Pike staffers have banner year

By TOM KANE

MILFORD, PA Two departments of Pike County government reported a year of unusual accomplishments to the Pike County Commissioners.

The Pike County Planning Department and the Pike County Conservation District each came out with a yearly report that told their stories.

The Planning Department

On March 21, Pike County Office of Community Planning Director Sally Corrigan related her department’s accomplishments.

“During this year, we felt spurred on by the voter referendum on the $10 million bond issue¾called the Scenic Rural Character Preservation Program,” Corrigan said. “That gave us the incentive from the community to put our resources into managing development.”

A special board of community members had been meeting to give direction to the planning staff. The board decided that $8 million would be dedicated to the preservation of the county’s open space and the remaining $2 million to support the efforts of the planning department staff to assist the county’s townships.

“All this gave us the encouragement to approach the state for additional funding which we were successful in obtaining,” Corrigan said.

State funding made it possible to hire three professionals, who will assist the department in carrying out its plans. New personnel include a preservation program assistant, a preservation planner and a community and natural resource assistant.

“Before any of that could happen, we completed the county comprehensive plan that is the road map which will guide us in where we’re going in the next few years,” Corrigan said.

Another initiative the department is spearheading is an Open Space Greenway and Recreation Plan, which will lay the framework for conserving and enhancing the county’s natural areas and recreational resources.

The conservation District

Michele Ulmer, Education Coordinator of the Pike Conservation District, and Scott Savini, vice chairman of the district board, introduced the group’s annual report to the commissioners on April 4.

“Pike County is growing rapidly, so we have to be pro-active rather than reactive,” Savini said.

During 2006, the conservation district generated $533,513 in grants from state agencies. Some of these include a $37,698 grant for a watershed specialist, $48,655 to assist townships to develop their own municipal planning, $134,000 to do comprehensive groundwater assessments and $61,774 to fund two resident conservation persons.

“We were very happy to secure the ability to directly enforce regulations without waiting for the state to enforce stormwater and erosion ordinances among recalcitrant developers and builders who were ignoring the rules,” Savini said.

The district learned a lot from its dialogue with Monroe and Chester counties, which have experienced the same kind of growth pains that Pike is experiencing and learned solutions the hard way, he said.

Rather than wielding the big stick over contractors, the district organized several workshops in conjunction with the Pike County Builders Association, Savini said.

“We are blessed to have a strong leadership and an accomplished staff who are the main reason of our successes,” said Harry Forbes, chairman of the Pike County Commissioners.