By Wendy Szakelyhidi
Gazette Staff Writer
July 13, 1995 - One person admitted never having gone to White's Woods but wanted to save the trees just the same. Another proposed bulldozing the whole tract.
Officials tallied the 2,478 surveys returned by registered voters in White Township, and the numbers spoke for themselves. A full 1,527, about 62 percent, voted against a selective cut in the 250 acres just north of Indiana Borough.
As a result, the White Township supervisors agreed unanimously Wednesday not to timber the area, based on a motion proposed by Ford Buterbaugh, road superintendent.
"Due to the overwhelming response, I think we should support the survey," he said to applause. "Provided we should all get a shirt."
About 60 people filled the meeting room of the township building, many standing at the sides and spilling into the entry hall, with about 40 more outside. Most wore green T-shirts bearing the logo "Friends of White's Woods." The group organized earlier this year to prevent officials from timbering the park.
"I do appreciate the vote," said John Coffman, president of Friends, "even though it invalidated 17 weeks of work. I'm very proud of our political system. Too often we can't influence anybody."
He said citizens in Columbiana, an Ohio town with fewer than 5,000 residents, raised $100,000 in less than a year to build a park there. He said his group contacted them to find out how they did it.
"If you or the rec commission are interested, perhaps we can do something on the playground issue," Coffman said.
The supervisors proposed last December to timber White's Woods to raise money for renovations to Getty Heights Park near Indiana. They needed about $100,000 for the project, provided they received a $70,000 grant.
Buterbaugh said after the meeting that supervisors have no idea how to get those funds now that timbering is out of the picture.
"Maybe these people can get some fund-raising going," he said.
He said he proposed abandoning the pan to timber White's Woods because the survey results were more lopsided than he expected. He said there may be other development in the park.
"It's still our intention to put a pavilion up there, a parking area, and a decent roadway," Butterbaugh said. "We have to make it accessible to the handicapped."