Survey responses outline recreation-related needs
Results of surveys of students, municipal officials and residents being used to help draft the first-ever Fayette County park, recreation, open space and greenway plan will be presented Monday as part of a public meeting on the proposal. Tammy Stenson, director of the Fayette County Office of Planning, Zoning and Community Development, said among the responses, students throughout the county in grades 5, 8, 10 and 12 completed the surveys. Stenson said the surveys revealed that some students didn’t know the existence of county parks and suggested better signage for the parks.
Among the top answers for future needs for young people, as indicated by the surveys, were county ATV trails, swimming pools, ice skating rinks and skateboard parks, Stenson said.
Currently, the county does not have any pools, ATV trails, ice-skating rinks (although Devito Park rink in Connellsville is privately owned) or skateboard parks.
Stenson said anyone interested in providing input for the future recreational opportunities at the three county parks, local parks, trails and greenway corridor planning is asked to attend Monday’s meeting.
The meeting, which will be held at 6 p.m. in the meeting room of the Public Service Building, is sponsored by the Fayette County Office of Planning, Zoning and Community Development and hosted by the consultant drafting the plan.
Stenson said Environmental Planning and Design is the consultant hired to draft the plan. Stenson said work began about a year ago and most of it has included gathering information since there isn’t already a plan in place. “We are not updating; we are starting from scratch,” Stenson said.
She said with the Sheepskin Trail on the verge of going out to bid, it is a good time to do the plan. Also, she said having a countywide recreation plan might help with future leverage to secure grant money.
She said the agenda would include evaluating the analysis of the surveys. Stenson said they received responses from 38 out of 42 municipalities. She said a lot of people want to stay rural despite developments throughout the county.
Stenson said the plan has to be done by Dec. 31, and although it is not finished, everyone working on it has made a lot of headway.
A “safety audit” of the three county parks and five municipal parks was completed.
The three county parks include German/Masontown Park in German Township and Masontown, Dunlap Creek Park near New Salem and Jacobs Creek Park in Bullskin Township. The five municipal parks include Wharton Park in Wharton Township, Sampey Park in Perryopolis, East Park in Connellsville, Point Marion Park in Point Marion and Patsy Hillman Park in the Luzerne/Brownsville area.
To conduct the project, Stenson said the county has a state grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which the county matched with cash and in-kind services. She said close to $100,000 has been received to do the plan.
Stenson said Monday’s gathering would be the first of two public meetings prior to adoption of the plan, which must be approved by the Fayette County commissioners. Stenson said she is hoping the county commissioners fold the information into the countywide comprehensive plan, which was done in 2000.