CLARK, PA. Delay jeopardizes plan to develop lake campground

The Volant man doesn't want to pay for an environmental impact study.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
CLARK, Pa. -- Mark Kasiorek is tired of waiting to find out if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers likes his development plan for the former YMCA campground at Shenango River Lake.
The Volant man is also bothered by the fact that the agency wants him to pay for an environmental impact study for the site before it considers his plan.
"We're not going to follow through on the proposal anymore," Kasiorek said last week.
He said he submitted "a ton of paperwork and a development plan" a year ago but never got anywhere with the corps.
That may be because the corps is having problems of its own.
The agency has undergone budget cuts that have forced it to reduce its funding to priority issues. "And that's not a top priority now," said Bill Wilson, realty specialist with the corps' Pittsburgh office.
Development on Shenango River Lake "is still on hold," he said.
The corps hasn't even decided if it favors Kasiorek's plan.
Wilson said in November that the corps is still really interested in getting a lodge on the site, although repeated efforts to find a developer who would do that have failed.
Here's the proposal
Kasiorek's plan, first proposed in February 2002, shows a "full-service" campground on the 43-acre waterfront property. That would include water and electric hookups at each campsite and a central bath and shower facility.
There would be more than 100 full hook-up campsites, 10 cabins built over a five-year period, a swimming pool, a recreation room, a camp store and laundry and restrooms. The campground would be open year-round.
Kasiorek said he's tired of waiting and objects to the corps' insisting that he have an environmental impact study done on the land, a task that would cost between $10,000 and $12,000.
"I don't feel that is right," he said, suggesting that if the corps is offering the land for development, it should have the study done first.
"I'm not interested anymore, unless they come back with something different," he said.
"I just got the impression the corps doesn't want in there what we want to put in there."
Kasiorek said he might change his mind, if the corps drops the study requirement.
The Shenango Valley YMCA had the campsite as a primitive campground for 30 years, but the corps refused to renew its lease in 2000, saying it wanted to see a full recreational facility with overnight lodging and sports programs beyond just water-related activities.
Land to be leased
However, the corps is unwilling to sell the land but will lease it for 25 years with possible extensions totaling up to another 25 years. That has cased a problem in attracting developers who don't want to invest a lot of money in a project on land they can't control, Wilson said.
Two widespread advertising campaigns seeking a developer came up empty. Kasiorek's proposal came in unsolicited. It's the only one the corps has received.
The corps had said previously that it had an offer from The Gateway Group of Cleveland, which helped develop Jacobs Field there and other sports venues, to be an intermediary in a continuing search for developers and financing for the site.
If the Kasiorek plan doesn't work out, the corps could go with Gateway, Wilson said.