BY MARYALICE MELI MAMELI@NCNEWSONLINE.COM
The habitats of birds and other creatures of woods and wetlands along part of the Connoquenessing Creek will not disappear. Attorney Wesley Hamilton informed the Wayne Township supervisors that Wild Waterways Conservancy entered an agreement on March 1 with the estates of the Nastas family to purchase 100 acres. The area, on the site of the former Rock Point Park, west of Ellwood City along the Connoquenessing, will remain in its current natural state. The area is west of where Ellwood City has begun construction for a new sewage treatment plant. Hamilton said he worked with the borough to reduce the impact of the plant on the environment. Ellwood City solicitor Ed Leymarie Jr. said the borough delayed necessary logging in an area that is a summer habitat for the Indiana bat until November when it moves on to caves for winter. The Indiana bat, about the size of a sparrow or smaller, has been declining in population since 1960 because of development in wetlands areas. Leymarie said the borough cut down fewer trees as well. The non-profit Wild Waterways is part of the state's land trust whose specific mission is "to protect and enhance the natural resources of the Connoquenessing and Slippery Rock watersheds," according to its Web site: www.wildwaterways.org. Hamilton said the area had been identified as having environmental and historical value in the Lawrence County Natural Heritage Inventory, a study conducted by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Its acquisition is to, "assure that the character of the area remains unaltered for posterity," said Hamilton who has volunteered his time to the conservancy to move this project along. He said 11 attorneys have formed a pool to work pro bono for environmental issues, four of whom he tapped for this project. Hamilton said negotiations for the sale have taken several years. He declined to disclose the purchase price but said the closing is expected to be at the end of the month. At Monday's meeting, Ellwood City Councilman Lou Cavalier said the purchase price was $93,500. The property had been appraised at $95,000, Leymarie noted. No development is planned for the land other than what Hamilton called "low-intensity recreational use, hiking and fishing." At the most, he added, a sign or picture board may be installed to show Rock Point Park as it looked at the turn of the century when it was an amusement park and summer resort for Pittsburghers and residents of the tri-county area. Leymarie said the conservancy stands to gain an additional 150 to 160 acres that the borough purchased from Penn Power to provide easements for utilities and an underground pipe to carry processed effluent to the Connoquenessing. The borough needs only about 20 acres for the treatment facility, he said. The area includes both sides of the creek from the plant east to Deemer's Bend, near the football stadium. Leymarie said the borough has a trails grant it will pass on to the conservancy. It is one of only a few agencies qualified to buy the property because, under the Keystone Conservation Act, the land must be preserved in its natural state. "We will work with them to preserve the area," Leymarie said. "It's consistent with our trails program and maintains a park atmosphere with the water and woodlands. It's a win-win situation for them and the borough." The conservancy's board will begin fundraising to provide for hiking trails and the planting of what is now a fallow field to return it to a woodland, Hamilton said. "What you'll see is what you'll get."
