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What people want from the facility and how much it would cost to provide it to be decided.
Moon Lake Park closed in January 2010 due to the county’s money problems, but the facility reopened with scaled-back amenities that March.
Don Carey file photo/the times leader
What would you like to see happen at Luzerne County-owned Moon Lake Park in Plymouth Township?
The public will soon be asked that question as part of a new master plan being prepared to determine the park’s future path and how much it will cost to get there.
The 650-acre park had closed in January 2010 because of the county’s money problems, but the facility reopened with scaled-back amenities that March.
The public is permitted to use the park for hiking, biking, fishing and other activities, though camping and swimming remain off limits. Commissioners have unsuccessfully tried to find a private entity to operate the park at no cost to the county.
Commissioners said during Wednesday’s work session that they want to hire Sasaki Associates, of Watertown, Mass., to complete the master plan for $80,000. Sasaki designed improvements to the county’s River Common park along the Susquehanna River.
County Engineer Joe Gibbons said a selection team chose Sasaki from six applicants, though the county may opt to hire someone else if the company does not agree to accept $80,000. The state would fund half of the study, and the remaining $40,000 would come from county funds borrowed through a past bond.
Public input will carry a lot of weight in the plan, and the county will heavily publicize any public meetings, though no dates have been set yet, Gibbons said.
The master plan is being called an “update,” but county Commissioner Thomas Cooney said that descriptive should be dropped because a park master plan hasn’t been done since 1965.
Gibbons expects a lot of public input.
“There’s been a huge interest in the park being restored,” he said.
He wants the plan to focus on the cost to update park utilities and reopen the swimming pool as well as a long-term financial strategy to maintain and operate the park. Gibbons hasn’t given up on a public-private partnership, similar to one deployed at the county-owned Forty Fort Recreation Complex.
The White Haven-based Whitewater Challengers Inc. rafting company assumed a financial risk and took over operation of the Forty Fort complex last year to ensure the park would not deteriorate and close in light of the county’s fiscal problems. In addition to covering $10,000 to $20,000 in annual maintenance costs, the company must turn over a percentage of receipts to the county.
The county’s ability to make improvements at Moon Lake may also depend on its ability to secure grants and other government funding, Gibbons said.
Commissioners also plan to appoint nine people to a Moon Lake master plan committee: county Planning/Zoning Office Director Adrian Merolli, county 911/Security Director Dave Parsnik; county Purchasing Director Frank Pugliese; county Community Development Director Andrew Reilly; county Convention & Visitors Bureau Sales and Marketing Director Janet Allen Hall; state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Regional Advisor Dennis DeMara; Penn State Cooperative Extension urban forester Vincent Cotrone; Pennsylvania Environmental Council representative Ellen Ferretti; and state Fish and Boat Commission Commissioner Norm Gavlick.
County Engineer Joe Gibbons wants the plan to focus on the cost to update park utilities and reopen the swimming pool as well as a long-term financial strategy to maintain and operate the park.