Borough may sever deal
SLIPPERY ROCK — Citing lack of progress in discussions, the borough is threatening to sever its agreement with Slippery Rock Township and the Slippery Rock School District to jointly run Slippery Rock Parks and Recreation.
Borough solicitor Neva Stotler sent a letter Nov. 11 to the members of the township, park and school boards. It serves as one year’s notice that the borough intends to withdraw from the agreement at the end of 2016.
“The borough has attempted to work with the member municipalities and the parks and recreation board for six months to revise the outdated agreement and has had no success,” the letter said.
Borough Council President Regina Greenwald said the borough still hopes to forge a new park agreement, but it had to give at least one year’s notice to even have the option of withdrawing from the agreement.
If the borough were to withdraw from the agreement, it is unclear what would happen to the park and its staff, she said.
The park off North Main Street is owned by the borough.
The park has a nine-member board consisting of representatives from the school district, the township and the borough. The park staff organizes programs for the community at both the park and on school district property. It has two full-time employees and 25 to 30 paid program instructors.
The agreement, which was signed in 1998, sets up the board and sets annual financial contributions of $25,000 from the borough, $20,000 from the township and $25,000 from the school district.
“The original agreement is from 1998. It’s not enough to really sustain things,” Greenwald said about the current budgeting.
The park’s 2015 budget is $292,000, with the majority of the revenue coming from programming fees, said park manager Mary Messer.
The borough would like to hire a new full-time maintenance employee next year to work on borough roads and also at the park, Greenwald said.
However, that would require that some changes also be made to the park budget and staff, she said.
The Slippery Rock Township supervisors briefly discussed the letter Monday at their meeting.
Supervisor Terry Doerr said that township officials have not turned down a request for more money.
Supervisor Paul Dickey said the board didn’t need to take any immediate action on the letter, but they should continue to work toward a new agreement.
“We have a year to deal with this. We need to get clarity on what they want from us,” Dickey said.
Slippery Rock School Board President Polly Shaw said the board has yet to take a vote on whether it will increase its contribution to the park.
They are waiting for an update on the situation after the next park board meeting, Shaw said.
