Jake Rape, of Zelienople, hits a blunt stall trick at the top of a ramp at the Zelienople Memorial Skate Park. Zelienople Borough Council on Monday forgave about $9,500 of a $16,109 loan used to finish the Zelienople Memorial Skate Park. Butler Eagle File Photo

As Zelienople’s local government takes the day-to-day control of the borough’s parks, the borough extended its gratitude for the Community Park Board’s decades of volunteer work.

“Even though now the borough is taking over the responsibilities, the people who have been here in the past should be celebrated because they've worked so hard to make the park what it is,” said borough manager Don Pepe.

The borough established a parks and recreation department in January, which now manages the day-to-day operations of Zelienople’s parks and pool. Before, the borough was responsible for infrastructure maintenance, while the park board managed the recreation facilities’ daily happenings.

Pepe said the board was comprised fully of volunteers. For roughly 80 years, Pepe said, the board has had a number of involved community members, from all walks of life, who shared a common interest and passion in the Zelienople parks.

“One thing that seems to be consistent, whether you're old or new, is you've committed a whole lot of time and effort, and sometimes a whole lot of money, to do what you need to do,” Pepe said.

Even the transition of operations to the borough was aided heavily by the volunteers, according to a borough news release.

“This significant change could not happen without the valuable individual volunteer park board members who shared their knowledge and experience of the park/pool operations,” the statement reads in part.

Although the parks and recreation department will now handle the daily operations of the community’s facilities, the volunteer board will still be involved.

“They will no longer be an operational arm, because they don't need to be, but they will be an advisory board to the borough and to the council and to the staff, in terms of what direction we should go in — future planning, fundraising,” Pepe said. “They will probably still maintain a fundraising arm.

“They're still going to be around. They're still going to be there, but not as an operational entity.”

The number of individuals on the parks board will likely decrease to around seven, according to Pepe, although the number is yet to be finalized.

Zelienople, in its news release, thanked the members in the board’s 80-year history for their “tireless efforts and vision for enhancing the beauty and experience of the Zelienople Community Park.”

“They're a good group of people and we felt it was important that, after all these years, they be recognized too and not forgotten,” Pepe added.