It will be essential to carry out this Plan through action in several major areas: 1) Administration, 2) Security, 3) Park Design and Engineering, 4) Financing, 5) Maintenance, 6) Communications With the Public, 7) Safety/ Liability and 8) Volunteers. This section describes existing conditions and recommendations under each of these major topics.
This Plan should be carried out through a continuous process of planning and action. The awareness and continued participation of Palmer Township residents will be extremely valuable in this process. This section describes ways to move the objectives and recommendations of this Plan towards reality.
ADMINISTRATION
The Township's seven member Recreation Board is appointed by the five member Township Board of Supervisors to oversee the planning and development of recreation facilities. The day-to-day administration of existing individual recreation programs are handled by the volunteers of each recreation group. The Recreation Commission are assisted by the Township Parks Department Superintendent and the other Township staff.
SECURITY
Security is especially a concern to prevent vandalism and garbage dumping and to avoid conflicts with adjacent neighborhoods. The township police should regularly patrol township parks.
To help address security, especially as additional recreation facilities are developed, the following should be considered:
This Plan should be carried out through a continuous process of planning and action. The awareness and continued participation of Palmer Township residents will be extremely valuable in this process. This section describes ways to move the objectives and recommendations of this Plan towards reality.
User Fees - These are fees paid directly by the people who use a program or facility. The intent is that certain offerings, such as adult fitness programs, can sometimes be run in a business-like fashion for greater efficiency and a fair distribution of costs. Also, fee systems can help to avoid unnecessary costs. For example, if coin-operated lights are used on a tennis court, the electricity is only being used when the court is actually being used. Care is needed to make sure that lower income families are not excluded because they cannot afford high fees. Also, user fees should not be charged if it would be too costly or administratively burdensome to collect.
Bond Issue - For very large capital expenses, borrowing often makes sense. This avoids the need for large short-term tax increases and spreads the payments over the many years over which the benefits will be enjoyed. The main disadvantage is the high costs of interest on the debt.State and Federal Grants - Significant amounts of State or Federal grants cannot be expected to be available for parks or open space. Even if grants would be available, it must be remembered that grant programs often require significant work to prepare a competitive application and to fulfill all of the administrative requirements. Also, if Federal or State grants are used, all non-Township workers must be paid the "prevailing union wage rates." This substantially increases the costs of most construction projects.
To increase the Township's chances of receiving grants, it should only seek grants for those types of projects that are likely to rank highly according to the program's official selection criteria.
Environmental Groups - To preserve key lands, the Township should seek assistance from major environmental groups. These groups can often provide technical assistance to the Township, financial advice to the landowner on major tax advantages and possible assistance in fund-raising. These groups include the Wildlands Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy and the Bushkill Stream Conservancy.
Annual Appropriations - the Township will need to decide each year whether appropriations from the Township's general fund should be set aside to develop facilities or to sponsor types of programs that cannot be fully funded through user fees.
Sponsorships - Area businesses or groups may be willing to contribute towards specific programs in return for public recognition.
Gifts - The tax advantages of donating land and materials should be fully publicized. Also, contributors should receive public recognition to spur contributions. Specific businesses that might have excess of a needed item could be approached for donations. A "Gifts Catalog" would be excellent ways of letting people know what the Township needs, so they could choose exactly what items, materials or services they wish to contribute or pay for.
FINANCIAL PLANNING
Three major financial tools will be needed to carry out this plan: an annual recreation operating budget for routine expenses, an annual capital expenses budget for large expenses serving a long-term need and a five or seven year long "capital improvements" program to plan for large expenses proposed for future years, the two later items to be funded by developer recreation fees.
PLANNING FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
"Capital" improvements are projects involving a substantial expense for the construction or improvement of major public facilities. These are extraordinary expenses that occur only on occasion, opposed to "operating" expenses that occur every year.
To carefully prepare for major future expenses and to help decide when they should be accomplished, many communities have found great value in a formal "Capital Improvements Program" (CIP). A CIP is a process of systematically and rationally identifying, planning and budgeting very large capital expenses, such as purchasing parkland and developing facilities.
This allows communities to avoid short-term tax hikes, to set aside funds ahead of time for large projects (which can greatly lower the total cost of a project by reducing borrowing) and to efficiently combine any borrowing needs into one bond issue.
A CIP should list all projects needed, their costs, the year each project will occur and the source of its financing. This also allows many different projects to be compared with each other to effectively prioritize different needs
MAINTENANCE
Maintenance includes not only repairing playground equipment and mowing grass, but also includes plant, lawn, and tree care, maintaining the equipment used for maintenance and preparing athletic fields for use.The following suggestions should be considered in regards to maintenance of parks:
- Prepare a seasonal calendar of maintenance work that needs to be completed at different times of the average year, so the work can be more easily scheduled following a routine year after year.
- Use a checklist to check-off maintenance work that is needed on each parcel of Township parkland.
- Carefully design new recreational facilities to hold maintenance to a reasonable minimum (such as using low-maintenance native plantings, reforesting certain areas, letting some areas "go natural" [especially immediately along waterways], establishing no mow buffers and laying out grass areas so that they are wide enough for a large tractor-mower).
- Involve experienced maintenance workers in reviewing the design of proposed recreational facilities.
- Request that recreation groups accept primary responsibilities for preparing athletic fields for their use prior to each game (such as lining of fields, putting out bases, raking the infield and occasionally cutting the infield grass). This would free the Township to concentrate on routine grass cutting and major maintenance.
- The long-term expenses of maintaining and repairing recreational facilities must be considered in the design of facilities. This includes the time needed for a worker and equipment to move between sites. Therefore, over the long-run, it may be desirable to have limited types of maintenance equipment (such as a riding mower) stored within a small building within a park in the northern end of the Township.
Associations of adjacent homeowners may be willing to assume certain maintenance responsibilities for passive open spaces adjacent to their homes because they would have the most interest in seeing that these lands were well-maintained.
As additional facilities and lands are developed, consideration should be given to writing a maintenance manual that would establish a complete system for all of the maintenance that is needed.
COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE PUBLIC
Most residents are probably familiar with those parks that are nearest their homes or that are visible from major streets. Many residents are probably not familiar with the opportunities at smaller, less visible and newer parks. Facilities and programs are of little value if the public is not aware of the offerings. Therefore, a good communications program will be essential.
To increase awareness among the public, an insert should be prepared that could be put into the Township newsletter and on the township Website. This should list the locations of recreation areas and the facilities that are available at each area. This should be intended to be kept by families for reference. Copies of this insert could also be made available at the Township Building , local realtors and other locations. Also, the newsletter and Website should include lists of major recreation programs being offered by local organizations.
In addition, recreation programs should be publicized through radio, newspaper articles, newspaper ads and flyers through the schools. Press releases should routinely be sent to area newspapers to announce new facilities and programs. Small posters can be placed in key locations, such as the library, public schools and local stores.
Palmer could develop a strong public image for its parks, open space and recreation program by using an attractive logo on all recreation notices, letterhead and signs. A contest might be sponsored to spur further interest in the programs. Creating a partnership with school programs would allow for education about these programs, as well as civic responsibility.
Good communication involves not only informing the public, but also listening to their advice, complaints and suggestions.
SAFETY AND LIABILITY
Safety has become a major concern in recreation because of the rise in insurance costs. However, it must not be forgotten that safety is an absolutely essential concern purely to avoid unnecessary injuries.
Three methods are recommended to respond to this problem: 1) continue to have adequate Township insurance, 2) require large groups that regularly use Township land to have their adequate insurance of their own that also protects the Township and 3) continually look for ways to make Township lands and facilities safer.
In addition, high risk recreation facilities, such as skateboard areas, should be avoided. All parks should be regularly inspected to note any safety hazards. Any safety hazards should then be quickly resolved. If the Township is aware of a correctable hazard and does not act within a reasonable period of time, it is much more likely to be found liable in the event of an injury.
Nationally, one of the major sources of accidents (and lawsuits) is children’s playground equipment. Three quarters of these accidents involve falls in which a child hits a hard surface (such as asphalt). In response, hard surface should never be used under or around play equipment. Instead, the Township should continue to cover these areas with a softer surface, such as sand, wood chip carpet and/or recycled tire chips.
Also, all play equipment must be adequately anchored and should not involve ladders that are too steep. All equipment should have adequate space around it so that children playing around one piece do not run into a second piece of equipment in accordance with the Consumer’s Products Safety Commission Publication #325 – Playground Safety Guidelines.
For safety, high and long backstops are needed around all fields used for softball or baseball. Fences should separate play areas from major roads. Sharp edges and protrusions must be avoided.
VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers are an essential part of many recreation programs, including coaches, leaders of activities, nature guides, fundraisers and teachers of skill. Teenagers often are a major untapped source of volunteers.
The easiest volunteers to work with are often those that participate as part of an already organized group, such as local service groups and boy scouts. Proper supervision, oversight, training, placement and scheduling of volunteers is essential, which often requires substantial effort.
College interns often can provide free labor, especially if they could obtain college credit for the work. However, work intended for an intern must be of a type that will not require so much supervision offered by local organizations.
In addition, recreation programs should be publicized through radio, newspaper articles, newspaper ads and flyers through the schools. Press releases should routinely be sent to area newspapers to announce new facilities and programs. Small posters can be placed in key locations, such as the library, public schools and local stores.
Palmer could develop a strong public image for its parks, open space and recreation program by using an attractive logo on all recreation notices, letterhead and signs. A contest might be sponsored to spur further interest in the programs. Creating a partnership with school programs would allow for education about these programs, as well as civic responsibility.
Good communication involves not only informing the public, but also listening to their advice, complaints and suggestions.
