Renovo Area Looks at River Town Status

RENOVO — Western Clinton County residents are invited to a Thursday public forum on a possible Renovo area designation as a “river town.”

The event is set for the Renovo Fire Hall on 11th Street at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The first half hour will be an open house at which maps and ongoing projects in the Renovo area will be reviewed; from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. there will be presentations and focus group work.

Local officials have teamed with the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership and SEDA-COG Economic Redevelopment.

Project backers have emphasized a regional approach to the “river town” designation and South Renovo borough council on Monday of this week passed a resolution in support of the concept. Other communities reported in the planning process include, in addition to Renovo, the townships of Noyes, Leidy and Chapman.

The open house portion of the Thursday meeting is to focus on area maps and an opportunity for feedback on plans for parks, trails and potential recreational developments.

Alice Trowbridge, Greenway Partnership coordinator, noted at a recent planning session on the designation that revitalization efforts are already well underway in the Renovo area.

She said the meeting presents “a great opportunity…to get together and discuss potential projects and improvements” in the greater Renovo area.

If approved by the participating municipalities, they would join the Greenway Partnership’s River Towns program. The City of Lock Haven had signed up for the River Towns designation last year. Project backers say the program offers recognition and assistance to communities that value the Susquehanna River as an asset “for sustainable economic development and healthy living.”