Local News
UPDATE: Rec plan gets tentative OK; Greenville to vote on YMCA offer
GREENVILLE, SHENANGO VALLEY — The proposed partnership between Shenango Valley YMCA and Greenville that would ensure the future of recreation in northern Mercer County is one step closer to becoming a reality.
Board members of Greenville Area Leisure Services Association on Monday agreed to proceed with looking into the partnership, a resolution that Greenville council will vote on today.
All aspects of the plan like firm financial figures and other projections need to be thoroughly discussed, not only among GALSA, YMCA and council members, but also with community members, GALSA member Randy Ferguson said.
“They need to know what they’re getting for their money,” GALSA member Mark Gaus said of those who pay for recreation and leisure services.
Moving forward with the proposal will help fix GALSA’s and Greenville’s problems of how they operate separately and together, he said, adding it’s a “win-win situation.”
GALSA has been overseeing recreation in the Greenville area for 62 years and has been struggling financially. Council members in October proposed to dissolve GALSA and create a recreation commission, a plan GALSA board members said they weren’t aware of.
Joellen Arenas, YMCA’s chief executive officer, gave preliminary details at council’s Thursday work session, saying Greenville is the “missing link” when it comes to YMCA’s presence in that part of the county.
While no plans are on paper and could take a year to finalize, the proposal is garnering positive feedback from community members, GALSA President Becky McFadden and council President Brian Shipley said Monday.
Shipley said he’s sure council will vote to move forward with the plan.
If council is on board, that would show the borough’s long-term commitment to the importance of recreation, Gaus said. It would also mean more opportunities for the Shenango Valley.
“We have an enormous amount to offer them that they don’t have,” he said of GALSA programs and services, which Ms. Arenas said GALSA would continue to offer and oversee with the partnership.
The bottom line is that everyone who’s part of the decision-making process should stay with it to keep providing recreation, Gaus said.
- Local News
-
-
Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
State Superior Court has denied a local judge’s request to issue a precedential opinion in a rape case.
Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge John C. Reed had ruled that Chad S. Thompson, 24, formerly of Stoneboro, is a sexually violent predator, but Superior Court said in a 2-1 decision July 8 that an expert’s testimony was insufficient to back that declaration.
-
Stacey wants to continue fight over razed home
Raymond Stacey has requests pending in three courts as he presses his long-running attempt to prosecute the city of Hermitage and those he believes are responsible for illegally demolishing his parents’ house.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, on April 29 quashed an appeal because Stacey did not file his argument brief and appendix of supporting documents.
-
Burglars strike while residents sleep
Several Shenango Valley residents’ homes were broken into overnight Tuesday and Wednesday while they slept.
Two burglaries in Sharon involved people entering open windows.
-
Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
Hermitage commissioners introduced an ordinance Wednesday to increase sanitary user fees.
Residents tapped into the Hermitage Municipal Authority lines now pay $95 a quarter. That rate will bump up to $105 a quarter on Jan. 1, under the proposed rate hike.
Two more hikes on Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 1, 2013, will result in the rates increasing 50 percent from the current fee. -
Water is on at Forrest Brooke
Water service has been restored at Forrest Brooke Manufactured Home Community after well problems left the 165-unit complex dry Tuesday.
A boil and conserve water advisory has been issued by the DEP and will remain in place until tests confirm the water is safe to drink, Forrest Brooke’s manager Pete Havens said.
-
Storm damages trees, wires
Thunderstorms ripped through parts of Mercer and neighboring counties Wednesday night, downing trees and wires and keeping rescue workers on their toes.
A Mercer County 911 dispatcher shortly after 8 p.m. said they were busy with calls across the northern part of the county. He said there had been a few reports of trees falling on homes.
-
City leaders open to talks
Sharon officials aren’t opposed to sitting down with their counterparts in Farrell to revisit the idea of combining the two struggling cities.
“It never costs a penny to talk and there’s no (idea) that’s not worth looking at,” Sharon councilman Ed Palanski said. “I think it would be foolish to oppose looking at the idea.”
-
Murphy’s Law doesn’t faze regional planners
A complicated, two-day public meeting blitz in 32 counties ran headlong into Murphy’s Law in Mercer County on Tuesday.
The group Power of 32 are looking to re-write the regional map and create a grand, 15-year strategic economic plan for the 32 counties in four states that make up the Ohio River basin and greater Pittsburgh area.
-
Forrest Brooke copes with water outage
Residents of Forrest Brooke Mobile Home Community in Jefferson and Lackawannock Townships woke up Tuesday morning to find they didn’t have any water.
Managers of the park could not be reached for comment, but residents said they were told they won’t get water service back for at least another month.
-
City facing bleak financial reality
LaVon Saternow has been Farrell’s city manager since 1992. Shortly after she took the job, Sharon Steel, the city’s economic engine, officially closed down.
Since, the city has struggled to remain solvent and Mrs. Saternow said it is facing its worst financial crisis in her tenure.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
