Sep 4, 2014 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Greene County Commissioners approved an agreement Thursday with an engineering firm to prepare the design for a new access road at the county airport as part of a plan to prepare properties fronting Route 21 for commercial development.

Pennoni Associates will be paid $177,500 to design an access road to run roughly parallel to Route 21, west to the three, two-acre parcels that will be prepared for commercial development and east to the administration building and a new parking lot.

The county has begun preparing the property for development. Three of the four old airplane hangars west of the administration building have been demolished. A new 20,280-square foot, T-hangar also was built east of the building, housing 10 compartments for airplanes, a maintenance and equipment room and a pilot’s room.

Demolition of the fourth existing hanger at the western end of the site began this week, chief clerk Jeff Marshall said. The new T- hangar also is now in use, he said.

As part of the project, the road into the airport property also will be realigned with Murtha Drive to make a new four-way intersection at Murtha Drive and Route 21.

Under the agreement approved Thursday, Pennoni will prepare the design for the access road and eastern development area, develop a storm water plan for the site and utility connections. Under a previous agreement with the county, the firm prepared the design for the Murtha Drive and Route 21 intersection.

The county hopes to be a position to bid the access road and Murtha Drive-Route 21 intersection by the end of the year, Marshall said.

The county earlier hired Scalo-Summa as project developer to market the properties, which the county plans to lease to tenants. The firm talked to several prospective tenants about the properties, but will not enter into any contracts for the parcels until site work is completed, Marshall said.

Including the cost of the agreement approved Thursday with Pennoni, the county invested about $2.3 million in the project that covers engineering, demolition and construction of the new hangar, Marshall said.

The project is being funded through grants, money from a bond issued several years ago that had money earmarked for airport development and the county’s Act 13 impact fee revenue.

In other business, the commissioners approved a contract with EADS Architects Inc, to inspect and develop a plan to repair existing metal roofs on buildings at the fairgrounds. Some of the roofs are rusted and leak.

The commissioners approved a new two-year contract with Pictometry International Corp. for $75,427 to update the county’s image database. The company provides high-resolution aerial photographs of the county for a database used in several departments, including emergency management, assessment and planning.

The commissioners also approved an agreement with Keller McIntyre and Associates for government relations services through Dec. 31 at a cost of $7,000 a month. The company prepares the county’s federal grant applications and serves as the county’s federal lobbyist.

The county received a clean audit that included no findings for the county liquid fuel tax and Act 44 tax funds for Jan. 1 2012 through Dec. 31, 2012.