Feb 4, 2021 5 min read

The Washington County commissioners are expected to vote Thursday to approve 42 projects recommended to receive portions of the $6.6 million “local share account” gaming revenue.

Board Chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan and Commissioner Nick Sherman applauded the process by the LSA and called it the most transparent in the program’s 12-year history as they agreed Wednesday to place the projects on their agenda for final approval.

Washington County Chamber of Commerce President Jeff Kotula, who chairs the LSA committee, presented the commissioners with the list of recommended projects and minutes of the meetings and hearings that were held through videoconferencing last month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said this year’s $6.6 million allotment will provide an estimated $31 million economic impact through new investments and financial returns.

“Overall, the process went very, very well,” Kotula said.

“I got some really good reviews about this,” Sherman responded. “I think it was a really well-done process.”

Commissioner Larry Maggi did not attend Wednesday’s agenda meeting, but was expected to return for the 10 a.m. voting meeting Thursday, which will live-streamed on the county’s Facebook page. Irey Vaughan said the commissioners plan to vote to approve all the recommended projects as they have done since the LSA program debuted in 2008.

“I think the recommendations were pretty standard as compared to recent years,” Irey Vaughan said after Wednesday’s agenda meeting. “The board of commissioners has never veered from the recommendations from the committee. We work hard to make sure there is no politics in this process.”

She also touted the process that allowed the public to view an online video of the hearings for all 71 applicants. While the committee met through a virtual setting and listened to the projects through video conferencing due to the pandemic, Irey Vaughan expects that online option will be available to the public in subsequent years.

“We are very pleased to have the new procedures implemented with this new LSA process,” she said. “We’re trying to improve transparency and accountability for the taxpayers.”

She said the changes, which include providing meeting minutes and conflict of interest statements from the LSA committee, were not in response to a recent open records request from state Rep. Bud Cook.

Cook, R-West Pike Run, was successful in his right-to-know case against the county requiring it to produce more than 400 records since the LSA’s inception on how the committee arrived at its recommendations. He said Wednesday that he’s only received 40 documents thus far and is still working to uncover more information about past LSA procedures.

“It appears we’re slow-walking the information, and that’s problematic,” he said. “Looking backwards, that’s what raised the red flag as we try to get the records.”

But he was happy to see the LSA committee’s meeting minutes included in this year’s funding recommendation, although he would like for that information to be placed on the county’s website for the public to easily review.

“The bottom line is we’re moving in the right direction,” Cook said. “Going forward, we still need that information to look backwards. It needs to be more easily accessible. It may be there, but it needs to be more easily accessible.”

Total: $6,603,315

• A Center of Access for Eastern Washington County: Rehabilitating and Updating the Monongahela Area Library – $32,500

• Burgettstown Trail Inn Project – $50,000

• Downtown Canonsburg Façade Improvement Grant Program – $62,500

• Downtown Washington Façade Improvement Program – $100,000

• Industrial Trash Compactor for Washington City Mission – $19,000

• Long Branch Borough Community Building Metal Roofing Project – $17,000

• Marianna Borough Municipal Building Renovation Project – $150,000

• Meadowcroft Rockshelter Public Access Improvement Project – $300,000

• Montour Trail Southpointe Connector Project – $200,000

• North Franklin Township Municipal Complex Construction Project – $150,000

• Speers Bridge Project – $88,000

• Washington County Historical Society LeMoyne House Window Preservation Project – $43,945

• Collison Repair Technology Spray Booth – $138,327

• Trinity Area School District Intermediate Unit 1 STEAM Mechanics and Technical Career Program – $107,000

• Atlas Lot Redevelopment – Charleroi – $350,000

• Downtown Washington Small Business Technical Assistance Program – $30,000

• Washington County Airport – Southside Taxiway and Apron Project – $517,000

• Washington County Marketing and Digital Promotion Initiative – $175,000

• 2020 Mon Valley Sewage Authority Long Term Control Plan, Phase III – $300,000

• 2021 CIPP Repair Program (Project E – West) – $100,000

• Center West Ridge Road Sewer Authority – $200,000

• Centerville Borough Ultraviolet Light Replacement – $145,080

• East Bethlehem PLC Controller – $56,400

• Finleyville-Elrama Road Sewer Extension – $200,000

• First Street Sanitary Sewer Repair Project – $22,500

• Pigeon Creek Wastewater Pump Station and West Alley Outfall Repairs Project – $60,000

• Pump Station No. 4 Replacement Project – $200,000

• South Franklin Township/Washington County Airport and Route 18 Chartiers Creek Watershed Sanitary Sewer Project – $270,000

• Tri-County Joint Municipal Authority Uninterrupted System Service Plan – $350,000

• Village of Lawrence Sewage Facilities Project – $300,000

• Lone Pine Waterline Extension Project – $200,000

• Burgettstown Borough Little Shady Avenue Bridge Replacement – $148,733

• Centerville Clinics, Inc. Power Exam Tables (Barrier Free Examination Chairs) – $69,985

• Code Enforcement Demolition – $200,000

• Donora Borough ADA Upgrades Project – $100,000

• Home Ownership Center of Washington County – $100,000

• Houston Borough 2021 Drainage Improvement and Storm Separation Project – $125,000

• Manifold Road Streambank Project – $150,000

• Mechanical Bar Screen Replacement Project – $300,000

• Tutor Library Expansion Project – $10,000

• Washington County Home Rehabilitation, Access, and Homebuyer Assistance Programs – $391,700

• West Pike Run Township Water Fill Station – $73,645