Jan 27, 2017 By Rachel Basinger for The 3 min read

MOUNT PLEASANT — Borough officials are hoping some updated ordinances might deter coal trucks from riding through downtown on Route 31.

Borough Manager Jeff Landy told council recently that they needed to revisit several ordinances and look at ones that weren’t working so they could be corrected or changed. He cited the rental inspection ordinance as one he said needed some “tweaking.”

Along with that, some new ordinances may need to be put into place, he said.

“There’s a coal mine in Donegal that just got a permit and there’s the potential that we could see a coal truck coming through the borough every 3 minutes,” Landy said.

The trucks could come down Three Mile Hill and continue on Route 31 through the borough to get to Route 119, but another option, even if it might be a few minutes out of the way is for the trucks to come down Three Mile Hill and take Route 982 down to Route 119.

Landy suggested, after talking with borough police Chief Doug Sam, that there are some ordinances they could put into place that would deter the drivers from taking the route through town, and instead, taking the alternate Route 982 path.

“There’s not a lot we can do, but we could charge an impact fee, or we could have an ordinance in place that it’s mandatory for the trucks to have their load tarped,” Landy said. “Chief Sam is also certified to do (state Department of Transportation) inspections, which we could mandate for trucks over five tons.”

Sam said inspections would take approximately 15 minutes, which might make drivers more apt to take Route 982 as a time savings instead of going through town.

In other business, Landy said there might be the potential for some town homes to be built at the lower end of town.

The borough owns a vacant lot in the 200 block of Main Street, and Landy said Westmoreland County officials are looking at the possibility of three housing units to be built.

Also, if they can sell the R & R restaurant building at the lower end of town, the county could possibly use the profits to tear down the Revello Building, which is falling down.

In other business, Mayor Gerald Lucia announced that the American Red Cross will be working with the borough’s volunteer fire department to give out free smoke detectors.

The department will be handling and coordinating the effort and the date will be announced soon.

Lucia also announced that Jesse Bush, an executive from the Laurel Hills branch of the Boy Scouts organization, will attend the borough’s Feb. 5 meeting to commend the borough on the excellent scouting program.

The borough is continuing to accept applications for school crossing guards. Those interested should bring a short resume to the borough offices where they can pick up a resume. Crossing guards are need for at least an hour in the morning beginning at 8 a.m. and an hour in the afternoon beginning at 3 p.m.