Connellsville ends 2017 with budget surplus
Rachel Basinger | Herald-Standard
Connellsville officials are hopeful that plans will come to fruition to turn this former elementary school property into a housing complex on the city’s South Side.
Rachel Basinger | Herald-Standard
This lot beside the Cobblestone Hotel on Third Street in Connellsville will soon be the site of an upscale restaurant.
Connellsville City Mayor Greg Lincoln said the greatest accomplishment for the city in 2017 was ending the year with a surplus – something that hasn’t happened in a number of years.
“We went from not being able to balance the budget my first year in office to finally ending with a surplus,” Lincoln said.
Other accomplishments in the Fayette County city last year were upgrades to traffic lighting, a mural painted in the downtown, street lights changed, City Hall was evaluated to see what kind of upgrades are needed and the boat ramp at Yough River Park that got washed away during flooding in 2016 was replaced.
The city’s redevelopment authority also secured a grant for more than $400,000 and will be using it on several different projects throughout the city this year, including the upgrades to the park and volleyball courts in Dutch Bottom that were ruined during city flooding in 2016.
This year Lincoln said he’s hoping to get three or four public murals painted in the city, including Yough Park, East Park and possibly the West Side.
He added that another milestone this year is the fact that the 23 families in the city who were displaced from the floods of 2016 will finally receive buy out money from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency so they can move on from the devastation.
“We’re going to get them their money, demo the houses and reclaim the properties that will more than likely be turned into green space,” Lincoln said.
Plans are also in the works to bring a high-end restaurant into the city that will sit along the river near Cobblestone Hotel.
“We’re very hopeful for this year,” Lincoln said. “We have all new construction happening downtown, we’re getting a new, amazing restaurant by the river and we’re having just so much interest from businesses wanting to come into the city.”
The city has so much to offer, he said.
“We want to make this a sleeper community – a place where young people will choose to make their home even if they’re driving into Pittsburgh every day for their job,” Lincoln said. “We have the parks, the major highway, the bike trail and great restaurants. We just need the housing.”
Plans are already in the works to build new housing across from the Amtrak train station and Ritenour and Sons are looking to purchase the former South Side Elementary School, demolish the building and build a new housing complex.
“Housing is the key component to attracting young people,” Lincoln said.