Jun 7, 2014 8 min read

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

Redevelopment authority

holds inaugural meeting

WAYNESBURG – It’s been 16 years since anyone attended a meeting of the Greene County Redevelopment Authority.

That absence ended Monday when Greene County Solicitor Farley Toothman, acting as “convener,” officially resurrected the authority, a long-dormant government entity, by calling the meeting to order and recognizing the new authority members.

Greene County Redevelopment Authority was created Sept. 3, 1963, but it was disbanded in 1994 due to lack of funding.

Commissioners flirted with the idea of reactivating the authority several times over the years as a way to attract more grants and convince more businesses to locate to the area. The idea never materialized until now. The commissioners approved a resolution May 14 authorizing the reorganization.

Consultants and county planners recommended reactivating the authority as a way to obtain more grants through the federal economic stimulus package.

The county began looking at ways to address housing shortages about eight months ago, when a housing task force was formed. A consultant, Third Sector Development of Monroeville, has been working on preparing a housing needs assessment, and it should be finished this summer.

The county’s economic development and human services departments lead the effort. The Greene County Housing Authority and soon, the Redevelopment Authority, also will be involved.

Robbie Matestic, director of economic development, will serve as acting director of the redevelopment authority, and it was agreed Monday that the county’s office of planning and development will be the mailing address of the authority.

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Black Diamond dog show

back at fairgrounds

WAYNESBURG – Greene County Fairgrounds will host the fourth annual Black Diamond Cluster Dog Show June 18-21. Judging will begin each day at 9 a.m. and should conclude by late afternoon. Admission to the four shows is free, although a $3 parking fee will be charged.

The all-breed shows are organized by the South Hills and Mountaineer Kennel Clubs and are sanctioned by the American Kennel Club. A total of 2,771 dogs will be entered in the four shows, including many of the country’s top-ranked dogs that have competed in such shows as the Westminster Dog Show and the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship.

During the shows, judges will award Best of Breed to one dog in more than 100 different breed categories. Judges will then determine the best dog in each group – herding, hound, nonsporting, sporting, terrier, toy and working. Finally, one dog each day will be named Best in Show.

The Black Diamond Cluster Dog Show has been held at the fairgrounds since 2005. The Greene County commissioners signed a contract in April to keep the show at the fairgrounds for the next five years.

As part of that contract, the kennel clubs will pay the county $8,600 for the first year under the contract, and for every subsequent year, the rent will increase by 3 percent. In the fifth year, the clubs will pay about $9,680 to hold the show. The county and the clubs also will have the option to extend the agreement for an additional five years.

Commissioners also awarded a contract for the installation of new portable carpeting at the fairgrounds that will be used for the dog show and other events.

Plant begins treating water

from Shannopin

A water treatment plant built to prevent a rising pool of acidic mine water from breaching the surface at the abandoned Shannopin Mine and polluting nearby Dunkard Creek is now up and running.

The plant, recently run through a commission stage, began treating water Tuesday, said Christopher J. Colbert, president of AMD Reclamation Inc., a nonprofit corporation formed to develop the project.

Colbert said the plant is operating well and only a few minor details need to be taken care of before the project, which was begun last fall, is completed.

“We’re very happy with the time in which it was done,” Colbert said. “There are very few items that still need to be cleared up,” he said. The project was developed to pump and treat water that has gradually filled Shannopin Mine, which closed more than 10 years ago.

If nothing had been done, projections indicated water in the mine would break the surface sometime this year causing significant pollution in Dunkard Creek.

The water level in the mine at the treatment plant site is currently about 16 feet below the level at which it would begin discharging at the surface, Colbert said. The treatment plant is at the mine’s former Steele Shaft near Davistown.

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Waynesburg College

gets $4.5 million gift

WAYNESBURG – The national Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation smiled upon Waynesburg College’s service learning program Thursday when it awarded the school with a $4.5 million endowment.

Waynesburg was one of five schools that met criteria for the endowment this year.

“It’s certainly an honor to be recognized by the foundation with this endowment. I think it shows their support of our program and what we’re doing here,” said Rachel Volpe, director of Waynesburg College’s Bonner Scholars Program.

The program grants scholarships to students who agree to perform about 10 hours of volunteer work a week. Previously, the college had to request money from the foundation every year, but now, interest from the endowment should support the program indefinitely.

The college is required to collect $2 million in donations for the fund, creating a permanent endowment of $6.5 million.

The Bonner Scholars Program, founded in 1990 by Corella and Bertram F. Bonner, supports about 1,500 students at 25 colleges around the country. Waynesburg College has been a part of the program since 1992. So far, 12 schools have been chosen for the permanent endowment.

After Corella Bonner’s death nearly two years ago, foundation trustees decided to restructure and award endowments to participating colleges, as long as they met certain standards. These criteria focus on the academic and financial strength of an institution, the effectiveness of the Bonner Scholars Program on their campus, the institution’s commitment to create and sustain a campuswide culture of service, and their ability to provide a designated financial match.

Waynesburg College Bonner scholars have performed more than 275,000 hours of community service and received more than $2.5 million in scholarship assistance through the program. Each student can earn up to $15,500 over four years in the program.

The college currently has 60 Bonner scholars. Fifteen freshmen are chosen each year through an intensive election process. In addition to service activities performed during the school year, Bonner scholars engage in trips and other special activities together during the year. The students also perform community service during the summer.

Saturday session

fails to catch on

ROGERSVILLE – Judging by what happened in the West Greene School District, holding classes on Saturday, June 3, is not a concept with a great future.

Teachers and other staff members were there is full force, but students sowed their disinterest with a turnout of less than 25 percent.

“I guess the kids felt they had other things to do,” said Ken Ganocy, acting principal of West Greene High School and Middle School.

“Those that came enjoyed a great student-teacher ratio.”

The unusual Saturday classes were necessary because schools were closed, as required by law, on Monday, May 26, in observance of Memorial Day.

Since the district will be holding classes through Friday, June 30, to make up as many days as possible for time lost during a lengthy teachers’ strike in the fall, the free day had to be made up,” Ganocy explained.

For students and staff members who were present, the pace was relaxed since they had been told in advance there would be no dress requirements.

Daily places wager

with Paul Long

Atty. John Daily, the nationally known Waynesburg one-day-a-year Rain Prophet is a happy man today.

He has a new sucker for his annual wager that it will rain in Waynesburg July 29.

His victim is Paul Long, noted Pittsburgh television personality who blends his newscasts with homespun philosophy, deft humor and lively banter with high professional weather forecaster, Joe DeNardo.

Long is a native of Texas – where the natives reputedly would be willing to stand in line to see a full-sized rainfall.

To him it was almost unbelievable that anyone would be willing to bet that there was going to be a rainstorm in one particular place on any one day of the year.

Naturally, he fell easily for the wager – completely unaware that by tradition and carefully maintained records in recent years that rain in small or large amounts has failed to fall in Waynesburg for only 12 of the past 91 years.