County providing money, services for municipal road, bridge projects
County commissioners agreed Wednesday to provide funding and services to several municipal road and bridge projects.
From funds generated by the $5 fee the county imposes on vehicle registrations, the commissioners allocated $50,000 each to three road projects.
In Cherry Valley, the borough is providing a $32,000 match toward an $82,000 project to resurface Borchert, Martin and Porter roads; improve stormwater drainage and for brush removal.
Concord Township is contributing $33,000 toward an $83,000 project to rehabilitate 14 roads; and Mercer Township is contributing $49,000 toward a $99,000 project to resurface Glacial Till, Shields and Unity roads.
The county has distributed $898,854 from the fee fund and realized an impact of $15,387,651, or a $10.59 return, from every dollar distributed since the fee went into effect Nov. 1, 2018, said Mark Gordon, county economic development and planning chief. He said the fee is set to expire Oct. 31, 2028.
In addition, commissioners agreed to provide $75,000 in in-kind services to Evans City’s project to repair the Harrison Street culvert bridge over Breakneck Creek. The county bridge engineer and crew will assist the borough.
A cooperation, funding and construction administration agreement with Allegheny Township, the Allegheny Clarion Valley Authority and the Community Development Corporation was approved for the replacement of the sewage and water system at the Allegheny-Clarion Valley Business Park in the township.
In February, the commissioners awarded $4.8 million in contracts for the project, but left a $952,000 shortfall in funding in the hands of the Allegheny Clarion Valley Development Corporation, which owns the park.
Project funding comes from a $2.57 million grant from the county’s Municipal Infrastructure Program, a $1.25 million Appalachian Regional Commission grant and a $931,920 state grant awarded to the township.
The Allegheny Clarion Valley Development Corporation has agreed to hand ownership of the sewage and water systems to the authority, which has applied for a loan from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority not to exceed $1.4 million for the project.
The Allegheny Clarion Valley Development Corporation is working under a consent decree from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to replace both systems.
Commissioners approved a cooperation agreement with the Butler County Association for the Blind to use the county motor pool to buy to two box trucks for the association’s paper shredding and recycling business using a $177,510 grant the association received from the Department of Environmental Protection.
The county will own the trucks and the association, which is providing a 10% grant match, will be responsible for liability, insurance and maintenance. The DEP will decide how to dispose of the trucks when they are no longer serviceable.
Also, commissioners agreed to pay $15,000 on behalf of the Butler County Growth Collaborative to have the county’s economic development and investment strategies included in an upcoming regional marketing issue of Capital Analytics Associates’ “Invest” magazine.
