Dec 17, 2018 3 min read

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NORTH BELLE VERNON – Borough resident Lynn Sokol was honored as North Belle Vernon Community Bank Park Volunteer of the Year for her outstanding service to the community.

State Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Bullskin Township, and state Rep. Justin Walsh, R-Rostraver Township, presented Sokol with certificates of recognition during North Belle Vernon council’s monthly meeting. Sokol has been instrumental in helping to organize a wide range of activities at the park, such as festivals, holiday celebrations and a Mon Valley memorial service.

Sokol, who has served as a volunteer for the borough’s recreation commission for the past five years, was overjoyed to receive the honor.

“I’m grateful to be a part of this wonderful park that is providing so many positive experiences for the people of the Mon Valley,” said Sokol, who also received a plaque from North Belle Vernon.

Sokol said more enhancements will be made to the park in 2019, including resurfacing the walking track. She invited the public to attend an organizational meeting in January.

“Our park isn’t just a resource for the people of North Belle Vernon,” she said. “It also is used by residents from many surrounding communities. We encourage everyone from the Mon Valley to get involved and share their ideas at our organizational meeting.”

Councilman R.J. Sokol, husband of Lynn Sokol, said the park is one of the best kept secrets in the Mon Valley.

“More than 20,000 people have visited our park last year, and that number continues to grow,” he said. “The Mon Valley is really struggling right now, but our park gives many people a positive spin on life. We are just a little community that decided to touch lives in a positive way. We have a family-oriented facility where we are helping to strengthen the family bond.”

Sokol acknowledged numerous individuals for their support of the park, including Stefano and Walsh, as well as state Rep. Bud Cook, R-Coal Center, who also attended the meeting.

Mayor Craig Ambrose, who praised Lynn Sokol for the thousands of hours she spent working at the park, also thanked R.J. Sokol for his tireless efforts.

“That was a great speech, R.J., but you forgot one person. And that’s yourself. You came up with the concept and pushed everyone to get it done. If it wasn’t for you, our park wouldn’t have gotten it done,” said Ambrose.

In other business:

• Councilman Jack Curran said work has been completed on a stormwater separation project to fix a runoff problem near Blind Lane in Belle Vernon. Curran added that several streets that were torn up during construction will be repaved later.
• Public Works Director Walter Knapp said the borough continues to investigate the source of a fuel odor that was detected in a sewer underneath Market Street in Belle Vernon. North Belle Vernon’s fire department opened manhole covers on Broad Avenue and flushed the sewers with thousands of gallons of water to eradicate the odor, but the smell later returned. Knapp suspects that the fuel may be coming from a residence or a business. The boroughs of North Belle Vernon and Belle Vernon are working together to resolve the problem.
• The council welcomed Kurt Parshall as new fire chief and Jeff Antal as assistant fire chief.