Cumberland Twp. looks to build park pavilion
CUMBERLAND TWP. — Supervisors on Monday voted to seek bids for the construction of a new pavilion at Wana B Park in the township.
The township’s engineering firm, K-2 Engineering Inc. of Uniontown, will handle the bids for the project. The supervisors will hold a special meeting at 4 p.m. June 13 for the sole purpose of opening the bids.
When the township budget was adopted in December, the supervisors allocated $107,000 of the $1,039,586 received in the first installment of gas drilling impact fee proceeds to be designated for use in the Act 13 category of environment programs. A portion of that $107,000 will be used to construct the 884-square-foot pavilion.
In another matter involving Act 13 revenue, the supervisors agreed to send a letter of support for the Greene County Redevelopment Authority in its application to the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund (PHARE). The PHARE fund is authorized under Act 13 to assist with housing needs in any county where unconventional gas wells have been drilled.
The redevelopment authority is seeking a total of about $1.5 million from a variety of sources, one of which is the PHARE Fund for its program to rehabilitate 23 houses in the county. A $308,500 share of the total amount of the program would be allocated for three houses in Cumberland Township.
Marcia Sonneborn, the Community Development Block Grant coordinator for the township and chairwoman of the redevelopment authority board, said, “The redevelopment authority is looking at three parcels in Cumberland Township, with the goal of getting these parcels back on the tax rolls and provide housing either through rehabilitating or by constructing new houses from these existing blighted houses.”
Supervisors Chairman William Groves said the three parcels are located at 266 Glades Run Road, 101 Olympic St. and 149 Stevenson Lane. They are included in the county’s repository of properties that have been delinquent in taxes for years and have failed to sell at upset tax sales and at sheriff’s sales.
Contingent upon the redevelopment authority’s success with its grant application, the supervisors agreed to contribute $43,000 to the program. The township’s share would come from its original $1,039,586 in Act 13 proceeds.
David Mirkiovich, executive director of the redevelopment authority, said, “This program will be used to benefit residents at or below 50 percent the Area Median Income (AMI) level.”
In other matters, the supervisors voted to approve an additional $14,956 for a paving project in Crucible. Victor Paving of Monongahela was awarded a $160,667 contract in April, but the final cost of the project was $175,624.
“We underestimated the width of two roads,” Groves said, “which caused the overrun in cost.”
Groves said the increase represented a 9 percent overage.
“We were very pleased with their work. It only took them four days to pave the whole town,” Groves said.
The supervisors also approved a resolution urging the General Assembly to enact meaningful prevailing wage reform regarding the raising of the threshold at which the township must pay prevailing wages for paving projects.
Groves said, “Townships now have to pay prevailing wages on any road project that exceeds $25,000, which increases the township’s costs by about one-third. We would like to see that threshold increased significantly in order to keep our costs down,” he added.
In other business, the supervisors voted to:
n Accept a bid of $200 received by the county tax claim bureau for the private sale of a house on Third Avenue in Crucible. The sale of the property will return it to the tax rolls, although the property failed to sell at sheriff’s sale.
n Approved a storm water-management agreement between the township and the Sheetz store located at the Paisley intersection.
n Accepted the resignation of tax collector Christina Knestrick, effective June 28. Supervisors thanked her for her service to the township.
n Appointed Pamela S. Whyel to the position of tax collector. Whyel won the recent primary on both the Democratic and Republican ballots and will be the only name to appear on the November election ballot for that office.
n Appointed Russell Clark to the township parks and recreation board.