×

Looking Ahead

Youngsville Borough working on a strategic plan

When it comes to invigorating a community, there is no magic wand and there are not unlimited funds.

Youngsville Borough is looking to the future and trying to come up with a worthy vision with achievable goals.

More than 20 stakeholders — the strategic planning committee — gathered last week to take some initial steps.

The scope of the work to be accomplished by the group was “up to this community,” according to moderator Peter Wulfhorst, an extension educator through the Penn State Cooperative Extension. “The vision is what the community wants to achieve.”

“I think we want to come away from tonight with some kind of draft vision,” Wulfhorst said. “Some one- or two-sentence statement that you want to achieve.”

“I’d like to see us have a vision, some goals or objectives, and get rolling,” Borough Council Member Eric Mineweaser said.

The group’s initial shot at a vision statement came from Nancy Holmberg of Revitalization of Youngsville (ROY). Her suggestion was eventually boiled down to “A safe and friendly community that supports business.”

There were many suggestions to modify that vision, including to make the community a “destination.”

“I like the destination part of it,” Scott Nelson said. “In summer, there are hundreds of campers that come by this road. What do we do to make them stop?”

“What are we going to do to create demand?” the Rev. Rick Hamrick asked.

That is all part of the process.

After the vision come “action plans, dollars, and objectives,” Wulfhorst said.

On the negative side, some of the members of the committee talked about housing, parking, and schools.

“We don’t have open lots for people to build,” Council Member Rick Brewster said. “The quality of housing in our community is not what people are looking for.”

“Fight blight,” John Edwards said. “Nearly every street has blight on it.”

“It doesn’t present well,” Hamrick said. “Aesthetics are a huge part.”

“There’s no parking,” Hamrick said. “It limits the amount of traffic that you can get in and out of your store.”

“The environment of our schools are detracting from people moving here,” Brewster said.

There was brief discussion about having a plan for Youngsville High School in case it is shut down by Warren County School District.

“Close a school? That’s a big problem,” Catrina Leamon said.

The loss of the school could compound an existing situation.

“It’s an older community,” Council Member Eric Mineweaser said. “We’re not attracting younger people.”

Or, it could help make that situation a strength.

“Turn that high school into high-end senior citizen living,” Council Member Todd Lake said. “Turn Youngsville into a retirement living community.”

The community’s possible losses are not limited to schools. “You see churches merging,” Mineweaser said.

Things might be different “if we had a magic wand,” he said. But, “sustain what we have and build on it.”

What the borough has is “everything you need to live,” Council Member Nicole Cowan said. “We have services, we have water, television. We have our own police department.”

Among the building points there was a focus on recreation.

“You can go to the river,” Catrina Leamon said. “You can go on hikes, snowmobiling.”

“Ball fields, playgrounds, the pool, the bike-hike trail,” Clawson said.

Walkability was another positive. “It is self-contained,” Leamon said. “I could walk to the grocery store. I could walk to the post office. I could walk to a restaurant.”

“You can come here and we have the outdoors, we have the water, we have a nice, walkable downtown,” Clawson said.

But those positives could also be limiting the borough.

“Most of these young professionals were raised in an urban area,” Clawson said. “We don’t have what they have. They want access to the nightlife and the clubs and the bars. We’re never going to be able to do that.”

“How do we make ourselves that hip downtown local area and, at the same time, you walk five minutes and you’re in the woods or on the river?” he asked.

“If you can get people that are on the Allegheny National Forest to come in and shop, that would bolster the economy,” Wulfhorst said.

“We need to build business in this community,” Cowan said. “To shop is part of it.”

Clawson suggested technology could be part of the answer.

In cases where one spouse gets a good job at a local employer, “if we can get broadband and wi-fi everywhere” then the other spouse can work from home, Clawson said.

Some of those local employers are an easy trip from the borough. “It’s an easy commute to our large businesses,” Lake said. “If you live in Youngsville and you work at Orchard Brands or Ellwood, you hop on a four-lane and you drive three minutes and you’re there.”

Whatever the questions and answers turn out to be, most will take money. And funding is limited.

“Borough council is having to be very careful with their resources,” Borough Manager Lisa Hagberg said.

The borough is finalizing surveys that will be made available to the public, according to Hagberg. Those surveys will allow for public input into the strategic planning effort.

The committee plans to get together again at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 14, to continue the process.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today