County parks update: Shelters demolished at Mingo, cove to be surveyed
Most people aren’t renting shelters during late fall, winter and early spring from the Washington County Parks Department, so during the offseason, five old shelters are being torn down by county workers to make way for new concrete pads and structures.
The Washington County commissioners on Thursday awarded a $121,337 contract for labor and concrete to the lowest estimate among six firms submitting bids, MacBracey Corp. of Washington.
Four of the shelters are near the Mingo Park ball fields, and a fifth is near the Ebenezer covered bridge in Nottingham Township. The concrete work will include walkways to new, prefabricated rest rooms and concrete anchors for outdoor grills.
The Washington County Parks Department is excavating the area beneath the rest rooms and placing the stone bases to help contain costs.
In September, the county awarded Peter Jeffrey Associates of Indianola, Allegheny County, a $176,000 contract for labor and materials related to the shelters.
At Cross Creek County Park, the Washington County Planning Commission, which oversees the Parks Department, received permission from the board of commissioners for a $27,360 supplemental contract for surveys associated with what has been labeled the “Discovery Cove” play area on the Route 50 side of the lake.
This work was excluded from the original contract with GAI Consultants until limits for the project were determined from preliminary engineering. The scope will now include 64 acres for the development of plans for a trail connection to the lake’s sediment dam and a lake-bottom survey for pier, dock and boardwalk foundations. Those who do not have boats will be able to cast fishing lines from the pier. The revised contract will total $173,560.
At the Washington County Fairgrounds, the planning commission also asked for a $13,750 supplement to its contract with HRG Inc. to modify the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, created in 1972 by the Clean Water Act. This brings the total contract to $70,150.
Funds from the county’s natural gas and oil leases are paying for the latest projects.