When push came to shove

Faced with the possibility of losing $163,000 in state funding, Cambridge Springs borough council finally scaled back the proposed renovations to the athletic complex off Brink Drive enough to get an affordable bid on the project. (Tim Hahn from the Erie Times-News provides the relevant details here.) Hahn notes that the current plan includes: improving the park's access road, installing a parking lot, adding one tee ball field and building a water retention area.

There's no doubt that this is a sorely needed project for the area—and definitely worth the tax increases that may come along with the borough and Cambridge Township each kicking in $25,000 to the project. There are far worse ways for tax dollars to be spent, especially when people had to park in the grass and mud just to see their kids play sports.

It seems like there have been concerns about increased traffic on Brink because of expansion to the facility—and that's a legitimate concern given that it's a residential area. It's going to be key for police to have a presence on the street before and after games to keep people honest about following the 15 mph speed limit.

I was a little disappointed that the current set of renovations didn't apparently include any sort of soccer facilities or equipment (or at least the article didn't mention anything about soccer). It's a shame that Cambridge-area kids have to travel to Saegertown to play high school soccer.