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Uniontown Redevelopment Authority gets updates on Sheepskin Trail, city parks

By Mike Tony mtony@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read
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Uniontown Redevelopment Authority board members received updates from the authority’s executive director about progress toward constructing the Sheepskin Trail through the city as well as the latest on enhancement projects at different stages at Marshall and Bailey parks.

Authority Executive Director Mark Rafail said that the city’s engineering firm, K2 Engineering, is in the final stages of determining the best route of the Sheepskin Trail through Uniontown, noting that the trail is slated to follow the rail tracks next to and through Beeson Avenue.

K2 Engineering Project Manager Brian Lake said last month that the plan is to keep the trail on municipal property as much as possible and that the trail wouldn’t encompass much residential area, something that would minimize how many properties must be bought or leased to allow for the trail’s passage.

Rafail reported to the authority board that he had met with local landscape architect Ellen Ulmer and that Ulmer will provide a sketch without charge for redeveloping Marshall Park.

“We need something to start the process,” Rafail said. “So she’ll do a rough idea and give us some numbers that we can go after, grant money and things like that. I really want to thank her.”

Rafail and authority Chairman Paul Palya had previously said in August that they were exploring the possibility of beginning a project to revitalize Marshall Park.

In another update, Rafail said that infield reconstruction work at Bailey Park by JT Pro Turf would begin “as soon as the weather dries up enough” and indicated that work would be completed there so as to allow the Uniontown Area School District baseball play there in May.

The authority awarded JT Pro Turf the infield reconstruction project in November for a total cost of $22,986, a Community Development Block Grant-funded project.

In other business, Rafail again noted an audit report that the authority approved in November for the year ending Dec. 31, 2016 in November by a 3-1 tally, with board member Harry Fike voting against the approval.

That audit report found that the authority’s QuickBooks general ledger appeared to be unreliable regarding how much funding remained for particular grants, a finding which the authority acknowledged, noting that it hired a staff member to be responsible for data entry and file management under Rafail’s supervision.

Opst & Associates said it had identified numerous transactions for administrative costs paid directly out of the CDBG program, which the audit report said had historically been allocated as indirect costs between the CDBG program and other programs. The board noted that Rafail attended several trainings by the Department of Community and Economic Development, which approves CDBG funding, and that Rafail and the board would review cost allocations on a regular basis.

The authority reorganized for 2019, approving Palya to continue as chairman. Authority members also appointed Antoinette Hodge vice-chairman, Kurt Sturdevant treasurer, Doug Miller secretary and Fike assistant secretary-treasurer.

Sturdevant and Fike were absent from the meeting.

The authority will continue to meet the third Wednesday of every month at 4 p.m. at city hall.

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