Murtha maps aid for Greene officials
WAYNESBURG – Though he does not yet represent Greene County, U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Johnstown) spent most of Thursday meeting with local and county officials and announced two programs he thinks could immediately benefit residents. Murtha sat down with township supervisors from all parts of the county to hear about their needs and offered feedback about how their problems can be addressed.
Most, if not all, the comments from the supervisors centered on the extension of water and sewer lines into parts of the county that are still without those services.
Tim Cross, Richhill Township supervisor, said a water line at the western end of the county is vital to any future development in that area.
Much of the available water has been used by mining companies or has been lost as a result of longwall mining, Cross said, leaving much of what is left as substandard and unsuitable for drinking.
Cross said early estimates for a water line west from Waynesburg to Graysville would cost $3 million, and extending that farther to Wind Ridge could take as much as $5 million to complete.
Murtha said he would help as much as possible in getting the funds for design and for construction of the project, and he said he hopes to bring representatives from state and federal agencies later this year to sit down and discuss priority projects.
“We need to make decisions about which will be done first, so we can get them done as fast as we can,” he said.
Tim Chapman, Wayne Township supervisor, asked if funding could be available for rural volunteer fire departments, which he said townships have a hard time funding because of constant needs for new equipment and upkeep. Murtha said that in the wake of Sept. 11, funds were given to companies that responded on that day, but he said more must be done for rural departments statewide.
While in Greene, Murtha announced a program in place in Cambria County that could help veterans in Greene County receive access to health care closer to home.
The Veterans Collaborative Care Model Program is in place at the Conemaugh Health System in Johnstown and attempts to make health care available to veterans living in communities that do not have Veterans Administration health-care centers.
He said Johnstown-area veterans had to drive an hour to Altoona for a test that could have been administered in Johnstown.
He said the same problem exists in Greene County, where veterans have to travel to Pittsburgh for services that he said could be readily available at home.
Murtha said Conemaugh plans to use Greene County Memorial Hospital as the second pilot area because of the distance from Waynesburg and other points in the county to VA facilities in Pittsburgh.
“We routinely require our veterans to travel long distances to the VA facilities to get the health care that they earned and need, even when the services they need are available right near home,” he said.
He also spent time at the hospital Thursday morning, meeting with officials about the Rural Community Hospital Assistance Act, which would enable hospitals with up to 50 beds to receive cost-based reimbursements, and other issues facing rural hospitals throughout the state.
He also announced that a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of the Treasury has increased the amount of funds available in The Progress Fund, a non-profit corporation that promotes economic growth and provides expertise and funding to travel and tourism businesses in rural southwestern Pennsylvania.
Murtha said as the funding goal of $1.5 million nears, the fund will expand into Greene County to help with grants or low-interest loans for tourism activities.
He said some tourism-related businesses that are unable to get some help from banks may be able to get help from the fund.
“There are so many attractive sites here, and it is so close to Pittsburgh, it’s a natural to try and develop some more business,” he said.
Along with the $250,000 from the treasury department, $380,000 was given to the fund from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, $250,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant Program and $300,000 from an anonymous donor.
Murtha said his meeting with the municipal officials is important because supervisors are often the first stop for answers when constituents have questions.
He said the work starts here and he hopes to work with supervisors, county commissioners and others to make improvements in the county and address some of the long-term needs.
“You tell us what you have in mind, and we will do our best to come up with a plan to lead to solutions,” he said.