The Eastern Delaware County Joint Recreation District voted 5-0 at its meeting to amend the preliminary 2026 budget, increasing the consulting services line by $5,000 so that consulting funding totals $100,000.

Board members said the change is intended to cover additional work tied to planning for a proposed community center, including community engagement and preliminary architectural or cost-estimating work. Daryl, who presented the budget materials, described two documents in the meeting packet: a preliminary budget proposal and a sheet showing current-year budget activity. “I’ve got 2 documents in your packet. One is the preliminary budget proposal … and the other shows where our current budget is,” Daryl said.

Why it matters: the consulting increase affects the per-jurisdiction community-share figures the district will present to the three contributing political subdivisions: Sunbury, Berkshire and Galena. Daryl said the Sunbury and Berkshire shares “are consistent with … where the organizations kind of thought they might be,” and said Galena’s share appears smaller and “I don’t know quite what their expectations might be.”

Key details and board discussion
Daryl walked the board through current-year expenditures and assumptions used in the preliminary 2026 proposal. He reported total expenditures for 2025 “just a little short of $19,900” and said those costs remain within the current appropriation of roughly $46,000. On legal fees, the proposal reduces the basic legal-services estimate from $10,000 this year to $8,000 next year; Daryl said that number does not include potential bond-issuance legal costs, which would be added if the district pursues bonds.

On consulting and contracting, board members discussed a contract with Pizzuti Solutions. A board member asked how much of the original $75,000 contract remains; Daryl replied that roughly $16,000 would be paid this year with about $60,000 remaining for subsequent work. Daryl described a placeholder in the draft budget for conceptual architectural plans and a preliminary construction-cost estimate should the district move toward a ballot question.

Board members debated whether to add a small contingency or to increase the consulting line to cover likely variances in outreach and scope. Maria suggested a contingency line but noted political subdivisions might prefer a more specific request if additional funds are needed. The board agreed to increase the consulting services appropriation and to rework the community-share table to reflect the amended total.

Votes at a glance
- Motion to amend the preliminary 2026 budget by increasing consulting services by $5,000 (to $100,000): mover: Mister Coy; second: (unnamed). Vote: 5 yes, 0 no; outcome: approved.
- Motion to approve minutes of the Sept. 15, 2025 meeting: mover: (meeting chair, unnamed); second: Miss Watson. Vote: 4 yes, 0 no, 1 abstain (member stated they missed the prior meeting); outcome: approved.

What’s next
Daryl said he will update the budget document and share a cleaned version so board members can present numbers to their political subdivisions. The board discussed expecting to adopt a final 2026 budget at the December meeting after member jurisdictions’ budgets are finalized.