BUTLER TWP — Just in time for spring, Preston Park will open Tuesday for the first time since it was closed due to damage from a winter storm in November.

Township commissioners announced the reopening Monday. “The park is now officially open to the public. Get out there and enjoy it,” said James Lokhaiser, township commissioner.

The storm produced heavy snow and ice that knocked down trees and power lines resulting in power outages across the county.

In the park, the storm toppled many trees and left large limbs in danger of falling.

Earlier in the year, the commissioners approved removing 300 trees that were dead, damaged or in danger of falling. Many of those 300 trees were cut down during the storm clean up effort, said Tom Knights, township manager.

The 300 trees were to be gradually removed over a 10-year period, but many of those trees were removed during the clean up. “This storm took us five, six years ahead,” Knights said.

He commended assistant manager Cheryl McNeill, facilities manager Eric Heltzell and the road department for getting the park ready to open.

“All the major trails are open,” Knights said. Some clean up work remains to be done, he said.

In unrelated business, the commissioners authorized the use of Municipal Benefit Services (MBS) wellness bank funds to initiate a wellness program for township employees. MBS is the trust through which the township buys health care insurance for employees, Knights explained.

About $55,000 has accumulated in the wellness bank over the past 10 years, he said. The money is what was left over from employee premiums after expenses were paid, and it can be spent on employee health programs or one-time insurance premium payment reductions, he said.

The wellness plan can buy fitness equipment that would be placed in the municipal building or buy gym memberships or other health programs for full-time employees who buy insurance through the township, he said.

It hasn't been determined how the money will be spent.

In other business, audits of the liquid fuel account and police and nonuniform employees pension plans resulted in no findings, Knights said.