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| - Newly paved trails, upgraded restrooms and an infusion of cash were among the priorities for Harrison Hills Park discussed Tuesday night at Highlands High School. Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato touted his new Allegheny County Parks Foundation, which he hopes can soon raise $10 million from private donors and foundations. The county would provide a dollar-for-dollar match. "I believe parks are important for economic development and quality of life," Onorato told an audience of about 80 people Tuesday night at Highlands High School. The meeting marked the kick-off of a series of town hall meetings planned for other parks throughout the county. Onorato wants to raise money quickly through the new parks foundations "to save assets that are deteriorating fast." He cited that National Aviary on Pittsburgh's North Side as a model success story of how private-public partnerships saved an institution. "They were going to close it," he said. "Now, they're working on their third renovation." The county is looking to bring luster back to the county's nine parks that have fallen into disrepair with a 30-year backlog of maintenance projects. The county parks' master plan of 2002 called for between $82 million and $121 million for deferred projects, upgrades and capital improvements. "There are more things that need fixed in the parks than what we can fix right away," said Andrew Baechle, county parks director. "Please help us prioritize." The town hall meetings are an opportunity for the county to learn what residents want in their county parks, he said. Baechle, Onorato and Valley residents discussed possible projects at Harrison Hills including: • Connecting the Rachel Carson Trail, which ends at the park, with the Butler-Freeport Trail a few miles away; • Renovating playgrounds at Harrison Hills and all county parks; • Paving a trail around the playground and overlook; • Upgrading bathrooms to "composting" restroom facilities; • Purchasing parcels adjacent to the park; • Developing more facilities and activities for youths. Patrick Kopnicky, of Fawn, a board member of the Council of Friends of Harrison Hills Park, presented priorities including: • Cleaning up the park grounds; • Building a parking lot near the new environmental learning center; • Paving the Creek Side Trail; • Installing electricity in picnic groves; • Moving Harrison Township's composting facility out of the park. "People think it is a dump," he said. Friends of Harrison Hills is completing an environmental learning center along the park's Chipmunk Drive, which is slated to open this spring. One resident questioned the county's use of volunteer organizations such as the Friends of Harrison Hills for park projects such as clearing trails. "I would rather have county employees do it," said Joe Egan of Harrison, who said that he had worked for the county parks. "North Park had their own people, trades people built shelters. But they kept laying off people." Baechle couldn't say just how many county parks workers have been laid off over the years. But he said that at one time more county employees worked at North Park than all of the employees currently working at the nine county parks. "I would love to have that workforce today," he said. But years of downsizing the parks programs have depleted the labor force to a point of no return. "The heydays of the workforce is not coming back," said Onorato. "But our parks should not have to suffer."
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