Commissioners hear complaints about Dunlap Creek Park
Dunlap Creek Park is a litter-strewn facility in such a state of disrepair that a girl fell through a missing plank on a dock and broke her leg, three park users told the Fayette County commissioners Tuesday. Arlen Robinson, whose granddaughter suffered the injury, told the commissioners that it’s a shame the park and its docks have not been kept up. He said the park also lacks decent toilet facilities and generally is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Wendell and Joyce Rollison told the commissioners that the park isn’t as well maintained as the German-Masontown and Jacob’s Creek parks also operated by the county. Joyce Rollison said Dunlap Creek Park hasn’t had toilet seats for three years and noted that she recently picked up three bags of garbage on her own to make it look better.
Wendell Rollison decried the state of upkeep, noting, “A dog could build a set of (boat loading) ramps like we have out there now.”
Robinson said he’s talked to Commission Chairman Vincent A. Vicites for three years about the need to do something at Dunlap. Vicites said the county’s annual budget for operating all three parks is only $50,000, which doesn’t permit much beyond basic maintenance.
County manager Warren Hughes said he’s well aware of the problems at Dunlap.
Regarding the lack of toilet facilities, Hughes said the county placed three Port-A-Johns at the site a few years ago and went through the weekly ritual of “fishing them” out of the lake due to vandalism.
Hughes said the vandals either cut the chains used to anchor the toilets to land or simply ripped them from those moorings, destroying the fiberglass backing of the Port-A-Johns.
Wendell Rollison noted that good and bad people use the park, but that’s not reason enough to ignore it completely. He said it’s a big fishing destination that deserves better treatment from the county perspective.
“There’s people (who) come from Pittsburgh and Johnstown to fish in that lake,” said Wendell Rollison.
Commissioner Ronald M. Nehls said the solution is the same for many other county ills: money. Nehls said that to operate a top-notch parks and recreation department, one that would include adequate security and supervision, the county needs to increase its current tax base.
“Somebody’s going to have to pay for it,” said Nehls. “If we’re going to be responsible (for doing it right), somebody’s going to have to pay the bill.”
Reacting to Robinson’s stated need for immediate but small-budget repairs such as the missing dock plank, Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh said the trio had “embarrassed” the commissioners by the public revelations.
Cavanagh said the things detailed by Robinson, including doors set aside because of bad hinges, would be addressed pronto. Later in the day, Cavanagh informed the press that those repairs were under way.
“It all comes down to resources,” said Cavanagh, reiterating Nehls’ economics lesson that many things are possible through additional funding.
Vicites held that same view, noting that the county’s parks budget is relatively small and that it’s difficult to control acts of vandalism without round-the-clock security. Vicites said that in the past he’s asked the county sheriff’s department to make patrols through the county parks as often as it can, in order to deter vandalism.