Hempfield puts focus on planning in 2020
Hempfield leaders are looking to the future as they shift their focus to planning in the township during the coming year.
Supervisors voted unanimously to create a director of planning and zoning position, which establishes a department specifically for planning purposes. Current planning coordinator Patrick Karnash will take over as department head starting Wednesday . Karnash will work with community members to boost their businesses and guide other departments to help make that vision become a reality.
“We have a new time now with the casino coming, with the new hospital, that there’s going to be new planning needs,” township Manager Jason Winters said. “There’s a focus back on planning, and we really wanted to make it its own department. Instead of having individuals come to us, we want to start reaching out to businesses. How can we work with them moving the township forward?”
The casino, to be located at Westmoreland Mall, is slated to open in mid-to-late summer. Dubbed “Live! Casino Pittsburgh,” the facility will feature 750 slot machines, 30 table games and could bring about 500 full-time jobs, with average wages around $43,000 a year.
Up the road, Allegheny Health Network Hempfield Neighborhood Hospital will feature an emergency department, a 10-bed inpatient unit, diagnostic imaging, a laboratory, cancer unit and other complementary medical services. It will not have operating rooms or a helicopter pad.
Karnash, who has been filling in as interim zoning officer after a retirement this year, makes $59,670 per year plus a $5,000 stipend for his interim position. His new position pays $68,000 and will jump to $70,000 in 2021, Winters said.
Supervisors also unanimously voted last week to retain current department heads Doug Cisco, director of public works; James Shaw, director of code and safety; Aaron Siko, director of parks and recreation and Melanie Phillips, director of finance.
“To continue to put forward amenities, quality of life, and still maintain the tax base at 3 mills says a lot about who we are and how we do it,” said Supervisor Rob Ritson. “And I hope we continue to do that. I think that the idea of establishing stable staff and working with us, and doing some more planning will help us continue that into 2020 particularly. I anticipate and look forward to 2020 as a big year. … It’s time to look forward.”
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.