Apr 25, 2018 By Mark Hofmann mhofmann@heraldstandard.Com 11 min read

Washington County Commissioners are proud about the progress their county has made in 2017 with a growing economy and greater opportunities for jobs and expansion.

“In 2017, our public and private partners announced $727,609,978 in new business investment and an additional 1,438 created/retained jobs in Washington County,” said County Commissioner Larry Maggi, adding that Washington County continues to lead the Greater Pittsburgh Region in creating new economic growth.

“This tremendous growth in business investment and job creation was driven by numerous sectors of our economy–energy, commercial/retail development, healthcare and infrastructure,” Maggi said. “We are proud of that success, especially in creating new job opportunities for our residents.”

Maggi said they are also proud of the success of sectors where the county has a strong industrial heritage, such as manufacturing.

He cited Ensinger, a plastics manufacturer in Meadowlands Industrial Park, selecting a site in the county to build a 214,000 square foot manufacturing facility; Perryman Company, a titanium manufacturer, has purchased the former Caterpillar office and manufacturing complex in Houston and is installing two new furnaces at their existing melting facility in California Technology Park; MCC International added 10,000 square feet to their foundry in Cecil Township to accommodate large-scale I-Beam manufacturing and JJ Kennedy announced it will construct a ready-mix concrete plant, silo and supply yard in Robinson Township to support the construction of the Southern Beltway and Shell Cracker site in Beaver County.

Maggi said many of the manufacturing expansions have not only been due to new market opportunities, but also access to low-cost energy and the county’s national position in the natural gas industry.

He said the energy industry continued to innovate and remain strong in 2017 as the county led the state in unconventional well permits in 2017 with 515, more than 25 percent of the total number of permits issued in the entire state.

The county also had 209 wells drilled, which Maggi said is 23 percent of the total wells drilled in the state.

“Our success in these traditional industries can be correlated to the county’s manufacturing success with the energy industry,” Maggi said. “We are well situated to fully leverage our leadership in the energy industry to create new opportunities across industry sectors.”

He added that FTS International, a well-completion services company, announced plans to relocate its Ohio wireline division to the Speers Industrial Park in the Mon Valley.

“With the relocation, FTS will now have three locations in Washington County,” Maggi said as the other two locations are in Eighty Four and Canonsburg.

Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan said the county has been able to continue to invest in infrastructure, business parks and community development projects through the Local Share Account (LSA) program.

The LSA program is the county’s share of gross revenues from The Meadows Casino that has been investing in Washington County projects since 2008.

In the past decade, Irey Vaughn said the LSA program has invested more than $90 million in new economic, community and industrial development projects in the county.

“However, more impressive is the leverage that we have been able to realize from these investments,” she said. “In that same time frame, we have been able to match our $90 million in LSA funds with more than $384 million in additional federal, state and local monies for a total of over $475 million in total impact.”

Irey Vaughn said such projects that have benefited from the LSA program included community development investments such as the Washington Code Enforcement Demolition program to combat blight and new infrastructure in Donora, Charleroi, Carroll Township, Union Township and East Bethlehem and providing new armored vests for the county’s SWAT Team.

“LSA works because it is local and it encourages organizations and municipalities to work together on projects that are important their local communities,” she said.

Commissioner Harlan G. Shober Jr. said Washington County has seen significant investments in infrastructure that will sustain and secure the county’s long-term growth.

Shober said the commissioners have been working with PennDOT District 12 on five construction projects on Interstate 70 between the Welcome Center in Donegal Township and the Centerville/Monongahela Interchange.

“These five projects alone are estimated at $298 million which will further improve our roads and encourage future development,” Shober said.

Shober added that the county also has infrastructure investments that may not be as apparent as roadways as PennDOT awarded a grant of $1.8 million from the Rail Improvement Fund to upgrade the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway between Union Township and Rostraver.

“Washington County is realizing a direct return on current economic and community development projects and continues to invest in long-term projects that will sustain the county’s growth,” Shober said.

Carroll Township

Even though it is a small community, Carroll Township continues to move forward with more business development.

During 2017, the Washington County township welcomed Spartan Health Surgicenter, a free-standing outpatient surgery center. Also last year, Ringgold School District opened a new middle school in Carroll Township.

As a way to encourage more business development, township officials devoted considerable attention to rehabilitating the roads.

Concurrently, PennDOT continued work on a major project at the intersection of Routes 88 and 837. This includes the installation of left turn lanes, a new traffic signal and a cul-de-sac. The project is expected to be completed by August.

“This is an important project because it will ease traffic bottlenecks going to and from Monongahela Valley Hospital,” said Thomas Rapp, chairman of the township’s board of supervisors. “Residents will also have an easier time getting to our township’s other health-care facilities.”

The board also passed a medical marijuana ordinance that would regulate where medical marijuana could be grown and processed in the township. Supervisors also added two new gas wells, hired an additional full-time police officer and approved the purchase of a new police cruiser.

Despite limited revenues, Carroll Township continues to stay in good fiscal shape, officials said.

“We have to pay careful attention to how we spend our money,” said Rapp. “But we were able to balance the budget without raising taxes or cutting important services.”

Charleroi

Blight has been an ongoing problem for Charleroi, and the Washington County borough took major steps address this issue in 2017.

The Atlas Building was finally demolished and plans were finalized to tear down the former Charleroi Stadium. In addition, the borough sold approximately 30 properties last year to individuals who expressed an interest in remodeling older houses or clearing out lots next to their homes.

“This puts more houses back on the tax rolls and also helps to increase the property value of other houses,” said Charleroi Council President Jerry Jericho.

After a spike in 2017, drug overdoses in the borough began to level off toward the end of the year.

“The Charleroi Regional Police Department worked very hard with the Washington County Task Force to curtail drug activity in the borough and surrounding municipalities,” said Jericho.

In addition, Charleroi council gave permission to Club Serenity, a Charleroi-based drug and alcohol recovery center, to hold its first “Rally for Recovery” event at the Market House on Oct. 21.

“We wanted to create more awareness about the opioid crisis,” said Jericho. “We’re serious about driving drugs out of Charleroi and we hope that more people will seek help with their addiction.”

During 2017, Charleroi also received a $6 million federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) grant to replace all of its outdated traffic signals.

Several events were sponsored by the borough to attract visitors to the area and to improve the quality of life for its residents, including a Fourth of July fireworks display, Easter Egg Hunt, Charleroi Community Days and Summer Night Out at the Movies at Market House, as well as “Kids Night Out” at two of the borough’s parks.

As 2017 drew to a close, Charleroi welcomed three new council members — Jody Cheplic, Heidi Cramer and Jeannine Motycki — and Ed Bryner was elected the borough’s new mayor.

“This is the first time that more than one woman is serving on the council,” said Jericho. “We have a great group of people serving on our council and we are excited about working together to further improve our community.”

Donora

With four new members of council and himself being sworn in just three months ago, Donora Borough Mayor James McDonough said they are focusing on the future.

“We have a lot of big things planned for this year,” he said. “One of those things is that we want to redo the downtown and make it attractive for businesses.”

So far, the large trees along Main Street have been removed and the flower boxes are getting redone in time for spring cleaning.

“The street department and the police department are doing a great job,” McDonough said. “We want our small town to be seen for the good.”

Another concern they hope to address is the blighted properties.

“This year with the new council, we want to make a lot of changes and we’re excited, but the growing pains will probably be immense,” McDonough said, adding that they also want to give out correct information to the public about what’s happening in the borough.

“Last year announcements were made that the Community College of Allegheny Power was going to take over the elementary school that was left vacant when the Ringgold School District moved all of the schools to their main campus,” he said.

“They made it sound like it was a sure thing, but soon after I got in office, that deal fell through,” McDonough said. “It’s a high priority that we market that building, but we definitely want to be sure that any deal is for real before we start any proceedings down a path with the public.”

He added that they’re hoping to find a bigger investor to take over the building, but knows that will be a challenge. Borough officials have been working with state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll Township, and state Rep. Bud Cook, R-Coal Center, to try market the property.

Other tasks over the next year will including cultivating good relationships with neighboring communities, continuing to make improvements at Palmer Park and looking at the possibility of resurfacing the dek hockey rink.

Monongahela

One of Monongahela’s prime assets is its police department.

Besides serving the city, the police department provides coverage for Finleyville, New Eagle and Union Township, Mayor Bob Kepics said. Their work in the Washington County city was one of the highlights of 2017, he said.

“Chief Brian Tempest and his team of officers conducted around 40 drug busts this past year and they also collaborated with the FBI on several high-profile cases,” Kepics said. “Thanks to their hard work, we are starting to slow down drug activity in the city.”

The police department, according to Kepics, not only keeps the city safe, but it has also become a key partner for other law enforcement agencies.

Because the provide contracted coverage to other area municipalities, the police department has continued to bring in some revenue to the city.

“That income really helped us to stay within our budget,” Kepics said. “We also carefully watched how we were spending our money and that enabled us to go another year without raising taxes.”

During 2017, Monongahela continued to enhance its aquatorium and it will be adding a handicapped accessible ramp at the riverfront as well as a handicapped accessible ramps on sidewalks at Chess Street. In addition, Monongahela received a $5,000 grant from a private donor to create an Indian museum at the Mounds Park.

Two new members joined the Monongahela Council last fall, including William “Rusty” Polinoli and Claudia Williams.

New Eagle

New Eagle lost over $3 million in revenue when Washington County completed a reassessment of appeals from commercial properties in the borough.

That forced the small Washington County borough’s council to make the tough call to raise taxes.

“The timing of that decision made things difficult for us,” said Council President Jack Fine. “We began to experience a loss of revenue in the middle of the year. Also, rising health-care costs put a greater burden on our finances. We didn’t want to cut services so there was no other choice but to raise taxes.”

Even though its budget was tight, New Eagle was able to repave and add storm water drains at Maderia Street, fix potholes and clean up minor damage cause by flooding last summer. Norfolk Southern Railroad also addressed flooding caused by their drainage ditch on Mulberry Street.

The township implemented procedures to improve management and internal controls and it hired Kimberly Koontz as its new administrator. In addition, three new council members were added.

Council Vice President Saundra Bobnar noted that the township continues to put a high priority on public safety.

“Thanks to the excellent coverage provided by the Monongahela Police Department, our calls have been dropping,” she said. “Our fire department also was very responsive to emergencies.”

Archie Casebar and Barry Williams were appointed by the council to fill two vacant seats.