State College Borough Council on Monday approved the Capital Improvement Plan for 2018-22.
The plan includes about $56 million in projects over the next five years, with $5.88 million in capital projects recommended for 2018. The CIP does not fund or approve any specific projects and acts as a blueprint for the coming years.
A wide range of projects are included in the plan, such as building and infrastructure improvements, street work, high-speed internet expansion and traffic signal improvements. But the hottest issue over the past year has been a proposed action sports park.
The park remains in the plan, with no specific site identified. Orchard Park had been identified in June 2016 as the sole recommended site but was removed two months later and council directed staff to review all possible options. Some neighborhood residents have been vocal throughout the year about their opposition to locating it at Orchard Park, or in any neighborhood park.
Council member Evan Myers made a motion on Monday to amend the CIP to remove any neighborhood park from consideration as the location for the action sports park, which could include facilities for skateboards, rollerblades, scooters and bicycles. The motion failed, 4-3.
‘The object was to have a small skate park in the borough, in a borough park, for borough residents’ children,’ council member Theresa Lafer said. ‘This is supposed to be something in the neighborhood and there are plenty of people who have written and stood up here and said they think this would be wonderful for their kids and their grandchildren, including people from the Orchard Park neighborhood.’
Lafer said that there seems to be some misinformation about how large the park would be. She added that it is important the park be located in a neighborhood within walking and biking distance for the safety of the youth who would be utilizing it.
Myers made a second motion, which also was voted down, to permanently remove Orchard Park from consideration. Though the motion failed, it still seems unlikely it will end up in Orchard Park.
Council president said the probability of that happening seemed very low. Lafer said if the neighborhood is vehemently against it, she will listen to the residents, but that the borough has many parks and there is bound to be one that is suitable for the action sports park.
‘It has been very, very saddening to see people tearing at each other’s throats over what was supposed to be a play place for children,’ she said.
The next step is for council to appoint an advisory committee to assist with site selection. That will probably occur with in the next 30 days. Council will have final say over where the park is located.
Public Works Director Deb Hoag said in June that the timeline calls for a final report and recommendations to council in December. In 2018, council would review the report and site selection as well as a conceptual design and would begin identifying grant and external funding sources. The park, which is estimated to cost about $350,000, would be a general funds project but would rely on private donations and grants.
The project was first proposed to the Centre Region Council of Government Parks Capital Committee in 2013 by BMX legend and local resident Jamie Bestwick. State College Borough staff began looking into the project in 2014.
For 2018, the biggest ticket items are street reconstruction and resurfacing, with $2 million proposed for reconstruction of Easterly Parkway from Pugh Street to Garner Street and $510,000 for street and alley resurfacing. Traffic signal and intersection safety improvements are included in the plan, with $530,000 proposed for 2018 and $2.185 million total over the five years.
Sanitary sewer rehabilitation and replacement work is proposed over the next five years, with $867,000 proposed for 2018 and $5.3 million total over five years.
Further down the line, the borough expects to consider construction of a new parking structure in 2022 at an estimated cost of $16.5 million. A recent parking study anticipates the need for a new parking structure to meet the demands of the downtown, according to the CIP. Options could include funding by the borough, a public-private partnership or a private parking facility.
The complete CIP can be viewed here.
