May 9, 2013 3 min read

JEFFERSON – Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority is moving ahead with plans to create a new authority to manage development of a park at the authority’s Wisecarver Reservoir in Franklin Township.

Authority solicitor David Pollock told the water authority board Thursday that a meeting had been held earlier that day with officials from Greene County and Franklin Township, which would join the water authority in forming the new park authority.

Pollock said both the township and county appeared to approve of the proposed incorporation documents for the new authority. The documents will be reviewed by the township and county and could be ratified by July, he said.

Pollock also said the park has drawn interest from other organizations that have proposed assisting with projects there, including the development of a walking trail and ball fields.

The park will be developed on the 380 acres of land that surround the reservoir. The park authority will manage the park and raise money for the park’s development. The new authority will be separate from the water authority and will not be funded either by the authority’s ratepayers or by the county’s and township’s taxpayers.

The new authority board will have seven members, three appointed by the water authority and two each appointed by the township and the county. The new board will be in charge of creating a budget, possibly hiring a manager and seeking donations and grants to develop the park.

The park has been discussed for a number of years and was first considered following the draining of Duke Lake at Ryerson Station State Park, when local officials and elected leaders were looking for alternative recreation sites for county residents.

The water authority first had to repair the reservoir dam, a $2.2 million project funded by state grants. The dam project is completed; however, the state required the authority to conduct a leak test of the dam spillway. That testing has not yet been completed.

If the spillway fails to pass the test, authority engineer Randy Krause said, the worst that could happen is the authority would have to apply grout beneath the spillway.

The water authority decided several months ago to hasten development of the park authority to meet a deadline on a $100,000 match grant it received to develop a parking lot and boat ramp at the park. The grant expires in December and the funding source requested a park authority be formed before it considers a grant extension.

The authority originally agreed to contribute $350,000 toward the Wisecarver project. Authority manager Jack Golding said the authority probably has spent only about $100,000 of that amount so far on the project.