An airplane sits parked at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in Penn Township on Monday. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle

JOSEPH RESSLER

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, said nearly $8.5 million in community project funding he requested has been included in the omnibus spending package approved in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday.

While the funding will benefit projects throughout Kelly’s 16th District, if passed in the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden, two Butler County efforts have been included on the list.

Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in Penn Township would receive $2 million for improvements, and Cranberry Township would receive $960,000 for a sanitary sewer project.

The package now must be approved by the U.S. Senate and signed by President Biden for the funds to be disbursed.

While Kelly touted the funds as earmarked for runway expansion, it will more likely be used for much-needed improvements and expansion at the airport.

“There are a host of ideas, but it hasn’t really been decided yet,” said Mike Walsh, chairman of the Butler County Airport Authority.

He said prioritized projects include increasing the number of corporate hangars at the airport, adding a grass overrun area at the western end of the runway and paying for a renovation of the aging airport terminal.

The authority will seek bids for the latter project in 30 to 60 days, and will likely award a bid within 90 days, Walsh said.

“We are the third or fourth busiest general aviation airport in the state, so there are projects that need to be done,” Walsh said.

He said due to the multiple and time-consuming requirements by the Federal Aviation Administration to expand the runway, that project won’t likely begin for four to five years.

“It’s a very slow process,” Walsh said.

He said the authority board is thankful for Kelly’s efforts in securing funding for the airport.

“We are very grateful to Congressman Kelly,” Walsh said. “It’s something that definitely was needed.”

Kelly said in his announcement that taxpayers throughout the district will receive the best return on their investment, if the funding is finalized.

“I’m very pleased that we can deliver millions of taxpayer dollars back into our local communities and make our constituents’ lives better,” Kelly said. “After all, it’s their money, not Washington’s money.”

He also touted the airport as a worthy project.

“It was clear this funding could be put to use and benefit Butler County right away,” Kelly said.

In the county’s southern tier, Kelly’s requests for federal spending would benefit Cranberry Township, with nearly $1 million earmarked for Cranberry’s effort to connect some of its sewage system to the Breakneck Creek Regional Authority’s treatment plant.

Township manager Dan Santoro said the Breakneck project comes as the township looks to retire the Franklin Acres Pump Station, which he described as “40 years old, at least; maybe 50.”

"In lieu of the costs associated with rebuilding the pump station, rebuilding the forced main, it's more cost-effective for us, there, to send sewage to Breakneck through an intermunicipal agreement, take that pump station offline and replace it with a gravity system,“ Santoro said.

Kelly said the earmark would help the township get the project done more quickly.

"Cranberry Township is an anchor community of Butler County, and this funding will help Dan Santoro and his team advance this local infrastructure project more effectively and efficiently," Kelly said in the release.

Cranberry, according to Santoro, is “appreciative to Congressman Kelly,” and administrative staff “are excited to see the funding go through.”