(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

It was a lengthy Commissioners’ work session Wednesday, and the majority of it focused on county parks and fund prioritizing.

For starters, Department & Public Works director Dan Colville brought the Commissioners up to speed on the latest regarding a “sliding” area of Brady’s Run that has been closed off to the public, leading to the Commissioners questioning what still needs to be done and how much it will cost. Unfortunately, Colville informed the Commissioners that Brady’s Run wasn’t the only issue:

 

After Colville spoke, Solicitor Garen Fedeles talked about the upcoming resolutions for Thursday’s public session, including the contracts of a pair of Habitat For Humanity homes in the county, as well as a $400,000 grant to renovate the Rochester War Memorial.

Then it was time for the audience participation, which ended up dominating the final two thirds of the work session. First was Roger Thomas, an Ambridge resident who is also the co-chair of the Pennsylvania Committee for the Anaylsis and Reform of Our Criminal System, who spoke out against the current amount of jury expenses that Beaver County is paying. Thomas broke the numbers down and asked the Commissioners to make the right move:

 

Thomas also insisted that the old rule insisting that jurors getting paid 17 cents a mile from the post office in their zip code be changed to 17 cents a mile starting from the jurors’ address.

Commissioners Tony Amadio and Sandie Egley had their injunctions with Thomas in regards to his request, particularly Egley’s concerns on how the move would effect local businesses. But Commissioner Chairman Dan Camp disagreed with Egley, feeling that the move would be okay for local businesses:

 

Then two members of a project looking to put a historic landmark along Crows Run Road spoke to the Commissioners about their hopes to memorialize a Civil War-era gunmaker and blacksmith near the site of the old scrap yard along the road.

Finally, the recent disclosure of Brush Creek Park having received $1 million in funds over the last year was brought front and center, as two Marion Township representatives let their views on what the county was doing with those funds be heard. Police Commissioner Alan Dambach and Secretary Treasurer Marilyn Zona both accused the County for feeling that the funds were being used solely on the bridge located in the township and that Brush Creek Park was being neglected because of it. Zona got into a verbal tussle with Commissioner Sandie Egley over the matter:

 

Dambach also felt that the county was being neglectful towards Brush Creek, and told the Commissioners what he wanted–something Commissioner Egley felt the County already had:

 

The Commissioners will reconvene tomorrow for public session at 10:00 AM.