Delmont residents asked to fill out survey to help develop recreation plan
Delmont officials want to hear from residents about their wants and needs when it comes to the future of recreation in the borough.
As part of the development of a boroughwide recreation plan, and with the help of a state grant and hired consultant, residents have been asked to fill out an online survey to help guide how the plan will take shape.
“I see recreation as something the borough can offer to residents, to attract new residents and to bring people into Delmont,” Councilman Stan Cheyne said. “A lot of questions we get revolve around recreation. We get a lot of citizen comments about the use of Shields Farm.”
The recreation plan ultimately will include a list of projects ranked by public priority, which will be based on feedback from the survey. Cheyne said putting this type of plan in place is helpful when it comes to securing grants.
“Since we have a limited budget, we try to apply for grants wherever we can,” he said. “And the first question they always ask is, ‘How does this grant fit into an overall plan for the community?’ ”
A fully developed recreation plan, Cheyne said, would have lent more weight to Delmont’s application for a state grant to fix the tennis courts at Newhouse Park.
“When groups are approving grants, they can look at a recreation plan and say, ‘Okay, this is part of a plan the community has. It’s not going to be announced and make people angry because they didn’t know about it,’ ” Cheyne said.
In addition, a recreation plan is one step toward the larger goal of a boroughwide comprehensive plan, which typically is updated once every decade and lays out a town’s aspirations in all areas, including recreation, transportation and overall development.
“That costs a good deal more money, though,” Cheyne said. “If this recreation plan is well-received by council and the public, that will make it easier to have a discussion about doing additional upgrades with things like traffic, parking and other infrastructure issues.”
Delmont residents can find a link to fill out the survey at DelmontBoro.com/recreation-plan.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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