The Mayview State Hospital Property may be transformed into a combination of park space and new development, with trails winding through environmental areas to link parks in South Fayette and Upper St. Clair.

That pleases local municipal officials.

"The 'best and highest use' doesn't always have dollar signs," South Fayette manager Mike Hoy said at a meeting Tuesday of the Mayview Land Reuse Task Force. "It is also about what is the best value for South Fayette, Upper St. Clair and the region as a whole."

It is also likely that much of the money raised by the Mayview property's sale will go into a fund benefitting mental health/mental retardation care in the region.

Task force co-chairs John Pippy, R-Moon, and Nick Kotik, D-Robinson, both reaffirmed their support for legislation putting such a plan in place.

That pleases mental health care advocates, who have been pushing the issue since the state announced that Mayview would be closed -- which happened at the end of 2008 -- and the property sold.

"Our voice has been heard," said Sally Jo Snyder of the Community Health Alliance.

On both fronts, however, the question of "how do we get there?" remains a bit muddled.

"We know where the end zone is," Mr. Pippy said after the meeting. "The question is what play we need to call to get us there."

On the legislative front, several bills have been introduced which would earmark the sale's proceeds for mental health.

"We know we have our work cut out for us," Rev. Snyder said. The advocates' position throughout has been that the property was set aside for mental health care a century ago, and that its sale should follow through on the principle, with proceeds used to provide housing and care for former Mayview patients.

On the redevelopment front, there are essentially two competing ideas on how to achieve the ultimate goal.

A draft report released by the task force last week advocates setting up the goals and soliciting development proposals, ultimately choosing one that is economically viable and also meets the task force's goals.

But John Paul Jones of the state Department of General Services raised a new possibility at Tuesday's meeting: transferring the land to a local authority that would direct control over the sale and development.

Under that model, proceeds of the sale would be split 80-20, with the state getting the larger share and the authority getting compensated for its work. Mental health funding would then come from the state's 80 percent.

Mr. Jones said such a model has worked well in other places. For instance, it was used for the sale of the Western Center in Washington County, which was transformed into the Southpointe office park along with other uses.

The idea met with a cool reception from the local officials.

"Washington County was a regional project," Mr. Pippy said. "This one is one municipality. It's hard to see how they would handle it."

The differences between the two situations are substantial. Western Center had good highway access and developable land; Mayview is tucked along Chartiers Creek along the winding, hilly Mayview Road, on property hemmed in by slopes and wetlands.

And given the cost of keeping up the Mayview property -- Ford Thompson of the state Department of Public Welfare said it would cost $500,000 a year for security and outdoor maintenance, even with the buildings shuttered and utilities turned off -- it would be hard for a local group to handle.

"Really what you're doing is shifting operating responsibility from the state to a local authority," Mr. Hoy said. "I'm not sure I know where you're envisioning operating funds coming from."

Mr. Pippy put a positive spin on the meeting, however, given the general agreement with the goals stated in the draft report, and said the task force would gather more information on the proposals and schedule another meeting.