The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

November 10, 2008

Shenango Township officials looking ahead to 2009

By Patrick W. Connelly

SHENANGO TOWNSHIP — Now that voters have turned down a chance to consolidate Shenango Township and West Middlesex, township supervisors said Monday it’s time to move forward and think about the future.

“The people have spoken,” Supervisor David Garrett said.

Almost 1,800 voters came out on Election Day to decide the referendum that would have made the two towns the same municipality in 2012.

Only 762 voters in the township agreed to the merger, canceling out the borough’s overwhelming approval of it. State law requires it pass in both towns.

While merging would have been a benefit to the borough almost immediately, township residents likely wouldn’t have gained from it for 10 to 15 years, Garrett said.

One of the main reasons he ran for a seat on the board was to see the question make a ballot, he said.

Garrett cast the deciding nod in July to take it to voters. Hopes of consolidation were thought to be all but gone in January 2007 after Supervisor Bill Williams and former supervisors Richard Flack and Chuck Gilliland ended talk on the subject with borough leaders. Council revived discussion last spring.

Garrett said he’ll focus on the township’s future as a separate entity now that the referendum failed.

The near future, at least, won’t dig deeper into the pockets of the township’s taxpayers with supervisors agreeing Monday night to advertise a preliminary 2009 budget without a tax increase.

The budget was whittled down to avoid a 3-mill hike, chairman Robert Palko said.

Secretary Lynnett Beck said she was able to make cuts from a budget proposed last week, including eliminating funds earmarked for a potential new hire to the road crew and some insurance costs.

Putting consolidation back on the table isn’t something Garrett said he’s considering.

“I don’t see that any time in the near future the people of the township would have anything to do with it,” he said.

But working with the borough may not be completely out of the question, Palko said.

“I’d like to contact West Middlesex to see if we can work on some shared services,” he said.

Text Only
Local News
  • Bridge backer argues demolition would violate law

    The man who wants to save the Kelly Road Bridge believes tearing it down would violate the Americans with Disability Act.

    February 11, 2012

  • Merchant accused of selling fake pot again

    The owner of a Grove City store already facing charges related to the sale of synthetic marijuana has been arrested a second time for selling the drug.

    February 11, 2012

  • Woman ends police standoff

    A Hermitage woman already facing charges for setting a fire in her apartment in May locked herself in the apartment Friday after showing police that she had a handgun.

    February 11, 2012

  • Store owner busted again for fake pot sales

    The owner of a Grove City store already facing charges related to the sale of synthetic marijuana has been arrested a second time for selling the drug.

    Ala H. Nassar, 27, of 125 S. Seventh St., Sharpsville, was arrested Thursday on charges of delivery, possession and possession with intent to deliver synthetic pot, criminal use of a cellular telephone and conspiracy to commit delivery.

    Abdallah H. Matariyeh, 27, of the same address, also was arrested on charges of delivery and possession with intent to deliver.

    February 10, 2012

  • Bids opened for work to widen Rt. 760

    PennDOT officials opened bids Thursday for the first two sections of a three-section widening of Route 760 in Wheatland, Farrell and Sharon.

    February 10, 2012

  • Timeline now at center of negligence lawsuit

    A jury will decide whether the normal statute of limitations applies in a lawsuit filed by a Sharon man accusing a Sewickley agency of negligence that resulted in numerous injuries to his disabled son.

    February 10, 2012

  • Social media alert first responders

    The Mercer County Fire/EMS alerts’ Facebook page is two years strong and continues to attract followers who want the latest updates on traffic accidents, fires and other emergencies.

    February 10, 2012

  • State cuts trickle down to township

    Brookfield Township “is in a world of hurt.”

    February 9, 2012

  • Toth takes $30k to settle lawsuit

    It’s typical for lawsuit settlement agreements to include a confidentiality clause that bars the parties from discussing the terms of the settlement.

    February 9, 2012

  • Taking flight

    Some kids probably daydream about sending their homework up into the atmosphere, but that really happened this week for a few classes of Jamestown Area High School students.

    February 9, 2012