Township park design and construction moving ahead

But Mincer wonders if it can’t go a bit faster, By Jerry Goldberg Dingman — Township supervisors on Sept. 1 got a look at Dingman’s park landscape planning and pressed to move the project faster. Jeremy Prostka of McLane Associates Landscape Architects had the latest maps of the new park and detailed the progress of the project. He explained that as construction is nearing the end of phase one, erosion and sedimentation controls must be in place before the next phase begins. Those plans are being prepared for the NPDES permit (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) approval. A map of the sewage planning module, which McLane and Township Sewage Enforcement Officer Chris Wood developed, will also be part of the permit submission and was shown to the supervisors. Roads also impact erosion and sedimentation and Prostka spoke about working on road grading for the entrance roads, in order to cause minimal disturbance by keeping as close to the natural grade as possible. Sediment control ponds also need to be completed before the next phase begins. Phase 1 includes the entrance roads to the first parking lot and the two baseball fields. Phase 2 will include the northern portion of the park, the football field, the loop trail, the concession stand and two more parking lots. Phase 3 will be the remainder which includes another baseball field, the connection to the loop trail, a basketball court, a soccer field and another parking lot. Where’s my hot dog stand? Supervisors Chair Tom Mincer worried that Phase 1 did not include the concession stand and wanted it to be part of the initial work. It will be needed when the first two baseball fields are utilized. “Then we’ll also need septic, water and electricity for the concession stand,” said Mincer. Mincer said the plan is to move on to Phase 2 quickly. Township Secretary Karen Kleist told the supervisors the concession stand location was moved to make it more accessible to all the fields, which is the reason it appears in the second phase. While looking at the plans Mincer was concerned about bringing in material for land fill. He wanted Prostka to use material which is already there. “I agree but then you’re pretty much making the whole park Phase 1,” replied Kleist. Principal landscape architect Thomas McLane told the supervisors that his focus was in getting the main area completed. Prostka said he intends to submit the NPDES permit application by Sept. 17. He expects the approval process to take 30 days or more. “There will be questions and comments from the (Pike County) conservation district about NPDES and we’ll answer them as quickly as we can,” said Prostka. “We’ll make the submission but we have no control over how long it will take to get approved,” said McLane. In general the supervisors seemed satisfied with the progress; however, Mincer said he wants the next phase to be ready for grass seeding in the spring of 2010.