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Greene commissioners approve lease addendum for Wisecarver recreation project

By Steve Barrett newsroom@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

Greene County commissioners approved an addendum to a lease between the Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority and the county for use of a larger portion of land than was previously included for recreational purposes at the Wisecarver Dam and Reservoir.

Officials previously announced plans for the 360-acre Wisecarver Recreational Area, which is expected to include an access drive, parking area, pedestrian walkways and stormwater management measures, along with other related site improvements.

Commissioner Mike Belding said the additional land totals approximately 55 acres on the northeast side of Water Dam Road.

“It’s an access road and previous laydown yard on the top of a hill that is no longer in use,” he said. “In the current Wisecarver development plan, it includes the archery center, range and field course, as well as a drone and remote-controlled aircraft launch and recover area.”

Located off of Waterdam Road in Waynesburg, the Wisecarver Recreation Area project is a multi-million outdoor recreation area also offering the reservoir, softball fields, a walking trail, mountain bike trails and other recreational opportunities.

In other business, commissioners agreed to appoint Mike and Elizabeth O’Donnell, Chris and Lesley Stockdale, Kim Cox and Mimi Ritenour to the canvassing board at a rate of $125 per day.

Belding said the canvassing board will validate all absentee and mail-in voting ballots for Tuesday’s election. He said commissioners first appointed members to the board for the 2020 primary election because of an increased number of mail-in ballots.

The fees are funded through the county elections office, similar to poll workers.

Commissioners also approved a motion at the request of the county’s Industrial Development Authority to transfer the remaining funds from the Strategic Impact Program account into the IDA’s general account to continue to administer programs for economic growth and support businesses within the county.

About $47,000 was left in the Strategic Impact Program fund when the program was stopped in 2020, Belding said.

“The stranded money will be used for administrative costs of ensuring compliance of that program and other qualified expenses related to industrial development within the county,” he said. “A total of $550,000 of ACT 13 funding was dispersed to for-profit businesses through this program before it was stopped.”

In other news, commissioners approved the required 20% match – or $100,000 – of a $600,000 project for the EPA Brownfield Site Specific Cleanup grant application for the Mather Parcel in Morgan Township.

Commissioners also approved a quote from AEC Group in the amount of $5,495.56 to repair damaged fiber optic cable at the county fairgrounds. Belding said the cable was damaged during the Lucas Oil Mega Pull event in September, when a truck contacted the support cable and fiber optic cable and pulled it from its post. The county fair board will pay the cost of the repairs.

Commissioners also approved an agreement between the county and Montgomery Technology System in the amount of $30,015 for upgrades to an antiquated door control system at Greene County jail.

Belding said the system has been repaired numerous times and the current system became obsolete at the end of 2019.

“The current controlling computer is still Windows XP, which is no longer supported by Microsoft and if any main components fail there are no longer replacement parts available,” he said.

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