Unity officials are set to improve access to a walking trail as they look to address the need for handicap-accessible recreation as part of the township’s comprehensive plan update.

Supervisors learned Thursday township engineer Dan Schmitt is preparing trail project documents for review by county officials.

“We expect within the next month or so we’ll have the bid opening, and that work will take place in the spring,” he told supervisors.

The project will include creating handicap parking spaces at the rear of the township municipal building. It also calls for building a handicap-accessible ramp leading to the nearby walking trail, which encircles a recreational lake.

Access to the trail also will be improved from a pavilion that sits on a hill overlooking the lake, Schmitt said.

“It will be a good addition to the township property,” he said.

The project will be supported by a $90,000 federal Community Development Block Grant that is overseen by Westmoreland County.

Planning for the future

Supervisors on Thursday also asked for public input on township strengths and needs at a meeting devoted to the comprehensive plan, last updated a decade ago.

Unity solicitor Gary Falatovich said the meeting, which included comments from speakers participating remotely, was the first step in the plan update, which township staff will complete. He said the plan will be “a vision of what the township looks like now, what it should look like 10 years from now and how we get there.”

Falatovich said the township is awaiting updated census data that will help to complete the revised plan.

Officials cited handicap-accessible recreation as a resource that is lacking in the township.

Supervisor Mike O’Barto discussed plans to seek a grant for new handicap-friendly equipment at a playground on the township property. He said one must travel as far away as Ligonier or North Belle Vernon to find similarly equipped playgrounds.

In North Belle Vernon, he said, “Handicap-accessible equipment was integrated with the regular equipment so the kids would be able to be with each other.”

“There’s definitely a need for inclusive playground equipment” locally, said Jessica Golden, director of development and of the Center for Student Creativity at Greater Latrobe School District.

Of the close to 4,000 students in the district, she said, about 15% have special needs — whether they have physical, behavioral or developmental challenges.

Asked to describe types of handicap-friendly playground elements the township might consider, she noted a play area at the district’s Baggaley Elementary School incorporated a smooth rubber walking surface and items that made sounds or had tactile appeal — ideal for a vision-impaired child.

Golden cited additional school district staff who could provide the township with input on inclusive play equipment.

“I think, together, we can actually make this work,” O’Barto said.

Residents Jeff Kuhns and Marsha Walsh talked about housing needs in the township.

Kuhns said Unity officials should make home ownership in the township more attractive so that residential properties don’t become vacant when existing owners succumb to old age.

“It’s critical to making sure property values stay high,” Kuhns said, noting, “It hasn’t affected the market yet.”

Walsh said she would “love to see more patio-type homes for retired people.”

O’Barto said the supervisors have discussed the need for promoting investment in homes in the township’s older, smaller villages — through a possible tax incentive program and repaving neglected streets.

“There are some roads that have not been paved in 40 years,” he said. “If you have a nice street and you’re able to remodel a home, I think that will go a long way. But we need to step it up with maybe some tax incentives.

“We’re going to have to work with the school district on that.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)