20-year-in-the-making walkway project officially unveiled Friday morning

From Staff Reports

WOODWARD TOWNSHIP – Local dignitaries and those involved with the Woodward Township Riverview Park Walkway project from idea to completion met Friday morning to display their triumphs and provide a history for the long awaited walkway project.

“This is about building pride in our community, Bob Rolley, an early organizer of the project, said Friday morning. “That’s what this project is, that’s why every time you seal the pavement, repair a restroom, or do anything along this stretch you build pride in your community.”

“This was on a 20-year transportation plan with PennDOT,” Rolley said. “Over 20 plus years, we have a lot of people to thank and cover, so I wrote out a timeline for you all on the project.”

A timeline of events is below:
IN 1994 the LEVEE IS DEDICATED
Meanwhile, WOODWARD TOWNSHIP begins development of what will become known as RIVERVIEW PARK (as later named by students at Woodward Elementary) with a huge DCNR grant and other funds.
Township Supervisors BILL BAKER, JIM BRESSI AND CHUCK RINE get fully behind the park project.
Twp Crews led by brother CRAIG MUTHLER and late JEFF MUTHLER build large pavilions; the park general contractor is CHARLES CONSTRUCTION CO.
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN HIGH vo-tech students build the park restroom.
Civilian Conservation Corps CREWS build mini pavilions with GRANT FUNDS
CLINTON COUNTY ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP’s TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE led by DAN HARGER CONCEIVES A PLAN (AROUND 1999-2000) to RE-ALIGN AND WIDEN FARRANDSVILLE ROAD (with a bike-hike path) OUT TO THE LHU ATHLETIC FIELDS and build THIS WALKWAY.
DAN and COMMITTEE BEGIN TO LOBBY PENN DOT to GIVE THE PROJECT PRIORITY.

DAN AND PETE LOPES TESTIFY at STATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE HEARINGS REPEATEDLY AND PENNDOT Agrees to put the Farrandsville Road Project on the 12 YEAR PLAN.
IN 2003-2004, The WOODWARD TWP. REC COMMITTEE OF MYSELF, MARIE SELF, CRAIG KEEN, RICK AND KAREN HOUSEKNECHT, BRUCE AND CATHY PEDDIE, BRENDA DUNLAP, BOB LUGG, RANDY BERRY, TERRY SZUCS, JEANNE AND CHUCK SHADE and CHRIS BIRDSEY lobby then Supervisors JIM BRESSI, CHUCK RINE AND CLYDE GLOSSNER to support the project, but particularly the WALKWAY to the park. They tell us, raise the money. WE need at least $60,000 for local share for the walkway. We ENGAGE the County Commissioners for financial support and they agree. We engage LORI YEICH AT DCNR about a Growing Greener grant to help fund it.
DAN HARGER and the Transportation Committee CONTINUE to keep the project alive BUT AS TIME GOES, OTHER & MORE IMPORTANT ROAD AND BRIDGE PROJECTS GAIN ATTENTION AND GET FUNDING, including the interchange at Route 220/Auction Road/Fairground Road
Expectations rise after the STATE INCREASES THE WHOLESALE GASOLINE TAX around 2010/2011.
But OTHER ROAD AND BRIDGE PRIORITIES CONTINUE TO WIN OUT.

PennDOT, however, keeps this project on its radar with updates and work.

ONE OF THE PROJECT’S OTHER CHAMPIONS IS PENNDOT’S TRANSPORTATION ENGINEER VICKI RUSNACK who helps keep it alive at SEDA-COG-PennDOT MPO meetings for Dist. 2.
PennDOT engineers, meanwhile, drew up NEW, more focused plans as VICKI kept saying “this better get scheduled.”
Then, about 2017, they begin to look at a MULTI-MODAL TRANSPORTATION GRANT OPTION and then Supervisors KYLE COLEMAN, CLYDE GLOSSNER AND BRIAN HOY discuss it.
IN EARLY 2018, the Board of Supervisors WAYNE LOVE, KYLE COLEMAN & BRIAN HOY announce they’ll meet with VICKI RUSNAK, County Planner KATIE de SILVA and others to pursue a multi-modal transportation grant for the walkway. SEDACOG officials JIM SAYLOR AND STEVE HARMAN also HELP with the discussion.
OTHER Recreation Committee members continuing to RAISE MONEY at Riverfest are SHELLYYOXHEIMER, JEN HOY, KYLE AND OTHERS.
In NOVEMBER 2018 the then Supervisors JOHN BARTH, KYLE COLEMAN AND WAYNE LOVE VOTE to pursue a $175,000 MULTIMODAL grant and match it with $75,000, but this is ACTUALLY FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO CROAK HOLLOW ROAD BECAUSE IT IS the designated DETOUR during the FARRANDSVILLE PROJECT.
CINDY LOVE is brought in and writes the Multi-Modal grant.

The bulk of the funding for this project came from state and federal transportation funds – our tax and fee dollars.
The GRANT IS LATER APPROVED and PENNDOT narrows the project focus to the walkway and some road realignment, while the TOWNSHIP MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY and SUBURBAN WATER AUTHORITY ultimately ALSO must come up with money for sewer and water line replacement.
TIME GOES and IN DECEMBER 2021 PENNDOT holds an OPEN HOUSE to announce they’ll LET BIDS for the walkway in SPRING 2022.
CLEARWATER CONSTRUCTION of MERCER PA wins the contract and begins clearing trees and preparing the riverbank in THE SUMMER OF 2022.
Projected completion: June 2024.
A guest speaker representing PennDOT was supposed to speak but was called to Juniata County at the last minute for their significant flooding event Thursday evening.

Those present for the unveiling of the walkway as past and present for the project are listed below:
Woodward Township Supervisors John Barth, Kyle Coleman, and Mike Fetzer
Township Secretary JACKIE BARTLETT
Police Chief STEVE FALOTICO; Sgt. MILES HOUSEKNECHT & Officer GREG DROLLINGER
MIKE STOVER & GERARD BANFILL, Twp Municipal Authority
TERRY BAUMAN & DAN BARTH, Twp. maintenance crew
CINDY LOVE, township resident
ALSO GREG MAYES, Suburban Water Authority
76th State Rep. STEPHANIE BOROWICZ
CINDY KUN ES representing Congressman Glenn Thompson
BRANDY REITER representing state Sen. Cris Dush
JEFF SNYDER, Clinton County commissioner
KATIE DE SILVA, retired county planner
JULIE BRENNAN, retired tourism-chamber director
KIRA ROSAMILIA, current tourism-chamber director
DAN HARGER, Clinton Cty EP Transportation Committee Chair
PETE LOPES, former county tourism-chamber director
ERIC MURNYACK, PennDOT Dist. 2 assistant executive for design
PETE KEMPF, Maintenance Manager for Clinton & Centre Counties
DAREN STOVER, PennDOT District 2 representative
MARK KUCHERER, retired Project Manager, Penn DOT
GARY BOJALAD, PennDOT Dist. 2 Utility Administrator
TROY EGAN, PennDOT construction manager
DAVID PICCOLOMINI, Engineering Consultant, SPK Engineering
ART HAWKSWORTH
NOT HERE JASON RAPLEE, Clearwater Project Manager
NOT HERE TYLER MANN, Clearwater asst. project manager
City Councilman Steve Stevenson
MELISSA DALLY, Manager, Downtown Lock Haven Inc.
LESLIE WARRINER, executive director, Susquehanna Greenway Partnership