Looking back
A look at some of the headlines gracing the pages of the Observer-Reporter and Waynesburg Republican this week in Greene County history:
Agencies investigate
large fish kill
State and federal environmental agencies continue to investigate a large fish kill on Dunkard Creek and may be coming closer to determining its cause.
The kill was first reported Sept. 1 near Pentress, W.Va. It has since moved downstream past Mt. Morris and, according to some sources, stretches as far as Pigeon Hole Road in Dunkard Township.
The kill was believed to have subsided last week, but additional fresh fish kills were discovered during the past weekend, said Helen Humphreys, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.
“Either this is ongoing or it’s a second slug of pollutants moving downstream,” she said.
The incident has killed hundreds of fish including bass, muskies, white suckers, catfish and red horse fish, as well as other forms of aquatic life such as mussels and mud puppies, she said.
Humphreys said at one site near Brave more than 300 dead fish were found representing 18 species.
Pennsylvania and West Virginia environmental protection agencies as well as the federal Environmental Protection Agency continue to investigate the kill.
“Right now,” Humphreys said, “I don’t think anybody has conclusively identified the source.”
One of the possible pollutants the agencies are now considering is total dissolved solids, Humphreys said. Very high levels of total dissolved solids have been found in the water, particularly in the West Virginia portion of the stream.
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Officials: Streetscape
bids high
The state Department of Transportation opened bids Thursday for Waynesburg’s streetscape project. But with the apparent low bid much higher than expected, the results were a little disappointing to borough administrator Bruce Wermlinger.
Six bids were submitted for the project and the apparent low bid was presented by SET Inc., said PENNDOT spokeswoman Valerie Petersen. The bid was for $1,634,300.
Wermlinger said, however, groups planning the project had believed the project would come in about $400,000 less, at about $1.2 million.
Planners will have to review the bids to see if they can work with the figure, Wermlinger said. Though the project is being funded with about $1.6 million in federal grants, that money also must cover other costs such as construction overruns and other contingencies, he said.
The streetscape project has been in the works for at least four years. The project will encompass three blocks on High Street, from Cumberland to Washington streets, and two blocks on Washington, from High to Wayne streets. Plans call for decorative sidewalks, streetlights and tree-lined streets.
County planners review
college’s dorm plans
WAYNESBURG – Plans by Waynesburg College to build a new dormitory on College Street in Waynesburg Borough were reviewed Monday by Greene County Planning Commission.
The college intends to build the new four-story dorm on property it owns between Buhl Hall and Thayer Hall. The building will house 68 students in double occupancy rooms.
Steve Affeltranger of the architectural firm Valentour, English, Bodnar and Howell said the building will be similar in appearance to the three dormitories the college constructed on North Washington Street.
The project will include a 32-space parking area on the east side of the building. Two 48-inch pipes will be installed on the property to retain storm water and prevent flooding off-site.
Robbie Matesic, executive director of the county department of planning and development, noted the storm water management plan would ensure the building does not contribute to flooding problems that have occurred in some parts of the borough.
The commission granted final approval to the plans with several conditions. The college must make several adjustment to its stormwater management plan and receive approval of its erosion and sedimentation control plan, Matesic said.
It also must complete several minor items, including, for instance, identifying adjoining property owners and parcel numbers on its design plans, she said.
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Firefighters rescue
students in Graysville
More than 3 inches of rain forced streams over their banks throughout Greene County Friday, flooding several roadways, particularly in the northwestern corner of the county.
Flooding was reported along Route 21 in Center and Gray townships, said Jeff Marshall, director of the county’s emergency management agency.
Firefighters were called to assist a school bus that had been stuck by rising water along Ackley Creek Road in Graysville.
“I’ve been driving a bus for 29 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Rosemary Fletcher of Graysville said after a flooded road immobilized her bus.
Firefighters from Richhill Township and West Finley volunteer fire companies rescued Fletcher and the 14 West Greene students on board Friday afternoon.
The longtime bus driver has driven flooded roads countless times and always managed to bring her bus through the water.
“The roads get flooded every once and a while, but never anything like this,” she said.
Fletcher drove through a puddle at the base of a valley on Ackley Creek Road that proved too deep for the school bus to navigate. A large amount of water surrounded the bus and for several moments, the vehicle was disabled.
With the help of firefighters and a few passersby, Fletcher managed to get her bus turned around and all of the children made it home safely. Firefighters also were called to rescue motorists who were caught in rising water along Route 21 in Center Township and along Route 19 in Ruff Creek.
Creeks also flooded roadways along Route 18, on High Street in Waynesburg, on Route 218 south of Spraggs and along Route 19 in Ruff Creek.
Area fire departments were kept busy throughout the evening responding to calls to pump out basements.
Pupil protest
WAYNESBURG – Fifty students at Margaret Bell Miller Middle School in Waynesburg face five-day suspensions, and half as many may receive two-day suspensions for walking out of the building in protest of new policies on student conduct and operation of the school.
The walkout occurred during the eighth-grade lunch period, the first lunch period f the day, when students were told they could not go outside after eating.
Central Greene School District Superintendent Nancy Davis said the privilege was withheld “because of the situation that existed,” referring to a group of eight parents outside the building protesting rule changes.
The students denied there was any connection between their walkout and the parents’ protest.
“We’ve been planning this for several days because of the stupid new rules about the bathrooms and other things,” said Chad Smith, one of the spokesmen for the group of students.
County voter rolls
continue to decline
Greene County will have 16,919 registered voters eligible to go to the polls at the general election Nov. 4.
The total is the lowest for a fall election within memory, and continues the downward trend in county registration, which has been under way for the past decade or so.
County election officials said 244 new registrations have been accepted since the primary last spring. They were partially offset, however, by removal from the rolls of the names of 120 persons who have died since the primary and 36 known to have moved from the county.
The new total is therefore 68 more than were registered for the spring primary, but 408 less than the 17,327 who were on the lists for the election last November.