Westmoreland municipal authority approves data backup, readies for construction season

The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County will spend about $151,000 on backup services for its electronic data and get started on projects as restrictions on construction work have been lifted.

The authority board approved a three-year lease Wednesday with TCF for equipment services and software that will allow the authority to have an off-site server and backup of data, said business manager Brian Hohman. That will safeguard information related to billing, customers, financial and employee records in the event of an emergency that could affect that data.

Several construction projects that previously were approved are getting underway now that construction work is permitted. Such projects had been halted statewide as government officials worked to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Those projects include:

• water and sewer pipe replacement on Route 119 in Youngwood ahead of a planned reconstruction of the road in a $7.2 million PennDOT project.

• pipe and fire hydrant replacement on Millersdale Road in Hempfield for an estimated cost of $422,000.

• pipe replacement on McKinley Road in Export for an estimated cost of $73,850.

• construction on a new office and garage facility for the authority’s sewer operations. The authority awarded in February $5.5 million in contracts.