Mar 5, 2015 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – Greene County commissioners approved a letter of credit Thursday with First National Bank to cover the cost of constructing an intersection on Route 21 at Greene County Airport, part of a plan to open airport property to commercial development.

The county received a letter of credit for $690,972, though it does not expect to have to draw down any of the money, said Jeff Marshall, county chief clerk.

The county was required by the state Department of Transportation to receive a letter of credit for an amount representing 110 percent of the intersection’s estimated construction costs, Marshall said. “We just have to guarantee we have enough money to build the project,” he said.

The county now has about $2.5 million in grant money that should cover “a majority” of the remaining costs of the airport project, Marshall said.

The work also will include construction of a new access road inside the airport.

The new intersection will realign the airport entrance road with Murtha Drive to make a four-way intersection at Murtha Drive and Route 21.

“The letter of credit was one of the last pieces needed to get ready to put the project out to bid,” Marshall said.

PennDOT will conduct the bidding.

Construction of the new intersection should begin this year, he said.

The commissioners Thursday also approved the traffic signal permit plan for the new intersection. The plan has received PennDOT preliminary approval.

The traffic signal plan was prepared by Pennoni Engineering, which also is completing the engineering design for the new intersection. The intersection design is now under PennDOT review, Marshall said.

Pennoni also is designing the airport access road, which will run roughly parallel to Route 21, west from Murtha Drive to the three, two-acre parcels that will be available for commercial development, and east to the airport administration building and a new parking lot.

The county already has completed some work at the airport as part of the plan to open up land for commercial development.

Four hangars were demolished in the area that will be available for development, and a 20,280-square-foot T-hangar was built east of the administration building.

In other business, the commissioners approved a funding agreement between Greene County and Waynesburg Prosperous and Beautiful and PIRHL Development LLC, the developer of a 52-unit apartment complex for seniors in Waynesburg.

The agreement is required for the $200,000 contribution the county agreed to make to the senior-housing project.

The money comes from the county’s Act 13 impact fee money from natural gas drilling.

The commissioners agreed the project is good for the county.

“We have a real housing crisis in Greene County, and what this hopefully will do is free up homes (for sale or rent) when some of our seniors move into it,” said Commissioner Archie Trader.

The county is in need of senior housing as well as rental properties, Commissioner Blair Zimmerman said. “This could open up some properties that might be able to be used for rentals, but it also will give us some affordable housing for our seniors,” he said.

Commissioner Charles Morris spoke of the many groups and governmental agencies that have been involved in the project. “This has been an example of many entities working together to accomplish something good for the entire community.”

A representative of PIRHL said last week that groundbreaking for the project could be held in April.

The commissioners also approved a motion to increase fees for cremation permits from $30 to $50; autopsy reports, from $100 to $150; and toxicology reports, from $75 to $100.

Coroner Gregory Rohanna explained fees have not changed in at least 11 years and needed to be adjusted to cover inflation and increased costs.