Aug 15, 2013 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – While having just less than $200,000 to work with this year as opposed to last, the Greene County commissioners Thursday approved the allocation of its 2013 Act 13 natural gas drilling impact fee revenue of $2,906,300.

Last year, which was the first year of impact fee funding disbursements, the county received approximately $3.1 million, and much of what it did with that money last year will be applied to similar projects this time around.

The commissioners approved an allocation of $1,775,000 for the airport hangar and road project, Mon View pool repairs, the new kitchen at the prison, work on the courthouse dome and the replacement of Gen. Nathanael Greene statue.

Also, $10,000 will go to the Dunkard Valley Joint Municipal System; $32,000 to county fire departments; $550,000 to the county redevelopment authority of housing rehabilitation; $149,910 to resource management and information technology for county network upgrades, record scanning, email storage software and record scanning software; $300,000 to the human services department for a Children and Youth grant and $89,390 for drug task force funding, courtroom improvements unified case management for probation and the district attorney and a grant for legal aid.

Of the $3,130,609 the county received last year, $1,730,109 was earmarked for maintenance, repair and construction of roads, bridges and infrastructure. This money was slated for repairs to county bridges and the county courthouse, and for upgrades and repairs at the fairgrounds, parks, pools and county prison.

The county also allocated $700,000 for emergency services which will be used to upgrade the 911 radio system and for radio controllers.

It allocated $599,500 for delivering social services through children and youth services and the county human services department. The remaining $101,000 was directed to information and technology and geographic information systems.

The commissioners also awarded contacts for the construction of a new T-hangar at the county airport

Low bidder for general construction at $1,444,000 was General Industries of Charleroi. R.E.Yates of New Castle was awarded the electrical contract at $122,212.

Other general construction bidders were Waller Corp., Washington, $1,859,700; Lone Pine Construction, Bentleyville, $1,573,460; Maccabee Industrial Inc., Belle Vernon, $1,662,535; Martik Brothers, Finleyville, $1,524,073; and Masco Construction, Canonsburg, $1,495,000.

Other companies bidding on the electrical contract were Miller Corp., Uniontown, $157,000; A-1 Electric, Venetia, $215,000; Vince’s Electrical Service, Dunbar, $195,000; Miller Electric Construction, Allison Park, $211,950; and S.E. Shultz Electric, Washington, $196,825.

Last month, after Franklin Township supervisors granted conditional approval to plans by the county to construct a new T-hangar, which will be designed to house 10 compartments for planes, a maintenance and equipment room and a pilot’s room, the commissioners voted to solicit the bids.

As part of the overall project, which was not part of this bid package, the county plans to demolish the four old hangars west of the administrative building to make space available for commercial development. The 6 acres of land west of the building were divided into three, 2-acre parcels.

This is a vital step needed to proceed with the county’s ambitious plans to use the airport property fronting Route 21 for its “highest and best use,” which is commercial development. The county hopes to attract a nice restaurant to the property and spur other development opportunities in the area. It also plans to lease the properties to create a “revenue stream” for the airport, which could help make airport operations more self-sufficient.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Appointed Commissioners Blair Zimmerman to the assessment appeals board of directors.

• Approved the purchase of a maintenances dump truck and tandem pump hydraulic system to be paid from impact fee funds.

• Approved a $6,400 change order from Fiske and Sons for work on the repair of the courthouse.