Penn Hills views boat access to Allegheny

New Penn Hills manager Peter Colangelo, who knows something about boats, said he is exploring options for creating a motor boat access in the community along the south bank of the Allegheny River.

"If you build a parking lot for 200 spaces for a boat landing, people will use it," said Colangelo, whose last job before coming to Penn Hills was director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

Colangelo said he spent part of a recent trip to Harrisburg discussing grant possibilities for the project with John Simmons, director of boating and education for the Fish and Boat Commission.

Simmons said one possibility for funding is a new $2 million grant program through the commission for motor boat access.

The program, approved by the commission in January, requires a 25 percent local match, Simmons said. Money for the program comes in part from a fuel tax for motor boats.

Simmons said an access point in Penn Hills could cost between $60,000 and $80,000.

The commission helped secure federal funds for a $300,000 boating access ramp on the South Side that is slated to be finished this summer, in time for July's Bassmasters Classic, Simmons said.

The fish and boat commission operates public boating access ramps in Harmarville, Springdale and Tarentum along the Allegheny River.

John Stephen, founder of Friends of the Riverfront, which advocates for public access to the region's rivers, said the stretch of the Allegheny River near Penn Hills, while dotted with private marinas, had few public access points for boaters.

"Most of the municipal ramps are for local residents only, and there's no parking," Stephen said.

Stephen said his group was working with Steel City Rowing Club and municipal officials to bring a public access point for non-motorized craft in Verona by this summer.

Stephen said an access in Penn Hills would be popular with boaters.

"The problem (of access) is always going to be parking. People want access to the rivers," he said.

Colangelo said he was looking at potential locations for the access, but declined to say where.

Colangelo was executive director for the Fish and Boat Commission from 1994 until retiring in 2003.

Councilwoman Sara Kuhn said one of the reasons Colangelo was hired was his track record for attaining grants in previous positions.

"I think it's important for Penn Hills to be considered for any grants we're eligible for," Kuhn said. "I think in the past, we missed out on things we were qualified to get."