Federal money to benefit Arnold's firefighters, parks, sewage system

Two of Arnold’s recreation sites are in line to get some improvements though the city’s latest Community Development Block Grant allocations.

They are among seven projects likely to get funded from about $300,000 in federal cash.

Katie Robson, a part-time financial clerk for the city, outlined the possible uses of the grant. She said the city needs to decide on uses to update its three-year development plan.

Of the CDBG funds, Robson said three uses are automatic: $8,600 for a payment on an outstanding loan; $30,000 for code enforcement; and $54,000 for administration of the grant.

“So about $208,000 is what we have to work with right now,” Robson said.

Residents suggested money go toward refurbishing the 18th Street ball field and making the restrooms at Roosevelt Park handicapped accessible.

Arnold Fire Chief Eric Gartley requested a $50,000 allocation to the fire department. It is something the city has been doing for a number of years, as fire department officials move toward buying a badly needed new fire engine.

The final use discussed was an allocation to repair or replace a malfunctioning sewage pump station on Riverside Drive, which city engineer Mark Gera brought up.

Gera said the cost of replacing the pump station is $475,000. He said the price tag to repair it is $100,000.

However, he said, the situation “is a little convoluted” because the city has a grant application to replace the pump station with the state. Gera said the city applied for that grant last year but the state has not acted on it.

City Manager Mario Bellavia said the pump station is important because it serves all of the city’s flats area from Constitution Boulevard to the Allegheny River.

Public works Foreman Joe DeMeo previously said the pumps in that station basically move sewage from an underground 250,000-gallon holding tank into the main line and then to the New Kensington Sanitary Authority treatment plant.

Over the years, DeMeo said, the pumps have worn down to the point where the mechanism that starts them automatically no longer works. As a result, he said, pumps have to be operated manually and one of the two pumps has stopped working.

After receiving citizens’ input, council instructed Robson to allocate $50,000 for the ball field, $10,000 for the Roosevelt Park restrooms, $50,000 for the fire department and $100,000 for the Riverside Drive pump house and approved a resolution to that effect.

The next public hearing on the CDBG allocation will be at the July 8 council meeting.