County planner de Silva named state Professional Planner

LANCASTER, PA – Clinton County Planner, Katie de Silva is scheduled to retire on Oct. 28 of this year. The work that she has done on behalf of Clinton County is too numerous to list, but others have taken notice. At the end of summer, the PA Wilds honored Mrs. de Silva with the 2022 Champion Award and the Clinton County Economic Partnership on Wednesday presented her the Carl Bergdahl Tourism Award. Earlier this week, the American Planning Association – Pennsylvania Chapter (APA/PA) selected de Silva for their 2022 Professional Planner Award.

The APA held their semi-annual conference in Lancaster on Tuesday and planners from across the state converged to participate in networking, breakout sessions, and professional development.

Several members of Clinton County government went to the closing ceremony to support Katie. The program at the APA awards ceremony read: “As the planning director of Clinton County, Kathryn de Silva has had a profound impact on the county since joining the planning office in 2012. During her tenure, she coordinated the complete update of the county’s zoning ordinance overseeing the zoning and permitting in seven municipalities. Katie was the main force behind the 2014 Clinton County Comprehensive Plan and the 2018 Bike-Ped Plan. She was also a main contributor to the Chesapeake Bay (CAP) Water Quality study, assisting in obtaining water quality grant funding and a construction implementation grant to care out the CAP. She was a proponent of the SEDA-COG senior housing project in Flemington Borough, leader of a multi-county broadband initiative, and project manager of the PennDOT pilot busing program. Over the years, Katie was the primary visionary responsible for the Bald Eagle Valley Trail, a 13.9 mile walking/biking trail being built in phases, including the rebuilding of a railroad bridge over the Susquehanna River, which the county commissioners have chosen to name “Katie’s Crossing.”