Last night, I posted a link to the WFMZ website regarding the video and article they had about Berks County closing down part of Kaercher Creek Park. Earlier today I received a message from Christian Leinbach, the Tilden Township Commissioner, who spoke in the video and with all due respect Im going to post it. Brianne: My family and I have been visiting Kaercher Creek Park for many years and love it. Our church has its Sunday School picnic there each year. This park is a gem in northern Berks County. What we did yesterday is not intended to end the park it is intended to save. Here is the background. Feel free to post. All I ask is that you post my entire comment. We (The County of Berks) have been negotiating with the PA Fish and Boat Commission since 2009 regarding a new 20 year lease. The current lease expired December 31, 2012 so we have been operating on a verbal month-to-month lease since that time. In the fall of 2013 the EPA identified a wooded area on the western side of the park as a dumping site of battery casings and called for a cleanup. Even though the county does not own the property and was not involved in the 1999 EPA clean up of the same property, the EPA made the county a party and is trying to have the county pay for part of the cleanup. At about the same time the County and the PA Fish and Boat Commission reached a verbal agreement on a long-term lease. However, this EPA issue raised concerns for future liability for the county and our taxpayers. Since we have not and will not own the park we requested full indemnification from any future EPA actions dealing with pre existing environmental issues. For months we have told Fish and Boat that without indemnification there is no deal. We cannot put our Berks County taxpayers at risk for potential future cleanup costs. It really is as simple as that. Last week Fish and Boat notified us that they will not indemnify the county. As a result, yesterday we approved a letter formally terminating the lease effective April 30, 2014. If Fish and Boat provides indemnification we will sign a long-term lease immediately. It is our hope that they will do just that. We did what we did as a last ditch effort to save a park we do not own but a park we would love to continue to operate as a gem in northern Berks County - Commissioner Christian Leinbach (Tilden Twp - Hamburg, PA)
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 03:46:39 +0000
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