Feasibility Study Complete for Armstrong County ATV Park
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DSC_0389.jpg – Vice President of Recreation Planning for PASHEK, Bob Good, presented the findings of a feasibility study concerning an Armstrong County ATV Park during a public meeting held yesterday evening.
DSC_0393.jpg - A 1,224 acre parcel of land in Pine Township was explained to be a possible location for the park.
by Nathan Lasher
At a meeting in the Templeton Church of God Fellowship Hall, Armstrong County Consultant, Bob Good, Vice President of Recreation Planning for PASHEK Associates, presented the findings of a recent feasibility study concerning a future Armstrong County ATV Park.
According to Good, the feasibility study began after a Comprehensive Recreation Plan showed that there was a desire to have a legal all terrain riding area for Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) enthusiasts in Armstrong County. The State gave Armstrong County a grant to have the study performed.
During his presentation, Good explained that many locations in Armstrong County were considered for the park. However, after reviewing the parcels of land based on size, access, location, potential to link to future sites, adjoining land use, and terrain, a 1,224 acre parcel of land located in Pine Township showed the most promise.
Approximately 35 people were in attendance for the presentation including multiple Township Supervisors as well as Armstrong County Commissioners Jim Scahill, Rich Fink, and Patricia Kirkpatrick.
After Good finished his presentation, he opened the floor to those in attendance for questions.
Subjects of questions included what would happen to the park in the winter time, whether or not snowmobiles and off-road motorcycles would be allowed, and who would own the park.
Good answered that the park may close for a small period of time during the winter during certain hunting seasons, snowmobiles and off-road motorcycles would be allowed, and that, after the land was acquired by money from Armstrong County and a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Grant from the ATV/Snowmobile Fund, the park would be owned by the County but would be leased to a private operator.
At one point during the question and answer session, one member of the audience asked Good for a possible timeline for when the park may be open for business.
“The first step is to hire an appraiser,” said Good. “The appraisal will take a couple of months to get done. If the appraisal comes back, the best case scenario would be that the County could try and submit an application for acquisition in the April round of DCNR this year. If that happens, then DCNR will evaluate it. We know from having discussions with DCNR already that they’ve got a fair amount of their ATV/Snowmobile money committed to other projects right now. So, it may be dependent upon what the price comes in at on this whether or not funding would be available in the next round of funding. If we assume that the appraiser gets done in time for the application on April 24, the application gets submitted, and DCNR goes through the process, it would take at least one year or probably 18 months until the property could ever change hands and become part of the County’s assets. So, that means, essentially, you’re looking at two years from today almost before acquisition would take place. Once acquisition takes place, the nice thing about this property is that it’s almost turn-key. It’s almost already there.”
At the end of his explanation, Good said that the park could possibly be ready for 2012 or 2013 as long as certain variables go according to plan.
Good plans to make a few minor modifications to the study after speaking with those at last night’s meeting. Then, he will officially present the feasibility study to the County who will choose to proceed as they wish.
Local News | nlasher December 17, 2010 | 
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