Mar 6, 2014 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Greene County commissioners Thursday said they will submit a request to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to modify the county’s Community Development Block Grant program.

In January, the Wayne Township supervisors made the commissioners aware of the critical need for rehabilitation work at the Brave Sewage Treatment Plant and Pump Station. The supervisors asked the commissioners to consider redirecting CDBG funding to this project. Once the modification request is made, construction activities are expected to begin this year at the Brave facilities.

The commissioners approved a modification for Wayne Township totaling $200,000, with $56,648 coming from the county’s 2010 CDBG funds; $103,521 from the 2011 funds; and $39,831 from 2012.

Additionally, the funding for a proposed sewage treatment and collection system in Washington Township from the 2014 entitlement will be removed from the program, per a request from the Washington Township supervisors. This project does not meet CDBG criteria.

Part of the funding will be directed to sewage system installations in Alicia and Poland Mines, Monongahela Township and the remaining funding will be directed to Wayne Township for the sewage rehabilitation project.

The county’s CDBG program now includes:

• Water lines on Happy Valley Road, Morgan Township (2010 entitlement;

• Brave Water and Sewage Authority’s sewage treatment plant rehabilitation, Wayne Township (2011 and 2014 entitlements;

• Sewage system installations in Alicia and Poland Mines, Monongahela Township (2012 and 2013 entitlements;

CDBG funds are to be used for local economic development needs, including housing rehabilitation, public services, community facilities, infrastructure improvement and development and planning. Seventy percent of each grant must be used for activities that benefit low- and moderate-income individuals, and grants are allocated based on a formula.

For more information on the CDBG program, call Crystal Simmons in the Economic Development office at 724-852-5300.

The commissioners also awarded a $113,000 contract to G&W Roofing and Construction, Inc., Eighty Four, for the roof replacement project at the Ben Franklin Office Building on High Street. G&W was the lowest of six companies bidding on the project.

Also, the commissioners awarded a $182,783 contract to Fleming-Walker Inc., of Portersville, for a new storage garage and storm water improvements at the county fairgrounds. Fleming-Walker was the lowest of the nine bidders.

In other business, the commissioners proclaimed this week as Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week in Greene County.

The proclamation encourages county residents to learn more about MS, which is a neurological disease of the central nervous system, and how to support individuals with MS and their families.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society-Western PA Chapter reports more than 28,000 people in Pennsylvania are diagnosed with MS. While the cause and cure for the disease remain unknown, the national organization has invested more than $771 million in research since 1946.

The proclamation supports discovering the cause, finding a cure and preventing future generations from being diagnosed with MS.