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WAYNESBURG - Water line work on Greene, High and other streets in the borough will make parking scarce and force traffic to slow, borough officials discussed Monday.

Police Chief Tim Hawfield said that contractors hired by Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority will begin work to replace an old line on Greene Street today. Another contractor is expected to start a similar project on West High Street Monday.

"Parking will be significantly affected, and traffic will be restricted to one lane," Hawfield said.

Parking and traffic has been restricted on Richhill Street since last month, when work began on the water line replacement there.

The work is part of the water authority's $3.4 million project to replace old water lines in the Waynesburg area. Some portions of the lines date to the 1890s.

The authority will save some money in road repair costs by replacing the lines just before the state Department of Transportation re-paves the roads. Penn-DOT is supposed to start that work this summer.

In another matter, council passed a resolution that urges the federal government to enact a Homeowners and Banks Protection Act to deal with the mortgage loan crisis. The act would freeze all existing mortgages for a period of time or restructure mortgages at lower interest rates.

"It's far from being passed," said Councilman John Ealy. "It is a good thing to do, though."

Borough officials opened several bids from people and businesses interested in buying a 1996 dump truck. The borough replaced the vehicle with a new truck earlier this year.

Borough Manager G. Edward Howard said the proposals were rather low and he planned to look into trading in the truck to get a better price. K.W. Sales of Waynesburg is the apparent high bidder at $8,791.

Mayor Blair Zimmerman praised Howard and the borough streets department for their help with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life earlier this month.

The borough Parks Commission will meet at 7 p.m. May 28 at the borough building on High Street. A manufacturer of skate ramps will talk to commission members about their plans to build a skateboarding park in town.

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