Commissioners disagree which account to use
The Fayette County commissioners Thursday agreed on the need to buy new computers for two county departments, but disagreed which account should be used for the purchases.
While Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink suggested using money from the county surplus to fund the $6,000 purchases, Commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Vincent A. Vicites agreed that the money should be used from the capital reserve account.
Zimmerlink said the county’s surplus stands at more than $1 million, and she didn’t think the county should use a portion of the $81,000 capital reserve money for the purchase.
While there was a list of $75,000 worth of requests from department heads for capital purchases, the commissioners agreed that purchasing computers for the assessment office and election bureau was a top priority, and only action was taken on those items.
Vicites said the capital reserve is a “solid amount” designated for capital projects, while the surplus amount is subject to change.
After a motion by Zimmerlink to buy the computers using the surplus money failed, Zapotosky and Vicites approved a motion to use capital reserve funds for the purchase. Zimmerlink voted against the motion.
In an unrelated matter, the commissioners unanimously approved recommendations for priorities of projects for the county’s two congressional districts to send the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s regional listing.
Fayette and nine other southwestern Pennsylvania counties as well as the city of Pittsburgh encompass the SPC, which is the regional planning organization for the area.
While Zimmerlink pointed out that last year the county designated Route 21 and the Masontown Bridge replacement projects for the SPC list, Vicites said the Masontown Bridge project is fully funded.
Zapotosky added that he and Vicites recently made a request to the office of Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., for $10 million to be included in the pending federal highway bill for Route 21 improvements.
Vicites said the bridge project received $60 million in earmarked funding and the Route 21 request is to make seven miles of road between Masontown and Uniontown four lanes.
The commissioners voted to recommend as priorities an $8.6 million request for completion of the third and final phase of the Fayette County Business Park in South Union Township in the district of U.S. Rep. Mark S. Critz, D-Johnstown, and a $13.4 million request for the allocation and development of 228 acres of property along the Mon-Fayette Expressway in Springhill Township in the district of U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg.
In other action, the commissioners approved an agreement between Fayette County and the state Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Mining and Reclamation to consent for the DEP to enter county-owner property in the German/Masontown Park area to study and design a mine reclamation project.
The DEP is under court order to stop mine drainage from two locations on the site of a former strip mine on property owned by the Honsaker family.
The commissioners voted 2-1, with Zimmerlink dissenting, to approve a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistant Act (LERTA) designation for Uniontown’s downtown business district to exempt improvements made to commercial properties for a period to expire Jan. 1, 2013.
Uniontown City Council has approved the designation and the issue is slated for approval by the Uniontown Area School District.
The commissioners voted to seek proposals for appraisal consultation services at the Duke Energy plant in German Township because the Keystone Opportunity Zone tax abatement program is expiring. The power plant project cost $245 million to construct.
It must be appraised before it can be placed on the property tax rolls.