Cumberland supervisors award contract
CARMICHAELS – Cumberland Township supervisors awarded a contract Monday for a new pavilion at Wana B Park and during a public hearing on use of the township’s block grant money talked about blighted homes in Nemacolin.
The supervisors received four bids for construction of the 884-square-foot pavilion and awarded the contract to Swede Construction, which provided a bid of $36,300. One company provided a lower bid, Whipkey Construction, for $32,360, but failed to include a bid bond as required by the bid specifications.
The supervisors plan to build the pavilion using some of the township’s Act 13 impact fee money. In adopting a budget for the year in December, the supervisors earmarked $107,000 for Wana B Park from the $1,039,586 the township received last year in Act 13 funds.
The pavilion is expected to completed this summer.
The township held its public hearing on the use of its 2013 Community Development Block Grant.
The township has not yet been informed about how much money it will receive this year, but was told to use the same amount allotted last year, $99,579, for planning purposes, said Marcia Sonneborn, the township’s CDBG coordinator.
At least 51 percent of the CDBG money must be spent on activities to benefit low- and moderate-income residents. Portions of the money can be used to address blight or emergency conditions.
Resident Paul Lesako asked whether the money could be spent to eliminate blight in Nemacolin, to have some of the old houses in poor condition torn down and new ones built in their place.
The community has changed during the years and many houses have become rentals that have been left in disrepair. The town now looks like an old Appalachian town out of the 1930s, Lesako said.
Sonneborn said the supervisors are aware of the problems and have been working to address them. In the last few months, the township has been talking to developers who could possibly prepare a plan to address blight in the community, she said.
Demolishing vacant buildings and creating programs for first time home buyers have been part of the discussions, she said.
The township also has worked with other agencies to address problems in the Nemacolin and to learn from residents what they believe should be done to improve the community.
Sonneborn spoke of efforts by the county’s Department of Human Services, which held meetings with residents to discuss their concerns and to deal with problems including crime and drug and alcohol abuse.
The CDBG program also has been used to rehabilitate about 100 owner-occupied homes in Nemacolin during the years, Sonneborn said.
Rehabilitating the entire community, however, will take time and money, Sonneborn said. Before awarding a grant, a funding source normally wants to see a comprehensive plan for a community. This is something the township hopes to develop, she said.
One Nemacolin resident also asked whether the township could inspect living conditions in some of the homes. The woman said she knew of one house in which the occupants have no public water.
Supervisor William Groves said township codes only address certain conditions and to inspect living conditions inside a home would require a health department, which is something neither the township nor county has or could afford.
Groves noted he had attended numerous meeting in Nemacolin to discuss problems in the community. “So we know what you’re talking about,” he told Lesako.
In other business, the supervisors approved a heavy hauling agreement with GEO Kinetics to conduct seismic testing later this year in the southern and western parts of the township.
The company will used a thumper truck along the road. Though the township has received complaints about the testing in the past, Groves said the township can’t deny the request because the roads are public. The agreement will insure the company repairs any damage to the roads its testing creates.
The supervisors voted to adjourn the meeting until July 18 to award a contract for repairs to the sidewalk, parking lot and drainage system at the Carmichaels Senior Activities Center.