Planning Commission finalizes draft of recreation plan

RAMSAY - The Bessemer Township Planning Commission met on Tuesday night to discuss final changes to the five-year recreation plan.

The main discussion focused on the timeline and amounts necessary to complete a wish list of projects throughout Bessemer Township.

Township supervisor Jeffrey Randall explained that Department of Natural Resources grants are often on a 75-25 percent divide, with the DNR covering 75 percent of the totals and the township matching 25 percent.

This means that any project would be three-fourths covered by the DNR and one-fourth covered by the township. For any of the grants, initially, the township has to pay the full amount, and then is reimbursed by the DNR.

Randall said smaller projects should be taken on first, in order to garner public interest in the updates and renovations.

"We've got to keep doing stuff in the park to improve and to get people there," Randall said.

Randall feels that the bigger projects should not be taken on yet.

"We need to save money to be able to fund those local matched portions of these grants if we were to do a big project," Randall said.

If the township saves money, they will have a better chance at getting the higher grant amounts they need in the future. Also, it improves chances at getting funded if they can match 50-50 with the DNR.

"The higher the local match, the more likely you are to get funded," said Jean Verbos.

Once the draft is updated, by the end of this week, Randall said he would be sending out a notice.

A 30-day review period is required and after the review period, there will be a public hearing to discuss any comments or concerns Bessemer Township residents have.

In a motion by Hope Tarnaski, supported by Verbos, the commission approved the changes to the draft and to have the public review period notice published in the paper.

The commission's next meeting date is yet to be determined.