Local News
Plans set for Lofts to rise; Redesigned Sharon project a go for early 2010
SHARON — Construction of The Lofts at City Centre in downtown Sharon should begin early next year, about two years after the project of Shenango Avenue Associates was announced.
�We�re finally getting moving,� said developer Greg Koledin of Wesex Corp. in West Middlesex, the general contractor on the project.
City leaders are happy the long-awaited development is coming to fruition.
�I�m really excited about it,� Sharon Mayor Bob Lucas said.
Council President Mike Donato spoke for his fellow councilmen.
�I think we all agree that it�s going to be a plus, not just for the downtown area, but for the city in general,� he said.
Lucas noted that the city�s �inherent problem� is a declining population and The Lofts will bring more housing downtown. He said he hopes Penn State Shenango students will take advantage of it.
The Lofts will be a mixed-use building with about 50 apartments and retail and office space. It will be built at the site of the former Elks Club at Pitt Street and Shenango Avenue.
Koledin said they hope to have people moving in for the spring 2011 semester at Penn State. The campus was a draw for the developers.
In March, Koledin said the delay in building the eight-story building turned out to be a �blessing� because the project underwent a complete redesign and now will have environmentally friendly elements. He said they�re just finishing up plans for the geothermal heating system.
Koledin and partner Brian Beader, who is an electrician and Mercer County commissioner, had originally planned to break ground on the project last fall. Koledin said that people should start seeing movement at the site by the end of winter.
On Thursday, Koledin said that the project has been tied up by �bureaucracy,� namely in getting some state grant funds awarded over the last two years into the developers� hands.
Sharon council Thursday passed a resolution authorizing Shenango Avenue Associates to use $500,000 from a Department of Community and Economic Development Growing Greener grant for phase one of the project. The city is a pass-through agent for the grants.
Koledin said that�s the first draw on a $4 million state grant for the $12 million project.
Paperwork for a $3 million state Rural Community Assistance Program grant should be finalized in 60 to 90 days, Koledin said. Gov. Ed Rendell presented the grant to city officials in summer 2008.
The building was also just recently officially assigned 52 equivalent dwelling units to tap into Sharon�s wastewater-treatment system, he said. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection determines how many new users can join the system that feeds the new $45 million plant, which went online over the summer.
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Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
Hermitage commissioners introduced an ordinance Wednesday to increase sanitary user fees.
Residents tapped into the Hermitage Municipal Authority lines now pay $95 a quarter. That rate will bump up to $105 a quarter on Jan. 1, under the proposed rate hike.
Two more hikes on Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 1, 2013, will result in the rates increasing 50 percent from the current fee. -
Water is on at Forrest Brooke
Water service has been restored at Forrest Brooke Manufactured Home Community after well problems left the 165-unit complex dry Tuesday.
A boil and conserve water advisory has been issued by the DEP and will remain in place until tests confirm the water is safe to drink, Forrest Brooke’s manager Pete Havens said.
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Storm damages trees, wires
Thunderstorms ripped through parts of Mercer and neighboring counties Wednesday night, downing trees and wires and keeping rescue workers on their toes.
A Mercer County 911 dispatcher shortly after 8 p.m. said they were busy with calls across the northern part of the county. He said there had been a few reports of trees falling on homes.
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City leaders open to talks
Sharon officials aren’t opposed to sitting down with their counterparts in Farrell to revisit the idea of combining the two struggling cities.
“It never costs a penny to talk and there’s no (idea) that’s not worth looking at,” Sharon councilman Ed Palanski said. “I think it would be foolish to oppose looking at the idea.”
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Murphy’s Law doesn’t faze regional planners
A complicated, two-day public meeting blitz in 32 counties ran headlong into Murphy’s Law in Mercer County on Tuesday.
The group Power of 32 are looking to re-write the regional map and create a grand, 15-year strategic economic plan for the 32 counties in four states that make up the Ohio River basin and greater Pittsburgh area.
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Forrest Brooke copes with water outage
Residents of Forrest Brooke Mobile Home Community in Jefferson and Lackawannock Townships woke up Tuesday morning to find they didn’t have any water.
Managers of the park could not be reached for comment, but residents said they were told they won’t get water service back for at least another month.
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City facing bleak financial reality
LaVon Saternow has been Farrell’s city manager since 1992. Shortly after she took the job, Sharon Steel, the city’s economic engine, officially closed down.
Since, the city has struggled to remain solvent and Mrs. Saternow said it is facing its worst financial crisis in her tenure.
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Near-complete addition to let man come home
Although the weather delayed the start of Penny and Paul Strechansky’s construction project by about three weeks, the end of the sawing, hammering and stapling is in sight.
“It should be done by the middle of next week,” Strechansky said of the 15-by-20 foot addition being built onto the back of his garage in Hermitage, which will be the new home of his grandson, David Johnson.
Johnson was critically injured in a car crash June 19, 2009, on what is now Interstate 376 in Lawrence County. The crash rendered Johnson, who just turned 21, blind and brain damaged. He is unable to care for himself.
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Man prison-bound for role in drug buy shooting
It may never be known for certain who fired the two fatal shots that killed a Sharon teen on Nov. 6 on Wallis Avenue during a botched drug deal, prosecutors have said.
But Christopher Swogger, 24, Sharon, was fingered by at least one other suspect as the one whose bullets killed John B. Hosey III, 18, of 422 Meek St. Swogger was sentenced Monday.
Swogger was sent to prison for 1 1/2 to 3 years for having a firearm without a license, ending his role in the criminal prosecutions of the drug deal turned shooting.
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Farrell, Sharon to revisit merger
Times are tough.
In Farrell Monday night, city council heard a grim financial report from City Manager LaVon Saternow.
“It’s not a pretty picture,” Mrs. Saternow said. “We could conceivably run out of cash by the end of the year. I don’t know how to put it more bluntly.”
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Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
