Tom Yerace stories, Page 3
Springdale Township trimming expected budget shortfall
Springdale Township officials say they are getting an anticipated budget deficit under control. When the 2024 budget was approved in December, township commissioners projected $2.3 million in expenditures but only $1.7 million in revenue, leaving roughly $600,000 to be covered by the township’s financial reserves. Commissioner Tim Basilone said the...
Upper Burrell officials reject request to rezone part of former golf course for industrial use
Upper Burrell supervisors on Thursday rejected a request to rezone part of the former Oak Lake Golf Course for industrial use. In a 2-1 vote, the supervisors turned down the request by Gary Schoepke, owner of the property at 1151 Oak Lake Road, which is zoned for residential/agricultural use. He...
West Deer supervisors plan another hearing on proposed changes in gas and oil drilling areas
The ongoing battle over the West Deer zoning ordinance regarding gas and oil drilling will rage into September. On Wednesday, the township supervisors voted to hold yet another public hearing on proposed changes to Ordinance 454 at 6 p.m. Sept. 18. The action came after another lengthy discussion of the...
Software set to modernize Springdale Township water service
Springdale Township commissioners continue their push to modernize the township’s water distribution system with a recent software purchase. The township bought software from Diversified Technologies of Bloomsburg that will run numerous functions in the water system. It will be integrated with the remote-read water meters the township is in the...
Springdale High School renovations could stretch into next year
Repair and renovation work on Springdale Junior-Senior High School apparently will not start any time soon. Pre-cast concrete panels on the back of the building’s ‘D’ wing have been shifting, according to Superintendent Patrick Graczyk. The panels were part of the high school expansion and renovation completed in 2012, according...
Property owners in part of the Freeport Area School District get a tax decrease while others get a tax hike
School taxes will rise in one of Freeport Area School District’s communities but drop in the two others, and school directors emphasized it’s not their idea. The school board approved the 2024-25 budget that lowers real estate taxes in the district’s Armstrong County communities by 10.42% but raises them 3.56%...
Brackenridge working out ‘technical issues’ with DEP to address water turbidity concerns
Brackenridge will address state Department of Environmental Protection concerns about water turbidity in its treatment operation through a consent agreement. Council unanimously approved the consent order and agreement from the DEP last week. Turbidity refers to cloudiness or a deficiency in purity in water usually caused by sediment, borough engineer...
Arnold wants to renegotiate with water authority for shutoffs
Arnold officials want the leverage of being able to shut off water service to residents who don’t pay their sewage bills. They just don’t want to pay quite so much for that power. Under an agreement with the Municipal Authority of the City of New Kensington, the water supplier to...
Proposed budget would raise taxes 2.65% in Allegheny Valley School District
The Allegheny Valley School Board has approved a 2024-25 proposed budget that raises real estate taxes by 2.65%. If the budget gains final approval at the June board meeting, a taxpayer who owns a property with the average assessed value of $85,900 will pay $1,837 in school taxes, an increase...
Kiski Area budget would see tax hike in Westmoreland, tax cut in Armstrong
Westmoreland County property owners in Kiski Area School District could see a tax hike next year, but those in Armstrong County could get a tax cut. A preliminary budget approved this week would raise the tax rate 6.8% in the district’s eight Westmoreland County communities while decreasing the rate 7.7%...
3 A-K Valley communities seek joint trash-hauling contract
Refuse-hauling contractors got an extra week to submit proposals for a joint contract covering Cheswick, Springdale and Springdale Township. Contractors have until 3 p.m. Thursday to submit bids, according to Springdale Township Solicitor Craig Alexander. Bids will be opened Monday. The communities have contracts that expire at the end of...
Kiski Area School Board approves restructuring of administrative duties, positions
Kiski Area School District will be operating under a new administrative structure beginning July 1. It has some similarities to the one former Superintendent Misty Slavic proposed, but the school board rejected, in February. That proposal gave more responsibilities to certain administrators but also included salary increases ranging from 7.2%...
Assessment appeal by Hillcrest Shopping Center’s owners to cost Burrell School District $19,000
Burrell School District will lose nearly $20,000 in tax revenue following an assessment appeal settlement with the owner of Hillcrest Shopping Center. A settlement between the school district and the owners of the shopping center nestled between the Route 56 Bypass and Leechburg and Wildlife Lodge roads was approved by...
Kiski Area support staff get raises under new 5-year contract
A new contract awards pay raises to Kiski Area School District educational support staff in each of the next five years. The school board unanimously ratified the five-year agreement with the Kiski Area Educational Support Professionals that runs from July 1 through June 30, 2029. It provides an 8% raise...
Kiski Area School District hires familiar face as new superintendent
Kiski Area’s school directors didn’t look far to find their choice as the best qualified person to be superintendent. That turned out to be Assistant Superintendent Jason Lohr, whom they unanimously voted to succeed Misty Slavic. Board President Todd Sterlitz said after the news about Slavic’s sudden resignation broke in...
EMS providers need more than state money to fix funding woes
Regional ambulance service officials say they’ll try to grab a piece of increased state funding for emergency medical services, but repeated their plea for a new funding model. “In a nutshell, the system has been collapsing for a good while,” said Brad James of Eureka Hose EMS in Tarentum. The...
West Deer police officers to get new body cameras
West Deer will be spending $68,700 to replace body cameras for its police officers, but without seeking competitive contract bids. The township supervisors approved the purchase of 20 new cameras from Digital Ally, the current supplier, upon the recommendation of police Chief Robert Loper. Township Manager Daniel Mator said the...
Arnold Council sets the framework to agree to a new police contract next month
Arnold Council will vote at its April 9 meeting on several measures involving the police department, including contract revisions. Five actions were listed on council’s March agenda when it met this week, but all were tabled. Those items included: • A four-year contract for newly hired police Chief Josh Stanga;...
PennDOT drawing up plan for White Cloud Road Bridge, may repair or replace
Fresh off the completion of Route 356 construction, Allegheny Township residents are looking at yet another big PennDOT project. A bridge on White Cloud Road tentatively will be rehabilitated or replaced starting in early 2027, according to PennDOT project manager Sean Sepe. Work will take about 2½ years at a...
Harrison approves paving plans with money to spare — for now
Harrison intends to pave all or parts of 12 township streets this year, but a 13th will have to wait until its status is clarified. The Harrison commissioners awarded a $352,000 contract this week that calls for repaving Broadview Boulevard, from Alabama Avenue to Argonne Drive and from Dallas to...
Kiski Area School Board shoots down plan to officially realign administrator’s duties, increase their pay
A plan realigning Kiski Area School District’s administrative positions that included salary increases has been shot down by the school board. Kiski Area Superintendent Misty Slavic pitched the plan as a way to balance responsibilities among administrators and make them more effective. The board, however, did not agree Wednesday and...
Burrell security upgrades could cost $1.27 million, but are vital say administrators, police
Burrell School District’s building security systems are so outdated, Superintendent Shannon Wagner is urging the school board to replace them — even if the district has to foot the entire $1.27 million pricetag. “Every (security) system that we have is outdated,” Wagner told school board members this week. She said...
Allegheny Township hit with $51,000 IRS penalty, trying to find out why
Editor’s note: This story was corrected on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, to correct the attribution of a quote. Allegheny Township officials, and at least one resident, want to know why the township apparently is being fined $51,000 by the IRS. The fines might be connected to the township not properly...
Arnold’s new police chief might look familiar to city residents
If Arnold’s new police chief looks familiar to city residents, there are a couple of reasons why. One is that newly hired Chief Josh Stanga worked as a city police officer in the past. The other is that he might be their neighbor. Talking to the crowd of residents at...
Vandergrift leaders address online criticism, urge residents to share concerns in person
Public criticism comes with being an elected official, but Vandergrift officials think it’s going too far. At this week’s council meeting, Mayor Lenny Collini brought up criticisms of the mayor and council appearing on social media. “I’m extremely uncomfortable with the social media going around about our town,” Collini said....
