Sewerage key to development proposal
CENTERVILLE – A developer is willing to build more than 100 homes and commercial buildings just off of Route 40 – but only if sewage service to the area can be guaranteed. Building Services of America, headed by Robert Schleeweiss, is banking on current Allegheny County residents moving into the area now that the Mon Valley/Fayette Expressway is open to Route 51. Schleeweiss said he envisions 100 single-family homes in the $200,000 range, mixed-use office, retail and commercial space along Route 40 and 25 townhouses as a buffer zone between the homes and the business properties.
“We wanted to do something here that was a community approach, not just strip development of houses,” Schleeweiss said.
Building Services of America is under contract to purchase a 75-acre farm directly across from Hugo’s restaurant on Route 40 in Centerville. An old brick Victorian house on the property would be renovated, with the architectural theme echoed in the new development. Schleeweiss said the company would like to create a visitor’s center and museum based on the old house to explain local history. A walkway would also be built around a retention pond on the property, and he envisions a day care center as part of the development to serve the needs of the residents.
“We have water, gas and electric. What’s not here is handling all the waste, the sewers. That is the critical piece of the puzzle,” Schleeweiss said.
Schleeweiss said Building Services of America must decide by June 24 whether or not it will go through with the land purchase.
Prior to that date, he said the company needs to know whether it will have a commitment for sewage service once the development is ready for occupancy.
“All I need to know is two years from now when I have a pipe sticking out on Route 40, you’re going have a sewer line that we can tap into,” Schleeweiss said.
Unfortunately, that’s not a simple question.
The closest municipal authority is the West Pike Run Township Municipal Authority. West Pike Run supervisor Steve Hajdu said that the plant has the capacity to handle the new homes and businesses, but it doesn’t have the money for the engineering fees needed to determine the cost of the line extension. In addition, the authority would have to update its 537 Plan with the state Department of Environmental Resources to include that section of Centerville Borough.
There is an existing authority in Centerville, the Centerville Sanitary Authority, but the one slated by the DEP to take the sewage from the Route 40 area of Centerville is the relatively new Center-West Sewage Authority. Center-West was formed about a year ago to serve areas of Centerville and West Brownsville.
The authority just two weeks ago received approval for their plans, which did not include the future development area. The authority has been told by the
DEP to include the new development in the next phase of sewerage installation to avoid delaying the current project.
“These things take time. It’s not going to happen overnight,” Hajdu said.
Chuck LaMendola, the chairman of the Centerville Sanitary Authority, said it’s easier to get funding for sewer lines and treatment facilities if there is an existing sewage problem. Funding tends to be based on immediate need and the ability to repay loans based on the number of customers being served.
“You’re not going to get funding because of being optimistic about future growth. They’re not going to speculate on growth. What if it doesn’t happen?” LaMendola said.
Washington County Commissioners John Bevec and J. Bracken Burns both attended the meeting Saturday morning to discuss the development project.
Bevec offered the county’s grant writing services. Burns suggested working with the Washington County Redevelopment Authority.
“They have some money and a lot of expertise,” Burns said. “This is what the Mon Valley Expressway is all about. I challenged the Redevelopment authority about two months ago that they should have a development plan for the entire area of the expressway.”
State Rep. Pete Daley (D-California) said the development is in keeping with the initial concept of the Mon Valley-Fayette Expressway, but with a budget shortfall anticipated, there may not be much assistance available from the state for a sewage project in the development area.
Susie Zebley, who sits on Centerville Borough Council’s public works and community development committee, said the new development is needed to jump-start the Centerville economy.
“We need to get something here immediately. We need some way to make this work,” Zebley said.
Patti Wright, the real estate agent handling the deal, agreed, urging support for the developer.
“If we turn our backs on them, these homes, these businesses, are going to go somewhere else.
“If we don’t have these houses, we’re going to be where we’re at in 2010. I could sell that property right now to a farmer, but I’m trying to grow this community,” Wright said.
Wayne Fleming, of the Washington County Authority, said that once the design studies are done and the project costs are known, the authority is a potential funding source.
“Right now, we have $12.5 million that we’d like to loan out to qualified municipalities for infrastructure development,” Fleming said.