EMS Southwest set to build new base
WAYNESBURG – Construction may begin soon on a new home in Cumberland Township for emergency medical services provider EMS Southwest, now that members of the Greene County Planning Commission gave their nod Monday to the project. EMS Southwest has a base in Carmichaels and one in Masontown, though the building in Masontown was recently condemned. Company owner David Dernar presented plans that call for construction of a 4,000-square-foot building on just over an acre of land in the Paisley Industrial Park.
Ann Bargerstock, county director of planning and development, said public sewerage service and other utilities are already available to the site, the township has approved the building permit and the state Department of Labor and Industry has already approved the building plan.
She said she is still waiting for reviews of the stormwater management plan and the erosion and sedimentation control plan, but those should be completed by the end of the week.
Board members voted to approve the plan, grant preliminary and final approval, with the stipulation that the two plans be approved before any construction can begin.
Bargerstock said Cumberland Township zoning officer Charlotte Blaker has already issued permits to EMS Southwest, whose new home will allow its staff to respond better to calls in the Masontown area.
“Other tenants in the park are happy because there will be a 24-hour presence in the park, and EMS Southwest will have better access than they have right now,” she said.
Dernar said he looked for over a year at possible sites for a new base, finally deciding upon Paisley, and said he looks forward to continuing working with the people of Greene County.
“We’ve met all the requirements, except for a few unfinished items, and we would like to proceed early next year in getting this building built,” he said.
In the only other matter before the commission Monday, members granted site acceptance to a proposed Family Dollar store in Jefferson Township near Route 88.
Plans call for a store to be built behind the existing Caputo’s restaurant on property owned by Alice Caputo.
The discount store and three other rental units are included in the preliminary plans.
Engineer Miles Davin said accepting the plan gets the project moving forward, but the company and the property owner are still in negotiations and the plan has not been finalized.
Davin said he hopes to come back to the commission next month for more approvals related to the project.
The commission is next scheduled to meet on Jan. 5.