Cleanup underway at Rostraver's Cedar Creek Park after storm topples 65 trees
Cedar Creek Park in Rostraver is expected to remain closed until at least Saturday as work crews clean up more than 65 trees felled during Wednesday morning’s storm.
“Many of them were 60-to-80-foot pine trees and it will take a couple of days to clear,” said Greg McCloskey, director of Westmoreland County Public Works.
Furloughs of county employees as part of Westmoreland’s coronavirus response effort has slowed the cleanup. McCloskey said two maintenance employees were recalled from furlough to help clean up Cedar Creek Park.
Storms that ravaged the region before dawn on Wednesday caused little damage at the other county parks, according to McCloskey, who said inspectors found just one toppled tree at Twin Lakes Park in Hempfield.
Meanwhile visitors to Twin Lakes Park this week found two areas, the Peach Plaza skateboard facility and another section for dogs to run, shuttered by the county’s park police.
“They are gathering areas,” said Park Police Chief Henry Fontana. “Way too many people were gathering there. We were getting complaints and we’re still getting complaints about the amount of people at the parks.”
County officials initially closed the parks after Gov. Tom Wolf issued a stay-at-home order for Westmoreland County last month. The order, though, permits residents to walk outside and, as a result, the parks were popular destinations despite their closure. County leaders reopened the parks but cordoned off playgrounds, locked restrooms and halted trash collections.
Fontana said park police patrols continue to recommend visitors practice social distancing. No citations will be issued.
Meanwhile, the $1.1. million project to replace the popular giant slide at Mammoth Park in Mt. Pleasant is delayed by the pandemic. County officials initially targeted a late April opening of two new 100-foot steel slides at the park but the final phase of the construction was halted.
“We’re now hoping to get it open by June 1,” McCloskey said.
Rich Cholodofsky is a TribLive reporter covering Westmoreland County government, politics and courts. He can be reached at rcholodofsky@triblive.com.
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