SOUTH ABINGTON TOWNSHIP -- With the temperatures dipping as November gets underway, many of those who love to fish have probably put away their supplies for the winter.
Looking ahead, though, folks in Lackawanna County will have a new location where they can cast their lines. The Union Sportsmen Alliance and Pennsylvania American Water have teamed up to bring a fishing pier to the Griffin Reservoir.
"There's a good population in this area," Daniel Rickard, of Pennsylvania American Water said. "This is already open for public access for fishing from the shoreline. There's a lot of walkers that travel this area, so we identified this as one of the better candidates."
For one of those frequent walkers, who has seen the project come together piece by piece, he's excited to hit the pier with his family.
"I think it's great," Michael Salvia of Chinchilla said. "I told my Dad about it when they started building it, and he was real excited. We're not the 'sit in the mud and fish' people, so we'll have fun at the pier. Between me, my dad, and my daughter, we'll make a lot of use out of it, I hope."
The entire project is scheduled to be completed by next summer. It will be open to the public from dawn to dusk, but perhaps the neatest feature is that the fishing pier will be handicap accessible.
"We do have five reservoirs that are available for fishing, but this one is available to everyone," Susan Turcmanovich of Pennsylvania American Water said. "It'll have the amenities that everybody will be able to access it. "
The final construction plan, once finished, will include a paved parking lot, a gazebo, and handrail elevations to help those who need them.