Jan 23, 2008 By Joyce Koballa 3 min read

DUNBAR TWP. – Two new members of the North Fayette County Municipal Authority were introduced Tuesday to the 2008-2009 preliminary budget that revealed a $1,786,300 surplus. The Fayette County Commissioners appointed Barbara Fetsko and Phil Mahoney to their respective positions earlier this month each for a five-year term replacing Robert “Tweety” Yasko and Palmer Sabatine.

Fetsko and Mahoney were also part of the board’s reorganization in which H. Wayne Reese retained his position as chairman, Joe Koast, vice-chairman and Paul Kendi, secretary. In addition Kathy Dynes garnered a unanimous vote to serve treasurer with Fetsko elected to Dynes’ former position as assistant secretary/treasurer.

The panel also agreed to retain Watson, Mundorff, Brooks and Sepic as solicitor; Widmer Engineering, engineer, and First National Bank of Pennsylvania as its depository.

The board will continue to meet the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at the business office located along Route 119 in Dunbar.

During a first hand look at the authority’s spending plan for this year, Bob Softcheck, authority manager, noted revenue at $5,615,500 and expenses at $3,829,200 with $1,015,000 of the surplus going toward debt service leaving $771,300 for capital additions.

Turning to other business, the board learned that Softcheck, along with former board members Sabatine and Yatsko met in December with officials from the Washington Township Municipal Authority for the possible purchase of its water and sanitary sewer system. According to Softcheck, the authority services Washington Township, Fayette City, Brownstown, Linwood and Fair Oaks with 3,100 connections to 9,800 households.

Softcheck pointed out Washington’s current water rate structure of $20.30 per month for the purchase of 5,000 gallons of water is similar to that of North Fayette’s cost of $23 it charges customers for the same amount of water.

While North Fayette also purchases bulk water from the Indian Creek Valley Water Authority, Softcheck found it would be in the purveyor’s best interest to purchase a portion of the water that is contiguous to their system along Route 711 in Connellsville Township.

Softcheck added the purchase would affect 71 residential customers and one industrial user in the area of Springfield Pike where North Fayette provides water after purchasing it from Indian Creek.

Softcheck noted a letter was also sent to the Pennsylvania American Water Authority in light of a possible purchase.

The letter indicated that North Fayette is open to a purchase price with 45 days to respond to the inquiry.

In an unrelated water issue, the board tabled the purchase of a 75-by-150 parcel for $2,000 along Miller Farm Road at Scott Road in Menallen Township to install a meter vault until the authority obtains an appraisal.

Softcheck said the installation signified the next step following the authority’s purchase last year of water from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority for resale to 260 customers in the Balsinger area.

“This could save those customers about $45 per quarter,” said Softcheck.

The authority also conducted the following business:

Learned from Softcheck it was approved for a $25,000 grant from the Department of Community and Economic Development for the construction of a 500,00-gallon storage tank along Works Hill in Dunbar Township with the total project cost estimated at $1.6 million.

Rejected a request by Doug Yost of Peach Lane in Uniontown after he appealed the authority’s rules and regulations to extend a water line for a cheaper cost located within a public alley where he would acquire a public right-of-way on property he didn’t own and place a service line for that home on Peach Lane.