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Cornwall Borough Council on Monday authorized a contract for community planning firm Karla Schweitzer Farrell and Associates LLC to develop a parks and recreation master site plan, as well as discussed changes to several committees.
The council has previously discussed developing a master site plan for the development of Miner’s Village Sports Park, Rexmont Goosetown Park, and Snitz Creek Park. The contract will cost $69,840, billed monthly over six months.
This amount will come from the recreation fund, which can be spent exclusively on parks and recreation expenses.
The master site plan will be developed over the course of the next six months, taking input from the community frequently.
By February, KSF will develop a plan including cost estimates, timeline estimates, and detailed descriptions of proposed facilities and changes.
By April, KSF will apply for grant funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which Farrell says is a promising source of funding. She previously worked on a master site plan with Columbia Crossing in Lancaster County, which only needed to pay around $75,000 for a $2.1 million project thanks to grants.
The first public meeting, which will involve a presentation and opportunities for attendees to voice ideas and concerns, will take place Oct. 3. Another public meeting will be on Dec. 1.
KSF also hopes to make available on the borough website a page for members of the public to make comments at any point through the process.
KSF will also be working closely with a Study Committee of local residents. The Recreation Committee is currently looking into potential members of this committee.
Council also unanimously approved appointments to the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Enforcement committees.
The five-member Comprehensive Plan Committee will develop ideas for the direction the borough is going over the course of around a year. The last Comprehensive Plan Committee was established in 2000.
The four-member Zoning Enforcement Committee will develop a standardized procedure for the borough to respond to reports of zoning violations.
The council reported that the Ad Hoc Committee met Aug. 3 for two hours, but found that there was little they could do until a more detailed plan is submitted by Byler Holdings. They will not meet again until further developments.
Read More: Cornwall Borough Council forms ad hoc committee to work with Byler Holdings
Following concerns of a lack of representation of the Iron Valley Community in the Ad Hoc Committee, council unanimously agreed to add Iron Valley Resident Nelson Zimmerman to the committee.
Last month, council requested that engineer Jeff Steckbeck complete a recreation fee study to evaluate the range of fees that the county could charge, as the current fee of $1,250 is lower than many surrounding municipalities.
He reported that the maximum the borough could charge per lot is $3,325. Council President Bruce Harris sent the topic to the Recreation Committee to develop a recommendation, which will be discussed by the council in September.
In other news, the council:
- Unanimously agreed to contact Steckbeck regarding the replacement of Tice Lane Bridge, and putting this in the budget for next year.
- Unanimously agreed to Ordinance 2022-2, rezoning a parcel of Ironmaster Road from a Planned Development District to a Residential Institutional District.
- Discussed a letter from the solicitor voicing concerns over a proposed land swap between the borough and the Cornwall Inn and unanimously approved a motion to request that she prepare a resolution with action for them to take.
- Unanimously authorized the release of an escrow to Haines and Kibblehouse, which they only recently realized had not been returned.
- Unanimously advertised the advertisement of a new MS4 stormwater ordinance for their September meeting, once it has been fully drafted.
- Unanimously agreed to donate $1,000 out of the rec fund to the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail to go toward a $4,000 security system to be installed at the root beer barrel.
- Unanimously approved the director’s water and sewer reports, the treasurer’s report, and the secretary’s report.
- Presented the Budget Report, including that current revenues total $2,086,059.40 (85.77 percent of the budgeted amount) and that expenditures total $1,372,607.38 (49.56 percent of the budgeted amount).
Cornwall Borough Council meets the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. The location for the Sept. 12 meeting has not yet been decided. These meetings are open to the public and do not require prior registration.
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Full Disclosure: Steckbeck Engineering & Surveying, Inc., is an advertiser on LebTown. LebTown does not make editorial decisions based on advertising relationships and advertisers do not receive special editorial treatment. Learn more about advertising with LebTown here.