As the borough begins to assess its future, Springdale is searching for residents to offer their advice on a steering committee and several focus groups.
The main focus of Springdale’s Community Vision Plan is its main Pittsburgh Street corridor and recreation opportunities within the borough, Councilwoman Deborah Piontek said.
Springdale will collaborate with nonprofit stewardship organization Friends of the Riverfront and Pittsburgh-based architecture firm Environmental Planning and Design throughout the process, Piontek said.
Courtney Mahronich Vita, the nonprofit’s director of trail development and government relations, said the steering committee will be made up of smaller group of dedicated residents and taxpayers who will meet monthly to discuss and review ideas.
Focus groups, she said, will be less formal. Residents seeking to join in one of the seven groups will participate in a half-day of workshops and information gathering.
Environmental Planning and Design will guide the much of the discussion, and eventually create a mock-up of possibilities for the borough-based on feedback, Mahronich Vita said.
The firm has served in a similar role as Springdale and Cheswick discuss updates to Agan Park.
Springdale is funding the work through a $100,000 grant it received from the Heinz Endowments to investigate potential improvements in the borough.
By the end of the year, Mahronich Vita said she and the borough hope to have firmer plans for next steps.
“The goal with these plans is to come back with something implementable,” she said.
The ideas generated during over the next several months may also be used to inform officials involved in negotiating a community benefits agreement with developers of a recently approved data center proposal in the borough, Piontek said.
Mahronich Vita said the committee and focus groups would likely consist of 15 to 20 people each, though some of those spots would be reserved for government officials and experts.
She said the groups would benefit from a “variety of voices” within the borough.
Piontek and Mahronich Vita said they’re still working to determine how they’d whittle down potential appointments.
Any of the plans generated by the resident groups would still have to be approved by borough council before they’re implemented, Piontek said.
Those interested in joining the steering committee or one of the focus groups should email a letter of interest to courtney@friendsoftheriverfront.org and sb@springdaleborough.com by May 27.