Residents Support East Coast Watercross Becoming Annual Event in Woodward Township
By Christopher Miller
WOODWARD TOWNSHIP – Woodward Township Supervisors met Tuesday evening for their monthly meeting.
From the floor, many residents spoke out in overwhelming favor of this past weekend’s jet ski racing event by East Coast Watercross.
“They came to town here for the races, I believe they had 65 rooms available at the Best Western and 55 of them were booked by the racers,” Supervisor Kyle Coleman said.
“This is fantastic for tourism with the hotel tax money coming in which last year we received $2,000 back as a donation from Clinton County Tourism. Five percent of every dollar spent on a hotel room comes back to us to fund the tourism initiatives. It might have been an inconvenience for some people but the bigger picture is that others are coming into this area, spending money and contributing to our local economy.”
Planning for East Coast Watercross 2026 events will begin next month. They will decide and announce their racing plans within the coming months.
In other business, Dunnstown Fire Company was able to secure what the bank called a “municipal loan” for the purchase of a replacement utility vehicle, replacing a 20-year old Chevrolet Suburban. The loan will be repaid in five years with five payments being made annually. The vehicle was obtained in Dunnstown Fire Company’s name, not what was mentioned previously with the option of the township purchasing the vehicle for them and the fire department paying the township back through debt reduction grant money. The said debt reduction grant money will be used to pay this vehicle off.
Coleman also reported that Riverfest 2025 was a big success, citing a steady flow of people throughout all three nights.
“Thursday was steady. On Friday the temperatures were cooler and it was super busy then and the same on Saturday. A decent crowd came in for the Cardboard Boat Races and Saturday after the storm it got really busy,” Coleman said.
“We will discuss next month if we will continue the late-June event date rather than the traditional July weekend.”
Coleman also mentioned that the new pickleball courts have been paved and are almost complete.
“They will be painted by early-August and will be all done. We need to look into some kind of nets and backstop so the balls don’t go rolling away,” he said.
Supervisors also accepted a tax sale repository bid for a 1.02 acre property formerly owned by Melody Witherite. The bid for $3,217 for what supervisor John Barth said was an “uninhabitable property,” will return the property to the tax rolls.
Supervisors also approved the purchase of security cameras for the exterior corners of the bathrooms at the boat launch and Riverview Park areas. The cameras, coming from Keystone Security, will allow for 180 degree wide angle views and will be viewable remotely from the township police office. The cameras come at a cost of $5,390.
The township supervisors also approved the use of volleyball courts and pavilion number two for use by the Lock Haven YMCA on September 6 for a volleyball tournament.
A thank you letter was also received and read from the Reach Out Mentoring Program (ROMP) for use of Riverview Park and for waiving the fee for use of a pavilion there.
The potential purchase of guardrails for Crestview Drive was visited and “put on the back burner.”
Guardrail prices from Penn Line were $23,360, Keystone Guiderail for $19,695, and from Green Acres at $16,950 for a length of almost 500 feet.
A suggestion was made to install guardrails along Hillside Drive instead, but the idea and conversation was tabled.
Lastly, a pipe and road construction project on Cider Press Road will take place late-July or early-August. The road crew anticipates that the project will be done in advance of the start of the school year.
