Feb 15, 2005 By Joyce Koballa 3 min read

SOUTH CONNELLSVILLE – As the borough continues its bout with water problems, council on Monday agreed to use various methods to provide a temporary fix to washed out roads, including spending up to $3,000 for pipe and catch basins to be installed along Gibson Avenue. Council learned about the scope of the project from Shane Nickelson, street department worker, who noted the borough was poised to save more than $1,000 for gravel that was previously donated by Anchor Glass Corp. in addition to six sections of pipe left over from a previous project on Dushane Avenue.

The drainage problem on Gibson Avenue forced council to postpone its summer paving project until this year after learning from a paving specialist that the borough would encounter additional fees if the water run off were not corrected prior to road repairs.

“If it comes down to it and we have to take care of these problems and we don’t pave, we don’t pave,” said Mark Ward, council president.

In conjunction with the drainage project, Ward said he received a letter from a resident requesting a plan on how the borough would fix the road since he is unable to traverse it at times to access his property because of the water run off.

In a separate water problem, council heard from Debbie Striner, former council member and her husband Dave of East Dushane Avenue. According to the Striners, the water has left the road extremely muddy in places, making it harder to drive on.

Dave Striner agreed to haul and spread about 50 ton of stone at a cost not to exceed $375 following council’s approval as a means to patch the road until the borough can afford the proper repairs.

Nickelson said after speaking with a dirt and gravel road specialist from Penn State University, he was informed that some of the materials needed to alleviate another water drainage problem along part of Casparis Road could be covered under a grant.

Turning to police business, council agreed to send letters to former part-time police officers Greg Cominsky and Mike Stangron requesting they return any borough property still in their possession within the next 10 days. Ward said both officers were removed from the schedule because of their failure to be available for a number of months.

Council also agreed to send a final letter to former police officer Daniel Leasure to return any borough property following his failure to respond to several other letters sent over the last year following his departure from the force.

In addition, council received a letter of resignation from police officer John Kauer, asking him to return any borough equipment, after learning that he accepted a full-time position with the Uniontown Police Department.

Under personnel issues, council agreed to reappoint Carl McElhaney to the South Connellsville Municipal Authority for another five years.