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:
Zoning board OKs plan
for new chapel
WAYNESBURG – Waynesburg University will more than double the size of its student worship area by building a new chapel on campus.
The borough zoning board expressed concerns about parking capacity but nevertheless approved the university’s plans at its meeting Monday. The board granted variances for the height of the chapel steeple as well as the parking spaces.
School officials hope to begin construction on the 10,000-square-foot building after graduation in May and Roberts Chapel should be finished about 15 months later, in August 2011.
Parking spaces have long been scarce on the north side of the borough, particularly when the university is in session. However, Jim Howell of the university’s architectural firm, VEBH of Pittsburgh, said the chapel should not worsen the problem. The university already has chapel services every Tuesday morning and Roberts Chapel will simply be a new venue.
“We all know that parking is an issue on campus, but this facility will not generate any additional need,” Howell told the board.
More people may attend services at the new chapel, which will be able to seat 600 compared to 200-300 at the current chapel on the fourth floor of Miller Hall, but most of those are students who are on campus anyway, university officials said.
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New office building gets
preliminary nod
WAYNESBURG – Plans for construction of a four-story office building for Shaft Drillers International at Meadow Ridge Business Park in Mt. Morris were granted preliminary approval Monday by Greene County Planning Commission.
The company announced only last week that it intended to purchase 62 acres at the business park and move its headquarters there from Morgantown, W.Va.
Kirby Development LLC will construct the 45,000-square-foot building for SDI on less than 5 acres of the land it purchased for $875,000 from the park owner, Regional Industrial Development Corp.
Kirby Development plans to begin site preparation work as soon as its plans are granted final approval, said George Haberman, company representative. Construction of the new building could begin in the spring, he said.
The company will seek final approval from the planning commission next month. For final approval, the company must still have a stormwater management plan and an erosion and sedimentation control plan approved. It also must submit documents regarding the availability of utilities.
SDI develops mine shafts that are used for mine ventilation as well as for transporting workers and equipment underground. It also drills for the natural gas and civil engineering industries.
The state has offered SDI $2.1 million as an enticement to locate at the park. The funding package includes a $2 million grant, which can be used to pay for some of the construction costs. SDI also will get $110,000 to help train people to work at the company.
Lawmakers ready to up
the state’s gambling ante
Slot machines in Pennsylvania have yet to regurgitate one quarter, but two influential House Democrats are planning to introduce legislation allowing the expansion of gaming opportunities in the state.
Minority Leader H. William DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, and Democratic Whip Mike Veon, D-Beaver, would propose permitting table games such as poker, blackjack and roulette at the state’s yet-to-be licensed 14 slots gaming facilities.
“The estimated $1 billion in school property tax reductions available through slot machines is just the tip of the iceberg for what we could be providing to taxpayers,” DeWeese said.
But state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, who voted against Act 71 authorizing the slots, said Tuesday this is not a good idea and he would not support it. “This will be just the beginning before we see full-blown casinos in Pennsylvania.”
There is no practical difference, DeWeese said, between putting $10 in a slot machine and putting $10 on a blackjack or poker table.
“The proposal deserves a chance to be debated, and I am not Pollyannish when it comes to assessing the success of the proposal in the near term,” he said.
Corman believes lawmakers should see how the current law works before going any further. “This is going to add fuel to the entire gambling debate,” he said.
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Geologist pleased with
cleanup from tanker crash
Workers continue to clean up the hazardous material that spilled from a ruptured tanker during a tanker-truck accident Dec. 15 on Interstate 79 near Kirby.
“We’ve made good progress,” said geologist Andy Sokol of Taylor GeoServices Inc., a consultant on the cleanup project. Weavertown Environmental Group Inc. is the main contractor at the site.
The accident that resulted in the spill of the chemical toluene occurred when Bob Caskey, 65, a driver for Distribution Technologies Inc., suffered a fatal heart attack while traveling south on the highway.
Caskey’s rig crossed the median, crashed through a guardrail on the northbound side of I-79 and traveled down a steep embankment coming to rest in a wooded area about 78 feet below the highway.
An estimated 2,000 gallons of toluene spilled from the tanker. Toluene is a clear liquid aromatic hydrocarbon used as an octane booster in fuel, as a solvent in paints and paint thinners and to produce phenol and TNT.
Weavertown was on scene within an hour and a half of the accident and began pumping toluene from the ruptured tanker and performing other emergency response activities.
The tanker had come to rest about 100 feet from Whiteley Creek and some of the material that leaked from the ruptured tanker entered the stream as it migrated through the soil.
Booms were placed in the stream to collect any material that may have entered the water, Sokol said.
Work also was quickly done to prevent further contamination. Weavertown constructed a 50-foot trench to stop the materials from migrating through the soil to the stream. Pipes were laid in the trench to remove the liquids that collected there.
Buyer sought for old building
WAYNESBURG – The Greene County commissioners will again make an effort to sell the former county office building at the corner of High and Church streets.
The commissioners authorized Chief Clerk Gene Lee to seek bids from potential buyers of the six-story brick structure.
It was vacated last fall when the county and county-related offices it house were relocated in leased space in the former Ben Franklin building on West High Street, and the Hillcrest Shoppes building on East High Street, adjoining the new county office building.
“We feel an effort should be made to sell it if at all possible, rather than have it standing empty and continuing to deteriorate,” board Chairman Kelce Mosley said.
Minor flooding closes some
county highways
Highways in Greene County were blocked at several points Thursday as a heavy rain fell during the night and early morning pushing creeks over their banks.
Allen K. Milliken, State Highways Department superintendent for the county, said Route 21 was closed between Golden Oaks Park and Graysville.
Route 18 was closed at three points between Waynesburg and Nineveh – at the water reservoir, Reese’s Mill and at Horn’s Bridge, two miles southeast of Nineveh.
Milliken also said water was over the road at Brave and on the Muddy Creek Road, but not enough to stop traffic.
He said that in most cases the flooding was caused by water backing up behind ice gorges. He also said that at East View a 15-inch drain under the road had been blocked, causing water to run over the road.