Zelienople’s proposed $4 million budget for 2022 looks very similar to its current financial plan.

But underneath the surface there are some structural changes going into the numbers, which borough council will consider Monday.

Borough manager Don Pepe said the budget includes the creation of a new department. The proposed parks and recreation department would supplant the current park board in running the day-to-day operation of Zelienople Community Park.

Pepe said the current system — which he described as a “hybrid model” in which the borough owns the land and facilities comprising the park while the Community Park Board handles the minutiae of the park — “just had flaws.”

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