Greene commissioners name appointees to park board
WAYNESBURG – Greene County residents now will have a say when it comes to operations at the Mason-Dixon Park. At their regular board meeting Wednesday, the Greene County commissioners appointed the first Greene County residents to serve on a newly formed advisory board to oversee the park, which straddles the state line near Mount Morris. The appointees are Nellie Lemley, Jim Waychoff and Jason Young.
The new board also will include four members from Monongalia County, W.Va.: County Commissioner Asel Kennedy, Michael Dean Eddy, Betty Haas and Delores Fetty.
Until now, the 28-year-old Mason-Dixon Historical Park Inc. board, which consisted of volunteers, including board president Bill Hewitt, has operated the park.
But last month, that organization’s lease at the park was terminated.
The commissioners in both states have said that they intend to join forces and take the park in a new direction and to acquire more funds. The Greene County side is completely undeveloped.
Commissioner Scott Blair has said he would like to see some improvements on the Greene County side, and the board of commissioners plans to begin financially supporting the park.
Unfortunately, Hewitt and the other longtime volunteers were unhappy with the proposed reorganization of the park. Hewitt has said the old board was left “out of the loop” entirely.
Volunteer John Baird agrees, saying that he is “outraged” that the commissioners want to take over the park.
However, both county commissions voted to go ahead with the new board, despite a 1,000-signature petition opposing it, numerous letters and a public meeting in Mount Morris with the Greene County commissioners. During that meeting, held Oct. 16, Blair and Commissioner Farley Toothman said they wanted to meet with their Monongalia County counterparts and the old board to hammer out an agreement of some sort.
Hewitt said Wednesday that meeting never took place.
Blair originally said he would serve on the new board, but noted Wednesday, “I’ve chosen not to sit on that board. I don’t have time. Anyway, the park belongs to the community down there.”
The new board will hold its first meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday at the park’s red barn, Blair said, adding that the first order of business will be how to manage the park.
Blair has said the reorganization of Mason-Dixon Park is in the best interest of the county and the community.
Hewitt disagreed.
“A lot of people got hurt, but I’ll go on. I’m not a quitter,” he said. “If they (the commissioners) don’t have time, why did they take on this whole situation?” he asked.
Hewitt said the old board is still operating and plans to continue holding festivals and other activities on a 100-acre Perry Township site owned by the Mason Dixon Park caretakers Bob and Connie Ammons.
Tentative plans are in the works to turn that site into a park with pavilions and other improvements, Hewitt said.
The old board members also plan to dismantle and move one of the current park’s log cabins, which belongs to a park volunteer, to the new site.
Mason-Dixon Historical Park was formed around a marker placed by surveyors Mason and Dixon at the top of what is now Brown’s Hill. It marked the last point the two men would survey, after Indians warned them not to go any further. Unknown surveyors extended the line another 22 miles in 1784.
After interest in the historical site was stirred, Consolidated Natural Gas Co. donated the land for a park. In the mid-1970s, Mason-Dixon Historical Park Inc. formed and took charge of the 270-acre park, 134 acres of which lie in Greene County.
The Greene County side is rustic, and the county commissioners have given little money to develop it. Connie Ammons said the Greene County side is used primarily by hikers and for primitive camping.
The Monongalia County side includes two picnic pavilions; the red barn, with a kitchen, dining area and museum; a playground; and two log cabins, one of which is set up as an old-time printing office.
Most of the improvements were paid for by the Monongalia County Commission and through the labor and fund-raising efforts of the current volunteer board.
The commissioners also conducted the following business:
– Re-appointed Reed Kiger and J.K. Willison to the abatement review board, with both terms ending in 2004.
– Appointed Ann Bargerstock to the Greene County Housing Authority for a term that expires in 2007.
– Retained on the Children and Youth Services Advisory Margaret Beglin, Kim Behm, Lori Gilbert and state trooper Mark Schmelzen. Their terms expire in 2005. The commissioners also appointed Beverly Rembold to fill a vacancy left when Karen Romah resigned from that board.
– Re-appointed Steve Stuck and Christine Gardner to the Greene County Planning Commission.
– Acknowledged receipt of a public notice from WSPA Inc., which has filed an application for a major permit modification with the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Waste Management Program. The application is for inclusion of the required radiological monitoring and detection for the company’s municipal and residual processing/transfer facility in Wayne Township.
The commissioners will hold their last meetings of the year next week, the agenda meeting at 11 a.m. Dec. 11 and the regular meeting at 10 a.m. Dec. 12, both at the county office building.
At that time, the commissioners are expected to pass the budget for 2003. That document is available for review in the commissioners’ office on High Street, Waynesburg.