New date of Sept. 11 for Towamencin Day
‘Something to look forward to’
>> Get out your calendar, because one of the biggest days of the year in Towamencin is going to be a few months late.
The township’s supervisors voted unanimously this month to postpone the annual “Towamencin Day” festivities to Sept. 11, with the hope that COVID-related restrictions are eased by then.
“We’ve got to start giving people something to look forward to,” said supervisor Dan Littley.
Each year starting in 2011, township staff have held a free festival for the public at Fischer’s Park, featuring live music, inflatables for kids, face painting, balloon animals, displays and more. Towamencin Day was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and board Chairman Chuck Wilson said the township’s special events committee has asked for guidance about postponing the tentative planned date in late May.
“The committee believes that the current date of May 23rd would not be feasible, due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, and overall safety of the community,” he said.
“There are some concerns, even about holding the event in September, including the inability to control the crowd size and the process of planning and re-planning the event, due to the various vendors involved,” Wilson said, thus a request to the supervisors for guidance before finalizing any plans.
Supervisor Dan Bell said he’d prefer the events committee start planning with a fall date in mind, instead of in May, and Littley agreed to shoot for the September date rather than cancel for another year.
“This throwing everything off until 2022 — last year, it was everybody couldn’t wait until 2021. Well, here we are,’” Littley said.
“Let’s say that, by September, the vaccine makers have put enough out there, everybody’s vaccinated, and so we can move on,” he said.
Wilson and supervisor Rich Marino agreed, and Littley added that once visitors are done enjoying Towamencin Day, they can stop by the Towamencin Volunteer Fire Companies’ firehouse, as the company is planning a barbecue chicken dinner fundraiser that same day.
“That’s a pretty good day, a doubleheader,” Marino said.
Details about the events will be posted, when finalized, on the township’s social media channels and website.
Field request gets tabled: After a lengthy debate, the board tabled a request from the Towamencin Youth Association to use the Butch Clemens Park field for soccer this year.
“In 2019 and 2020, the board approved the use of the Butch Clemens field by TYA on a one-year basis, from June through November, for a $1,500 flat fee,” Wilson said.
Based on the township’s fee schedule, which charges $20 for two hours of use, TYA’s proposal for 2021 would cost $4,040, while COVID-related restrictions on most events may mean more demand for public parks than usual, Wilson told the board. In 2020, the board allowed TYA to use township fields on weekdays and Saturdays, but kept Sundays open for public use, and Township Manager Rob Ford said several things have changed since then.
“The fields won’t be closed this year. We got a lot of work done last year, because they weren’t being used for most of the season due to COVID,” Ford said.
The township’s parks and recreation committee has also recently finalized a master plan update spelling out projects to upgrade various parts of the park system, Ford added, which could lead to certain parks being taken out of commission for projects.
“More things will be going on at Grist Mill (Park), maybe adding some pickleball courts and trails,” he said, so future years may need more formal use agreements as parks and fields go offline.
Marino said he had heard from township staff that the fields TYA wants to use were largely maintained last year and could be used for all of 2021, while Ford said he has heard from another group that wanted to use certain fields on Sundays.
“I don’t mind if we keep looking at this on a oneyear basis, until those other programs materialize,” Wilson said.
Ford said the board could table the motion while he gathers more information from the interested groups about which fields they would like to use, and from staff about whether any fields need to be rested to allow additional growth in 2021, and bring it up for further discussion at future board meetings.
Roof repair proposal OK’d: The board also voted ahead a proposal for engineering services to fix a leak in the roof of the township’s police station.
“During late 2020 an active roof leak was discovered in the police building,” Wilson said.
“Further investigation showed that the insulation rafter baffle vents stopped mid-roof, instead of going up to the ridge vent, with areas of mold and wood rot,” he said.
Fixing that roof leak was raised during talks on the township’s 2021 budget, and funds for a new roof were included in the approved budget. Due to the cost, the project will need to be bid and meet prevailing wage requirements, and the township engineer has provided a proposal to prepare bid documents and oversee the bidding, for a cost of $6,500.
The board unanimously voted to approve the engineering proposal, and Marino joked that police personnel would be glad to no longer have to go “crawling around” inside the roof.
Towamencin’s supervisors next meet at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 and March 10; for more information visit www.Towamencin.org.
“We’ve got to start giving people something to look forward to.” — supervisor Dan Littley