South Strabane supervisors pause Driscoll Park project
Residents near Driscoll Park will have to wait a while longer for relief from flooding, as the South Strabane Township supervisors voted Tuesday to step back from the initial project plan, citing a need to refocus and rescope.
The project was initially scoped in 2021 to address flooding and state Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System requirements around Driscoll Park off Locust Avenue.
Supervisor Jeff Bull made the motion to inform the Washington County Redevelopment Authority that the township will no longer use the $150,000 it received in Local Share Account (LSA) grant funding in 2021, and to inform KLH Engineers Inc., that their services are no longer required for the project.
Bull said a recent engineering report about the site indicated that the project would need some degree of adjustment to the original design to sufficiently address the flood issue, and that this process would last longer than the five-year LSA funding window under state law.
Municipalities that receive LSA funding are required to use that capital within three years unless an extension is requested, which would increase the timeframe up to a maximum of five years. After that five-year window, the funding is no longer accessible.
The township supervisors requested a two-year extension in 2024.
Bull said that since the changes would take longer than the remaining time left to use the funds, the township should move to “unwind” the current LSA agreement and rescope the project and apply for a new source of funding through the 2027 county LSA cycle.
Bull said the township needed to do the project right, not rush into it just to make use of the initial LSA grant.
According to Bull, he is unsure whether the township will contract with KLH again for the revised project, or how much the revised project would cost.
In other business, the supervisors tabled a motion to authorize the solicitor to advertise an ordinance concerning the use of Fossil Fuel Electric Generating Facilities within the township, citing a need to review it further and ensure stated decibel limits and quiet hours are in line with other township ordinances.