ZELIENOPLE — Zelienople officials hope Gov. Tom Corbett will sign off on a funding request to revitalize the borough.

After the Butler County Commissioners on Feb. 5 approved a cooperation agreement with the borough for the Zelienople Revitalization and Economic Development project, the borough now must wait for the governor's approval of construction funds.

Under the agreement, the borough is seeking $3.9 million for the project that would make repairs and improvements to Main Street and elsewhere.

Borough manager Don Pepe said the initiative would be fabulous.

“It's a waiting game for financial approval,” Pepe said. “It is a complicated project on funding but not a complicated project on the work that needs to be done.”

The first phase would include improvements for parking, burying utility lines, repairing sidewalks and curbs, and updating signs, streetlights and traffic signals on Main Street from Grandview Avenue to the Passavant Retirement Community.

The first phase of the revitalization would cost about $7 million to $9 million and would be paid for by grants, the borough and donations, Pepe said.

One improvement would be the parking lot behind the Kaufman House, which has space for 15 to 20 cars. The proposed lot will have 135 spaces.

Pepe said the town has enough parking spaces, but they are not in the right places, and the parking lot is the first priority of the project.

Carroll Cooper of Mussig Florist, 104 N. Main St., said parking is the biggest issue for her shop.

Cooper, whose family has owned the floral shop since 1932, said the parking lots are more than a block away from her shop and people do not like to walk with floral arrangements.

“It would be a good thing if we could get the grant money,” Cooper said. “It would be quite a shot in the arm if everything happened the way it should.”

Other aspects of the project include updating streets, which are plagued by cracking, potholes, rutting and a lack of drainage.

The sidewalk system would encourage pedestrian activity and promote a more walker-friendly downtown. The new sidewalks would connect High, Clay and Main streets and numerous cross streets to the parking and businesses along those corridors.

The sidewalks also would meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

Pepe said upgrades would include installation of traffic signs with a unified design. All new signs would be required to meet state standards for size, color and reflectivity.

Pole mounted signs would be removed and ground mounted signs would be installed, which would be more visible at driver's eye level and below tree canopies. Proposed traffic signals would have 12 inch lenses with LED lights and would be energy efficient.

The lighting on Main, Clay and High streets and cross streets currently are lit by an aged system that casts a yellowish light, and Pepe said an updated system with below ground electric service is desired.

Overhead utility lines that include the Zelienople Electric Co., Verizon and Armstrong would be buried.

Cooper said it would be helpful if the utility lines were moved from Main Street as well. Cooper added that the floral shop in the past has had to operate with flashlights because of power outages caused by vehicles hitting utility poles.

The second phase of the project would improve the 4 Corner Park area, where Grandview Avenue intersects Main Street.

The four parks on each corner of the intersection host festivals and the renovations would make the parks more festival friendly.

The final phase of the project would improve Clay Street and High Street, which run parallel with Main Street. The two primarily residential streets are made up of Victorian, colonial, bungalow, brick and clapboard homes.

Jeff Barkley, president of the parks and recreation board, said the borough had done a great job in seeing the need to keep up with the aging of the town.

“The project would have a huge impact on the local community,” Barkley said. “Zelienople has always been know as a clean, lovable and respectable Pennsylvania town, but as it ages it needs a face-lift.”

Pepe said borough officials have tried to deal with some of the issues, but it is a matter of funding becoming available.

“We've done well, but we can definitely do better,” he said.