Twp, and Harrisburg City to ask for their assistance. Based on their answer, we can make future plans.

Planning - Geoff Knight- Committee meeting was held, July 11.

Highlights: Construction of Capital Projects proposed in the Building a Better Greenbelt Plan: directional signage is complete, safety improvements at trail intersections and on-road sections will potentially start this year, the Greenbelt extension to Ft Hunter is undergoing review of the section that crosses under the Linglestown Bridge. PennDOT has selected Pennsy Supply for construction of the intersection improvements which may begin this fall. PennDOT has bid the project to resurface Industrial Rd. The kiosk interpretive sign upgrade is in design phase at Gecko Graphics. Sarah Hopkins and Mike Krempasky will be presenting an application to the Harrisburg Architectural Review Board (HARB) on Aug 7 for the installation of two kiosks in Riverfront Park (Maclay St ramp to Riverwalk and Walnut Street Bridge Plaza). Paxtang Parkway Sewer/dam project: the apartment complex owner is in discussion with Susquehanna Township to possibly re-direct their sewer connection away from the Greenbelt and connect elsewhere. A pedestrian bridge will be needed at that location. The Planning Committee will be meeting with the City to discuss more grant possibilities to resolve additional sewer/erosion problems along Paxtang Parkway (Multi-modal Fund and DCED mentioned). Mike Krempasky plans to gather all his records on maintenance of property documents, easements and deeds along the Greenbelt for safe keeping on our new server. Geoff will digitize the records and Tim Poole will arrange computer space for storage of this information. The committee will continue to monitor the Greenbelt easement on the State Hospital Grounds as the property is transferred from State ownership as well as finding ways to protect the Greenbelt access in South Harrisburg. Also considered by the committee are future connections to other trail systems and on-street bike infrastructure. Medium and Long-term projects will be prioritized for future action with the view of CAGA as a center of regional connections. Mike Shaull expressed an interest in being on the Planning Committee. Ted Fridirici's name was forwarded by the Planning Committee as a nominee for the Committee.

Doug Charney brought up a safety concern related to the intersection upgrades regarding his property located at 28th St in Penbrook. He noted that multiple accidents, some serious, occur at this intersection but the statistics do not support his experience since there are 3 municipalities adjoining at that location (Susquehanna, Penbrook, City of Hbg) and reporting of accidents is diluted between the municipalities. He believes the current safety upgrade is insufficient to protect pedestrians/bikers at that location. At this point the plans for the intersection upgrade may already be in the design phase but Barry agreed to meet with Doug, the engineer and the chief of police to see what choices can be made at this point.

Brian Douglas (landowner of Lochiel Hotel along the Greenbelt) reported issues with trash left along on his property and requested information on property owners adjacent to his property. He was directed to check on-line tax rolls to determine ownership of neighboring property.

Finance Committee - this committee has not met yet. Barry noted that our balance of funds is substantial and investment possibilities should be considered. Doug Charney suggested lateral CDs invested monthly as a possibility. He agreed to serve as a member of the Finance committee.

Maintenance Committee - Carl Dickson - this committee has not met yet but Carl has received a written report from Charles Palenz. Mowing has been done, downed trees have been removed, new signage has been placed for safety concerns due to a stream undercutting the trail and roof repair of a storage shed is ongoing.

PR/Communications - Barry reported that a video of the TdB was taken and is now on the website including some aerial footage.

Special Events - Barry recently met with Dr Sygielski (HACC) who agreed to help reach out to various corporations for financial support and Greenbelt involvement on our behalf.

Old Business:

IT Contract: Tim Poole presented an amended contract for his IT work. His current contract has expired. A new contract will extend his service until the end of this year. He is also proposing a new ceiling for payment to $5,000 from $4000, in the event it is needed before the end of the year. Tim reported that CAGA now has a commercial server to use. Now that TdB is over efforts to improve the website, membership lists, and PR needs will be developed on the server.

Barry made a motion to extend Tim's contract, Marcia seconded the motion. Vote passed. Keldeen requested that a copy of the contract and amendment be reviewed by all BOD members. It has already been sent out today via email. Barry requested that Tim make a presentation at the next meeting in Sept. so that the committees can utilized what is available. Marcia has requested assistance transitioning QuickBooks into the system.

Committee Structure: Each committee should meet and select a chairperson. At the CAGA September meeting, committee reports will be accepted and reviewed.

New Business:

CAGA phone coverage - Karen Isaacman has volunteered to handle the Greenbelt phone answering service. Tim will be arranging the switch from Verizon to evoice (a virtual phone service) or other lower cost service which will take messages on voicemail, transferred to another phone number or translated to an email message.

Other Business:

Carl Dickson reports that Troegs would like to adopt a part of the Greenbelt Trail. He will discuss the details with Scott Shepler who has handled trail adoptions in the past.

HYP (Harrisburg Young Professionals) - Becky Schuchert - HYP is sponsoring a 5 mile run on Oct 14th. There will be 4 organizations who will be beneficiaries of their event. CAGA has been chosen as a beneficiary. HYP will need 3-4 volunteers to handle a CAGA information table. We have been asked to provide 300 small items which could be included in a sag bag for the runners. Becky suggested green shoelaces. Keldeen suggested a tree seedling which may be distributed to interested runners and given away at the information table.

Mike Shaull reports that Highmark has been asked to sponsor a Bike Share in Harrisburg using Zagster. There are 11 stations planned with 5 bikes on each with locations in downtown, at HACC, Reservoir Park and Front St. Recycle Bicycle is also involved.

Five Senses Garden Butterfly Release : Annual butterfly release ceremony on Sunday, July 23 at 2 pm. Sponsored by Hospice of Central PA. All are invited to attend.

Paxtang Park Butterfly release/ceremony - Keldeen announced this butterfly release to take place Aug 6 at 2:30 pm at the entrance to the Greenbelt on Derry St. Sponsored by the Visiting Nurse Association and Crossings Hospice.

Marcia confirmed that the old CAGA laptop computer has been donated.

Motion to adjourn by Keldeen, seconded by Cindy.

Note: If you did not receive (or are interested in) any documents discussed in the minutes, please let me know.

Next meeting: Sept 20, 6pm at the Giant on Linglestown Rd.

Respectfully submitted,

Cindy Hogeman, secretary