Feb 1, 2014 3 min read

A look at headlines gracing the pages of the Observer-Reporter and Waynesburg Republican this week in Greene County history:

Harsh winter depleting

supplies of salt, cinders

Relentless winter weather for the past several weeks has nearly depleted some Greene County municipalities’ salt and cinder supplies.

“We’re wanting spring to come quick,” said Bill Nicholson, Cumberland Township supervisor.

Cumberland Township uses mostly cinders and combines that with a small amount of salt. The township tries to buy enough anti-skid materials in August to last almost the entire winter, but numerous winter storms recently have kept road crews busy and nearly depleted the township’s supply. Supervisors have ordered more cinders, but the supplier has had problems keeping up with orders from other municipalities, Nicholson said. The weather forecast calls for warmer temperatures this weekend and continuing into next week, so Nicholson hopes that reprieve will give the township enough time to replenish its supply.

“We’re not in so much of an emergency now and if we got a huge snowstorm, we would probably be alright. But after that, we might have some problems,” Nicholson said.

Financial woes may

force pool to close

GREENSBORO – For the first time since it was built almost 50 years ago, the swimming pool at Mon View Park near Greensboro probably will remain closed for the summer.

And with the closing of the pool and the loss of revenue it helped generate, the existence of the small community park itself will be in jeopardy, park officials said.

“The chance of us keeping the park open will fade if the pool is closed,” said Lee Watson, president of the board of the non-profit organization that runs the park.

The park receives no public money, operating only on revenue it receives from pavilion rental and pool admissions.

“Financially, we could probably continue operating if the pavilion rental would stay where it has been, but many people rent the pavilions because of the pool,” said Jeff Cree, the park’s part-time manager. Without the pool, pavilion rental will drop, he said.

School board decides

against reducing staff

ROGERSVILLE – The West Greene School Board voted Jan. 24 against reducing the teaching staff this year as a means of responding to the drop in enrollment caused by the teachers’ strike.

The board, at a meeting recessed from last Thursday, voted to accept administrators’ recommendations against staff reductions.

It also asked administrators to prepare a plan for possible reductions that could be implemented if enrollment remains low at the beginning of the next school year.

Court won’t reduce

coal assessments

The Greene County Court has again refused to reduce the assessed value of 29,255 acres of reserve coal in the county which is owned by U.S. Steel.

In dismissing objections to an earlier ruling he had handed down, Judge Glenn Toothman said that if there are any inequities in value of the U.S. Steel block and adjoining coal, the discrepancy should be corrected by increasing the value of the adjoining coal.

The U.S. Steel coal, known as the Cumberland Reserve Block, is located in Franklin, Perry, Wayne and Whiteley townships, and carries an assessed value of slightly more than $2 million, representing 35 percent of its market value.