DALLAS TWP. — A $200,000 grant will fund phase one of the Dallas Township Park restoration, Supervisor Elizabeth Martin said Tuesday.
The new grant will allow the project to move forward with plans to construct a nature-themed children’s playground, an amphitheater, a dry stream bed educational area, a gravel parking lot with ADA accessible sidewalks and in the deteriorating six-acre municipal park.
“The original idea plan (for phase one) was an estimated cost of somewhere around $425,000,” Supervisor William Grant said.
To-date, the township received a Department of Community and Economic Development’s Local Share Account grant for $236,000, a private donation of $75,000 from John Metz, the owner of Metz Corporation, and his family; plus the DCNR grant will give the township $511,000 to invest in the project, Grant said.
Supervisors and Bryan N. Smith, a project manager with the engineering firm Barry Isett & Associates Inc., started working on plans to renovate both the six-acre Dallas Township Park, located off Lakeside Drive and Southside Avenue; and 56-acre Kunkle Park, off Old Tunkhannock Highway in 2014.
Dallas Township Park redesign plans include park lighting, police surveillance cameras, as well as two playgrounds, one geared for 2 to 5-year-olds and a second one designed for children between the ages of 5 and 12. There will also be a skate park, two dog parks, one for big canines and one for smaller dogs; trails, a splash pad for children, a pavilion with restrooms, an amphitheater and an all-purpose field.
Kunkle Park will feature a pavilion, walking trails and an 18-hole Frisbee Disc Golf Course, which will not adversely affect the existing forests and natural resources, Smith said.
In other news …
• Supervisors unanimously approved the final reading of the 2018 proposed budget.
The $3.3 million budget will maintain the 1.25 mill rate. A mill is $1 for every $1,000 in assessed in property value.
The earned income tax and real estate transfer tax will remain at 1 percent each.
• Township Police Chief Robert G. Jolley reported crime in the municipality was down nearly 20 percent from 2016.
• Supervisors tabled Dallas School District’s conditional use request to construct a 57,371-square-foot intermediate school.
Municipal attorney Thomas Brennan advised supervisors to wait and give the township Planning Commission time to review the submitted Environmental Impact Study provided by Justin Hoffmann, an engineer with Kiley Associates LLC.
The district is required to obtain a conditional use variance from the township because the school’s campus is located in an agriculture zone.
The district wants to build a two-story school to house third, fourth, and fifth grades. Kindergarten, first and second grades will be located in the existing Wycallis Elementary School building.
The 45-year old, prefabricated Dallas Elementary School would be demolished after the new school is constructed and operating, Hoffmann said.
Brennan tentatively scheduled a meeting date of 6:15 p.m. Jan. 17 at the municipal building to review the Planning Commission’s recommendation with the district and public.
