Leet officials approve new war memorial plans, park projects

Plans for a memorial honoring current and former soldiers from Leet are moving forward.

Commissioners voted unanimously Sept. 8 to award an $11,000 war memorial project to Rochester-based Rome Monument.

The granite structure will be built in the heart of Ambridge Avenue Park, a short walk from the township office.

Plans indicate it will be 54 inches long, 8 inches wide and 44 inches tall and have etched in emblems of major military branches such as the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines.

Commission president Martin McDaniel said the memorial committee looked into having soldiers’ names engraved on it, but increased costs and other concerns made that move improbable.

“They had this fairly grandiose idea of putting everybody’s name on this thing,” McDaniel said. “It was beyond our financial means. It was (about) $100,000 (with names). Whenever you do something like that there’s bound to be a mistake. You’re going to miss somebody or spell somebody’s name wrong or something. We’ve scaled it down.”

Commissioner Donna Adipietro, who is on the committee with commission vice president Dan Peluso, said the township looked into several companies before settling on Rome Monument.

She said the company has an outstanding reputation and a lot of experience with these types of projects.

“This work started probably five years ago,” Adipietro said. “They were very patient with us because it is a long time.”

Company officials assisted with the design. Township public works laborers are expected to assist with setting the foundation. Memorial construction is expected to take 14-16 weeks. The goal is to have it installed in early spring.

This will be the third township war memorial in at least the past decade. A car wrecked into one, and the last honor roll was on the side of a brick wall of the former municipal building.

Memorial committee members said it was not a very prominent place, and the memorial got in such bad shape that it was removed years ago and never replaced.

The township plans to pay for the materials from about $15,000 in remaining $300,000 state grant funds for park upgrades announced in July 2024.

The new memorial is being partially funded through a $10,000 donation from former commissioner Gary Bradel.

Its accessories were approved last month.

Commissioners voted 4-0 on Aug. 11 to spend about $9,700 for benches, flag poles and flags, solar-powered lighting and other odds and ends around the site. Commissioner Martin Zimmel was absent.

The township plans to pay for the materials from about $15,000 in remaining $300,000 state grant funds for park upgrades announced in July 2024.

Park improvements included upgrades to the basketball and tennis courts, dek hockey and pickleball, new playground equipment and sidewalk improvements.

Donora-based El Grande Industries was the lowest of two bidders for the larger park improvement project. Its bid was about $267,000. Work is expected to be completed sometime this month.

Peluso said after this month’s meeting that he was happy with the memorial progress.

“We’re excited. It’s been a long process,” he said. “There were some discouraging periods. Some of the ideas we had were just really unrealistic and too expensive. Now, we’ve come up with something practical that we can afford. We have everything in place to proceed with what we’ve described.”

A dedication ceremony is expected to take place once the memorial is finished.

Other park business

Commissioners unanimously approved a $1,400 tree trimming project to Timber Wolf Logs Tree Service.

The Conway-based company will trim the trees near the park’s playground and basketball courts.

McDaniel said they have done satisfactory work in the township before.

Commissioners unanimously approved a $942 deal with Play&Park Structures for new park swing seats.

Township manager Betsy Rengers said equipment on the swing set has become worn and tattered.

The transaction is through the state’s COSTARS purchasing program, which guarantees municipalities the best price on goods.

Other public works business

Commissioners accepted the resignation of public works laborer Cody Blumling, who left the township for a job with the Edgeworth Water Authority.

Commissioners unanimously voted to hire Bill Miller of Harmony to be Blumling’s replacement, pending a criminal background check. Officials said Miller has experience in construction and carpentry. His starting wages will be $22.71 per hour.

Leet has three workers including Miller, laborer Jacob Mosholder and foreman Andy Wanto.