Redevelopment Authority approves projects
Extra work may be done as part of the Brownsville Streetscape project designed to calm traffic along Market Street on Brownsville’s North Side.
“It turned out to be a nice project,” said Andrew French, executive director of the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority, which oversaw the project. “PennDOT has determined there is an additional $30,000 in our account, so they may do some additional ramp work to enhance the project.”
French said the authority is still seeking funding for decorative lighting for the area.
French also announced that ground will be broken Monday on a million-dollar building in the Fayette County Business Park for a 7,000-square-foot medical office building being built for Mountain State Medical.
Several additional projects were approved Wednesday by the authority, including awarding the contract for reconstruction of a trestle bridge in the Melcroft area as part of a trail project being carried out by the Mountain Watershed Association. Maccabee Industrial, Inc. of Belle Vernon was the lowest of three bidders at $56,273. The project is partially funded through the state Department of Conservation of Natural Resources and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.
Widmer Engineering of Connellsville was awarded a $15,500 contract for engineering services related to Scottdale’s street improvement project to make intersections handicapped accessible. The money is coming from the CDBG program.
The authority also awarded a demolition contract to Stash Trucking of Uniontown, the lowest of four bidders with a bid of $31,000, to tear down a building in Fayette City that is owned by Fayette County. The county will retain ownership of the property following the demolition.
The authority voted to accept ownership of a dilapidated house in Grindstone that had been owned by the county.
“It’s a larger lot, so it could be suitable for redevelopment,” French said.
Because the state has identified Grindstone as a potential historic site, French said photos of the existing structure had to be sent to the state to document its role in the Grindstone Old Hill Historic District.
The authority also authorized the submission of four grant applications to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency’s Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE) fund. Money in that fund comes from the Marcellus shale impact fee, French said.
“We usually just submit one application to a funding source. In this case, we have three submitting for tax credits,” French said.
Those projects include the renovation of the White Swan Apartments in Uniontown, Fairchance Senior Housing, Masontown Family Housing and the Fayette County PHARE Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative, which French said would most likely involve construction of nine new homes in the Republic area.
The authority also awarded weatherization contracts to Tim Grindle Insulation of Uniontown, Kelly Services of Uniontown, Lytle Construction of Confluence and EIC, Inc./Comfort Home Corporation of Lancaster. Each of the four companies agreed to comply with the Weatherization Program pricing list.