Local News
UPDATE: Aqua’s water now flowing in S. Py, Sharpsville
SHARPSVILLE — Sharpsville’s water treatment plant shut down for good last week and customers in the borough and part of South Pymatuning Township are now getting water from Aqua America’s Sharon plant.
While the change will take care of water quality violations issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, outgoing Sharpsville borough manager Michael G. Wilson said it may not mean folks’ water will look any better.
“As far as dirty, crusty water, that’s going to continue” in places because it’s a product of aging water main pipes, Wilson said.
The borough has secured loans and grants totaling about $5 million so far to replace about 25 percent of the mains in Sharpsville, said Assistant Borough Manager Ken Robertson, who’ll take over when Wilson retires at the first of the year. Robertson said that outdated lines need to be replaced throughout town but officials have set no timeline for such an overhaul.
“We need to make sure that the people get a good product for what they’re paying for water service,” Robertson said. “We’ve come a long way and we have a long way yet to go.”
At this point, there’s no increase in water bills for residents but officials have said a hike of as much as 27 percent could be needed down the road to repay the PENNVEST loan.
Robertson said council will be assessing the situation throughout 2010.
The final gallon of water produced by the plant went to South Pymatuning, township public works employee Burt DeVries said. He took a few photographs of plant operator Denny Fry turning off all the valves and switches to mark the occasion.
South Pymatuning Township has built a booster station near the borough line to pump water to the 150 plus customers in the township. They have also said there are plans to expand the water lines; an extension on Hunter Street was just completed and added about 15 homes.
DeVries said the switchover “seems to be going smooth.”
Wilson said that no employees lost their jobs through the Aqua deal. Retirements left openings for the two remaining water plant workers to move into the street department, he said.
Robertson said there are no firm plans for the water plant building but there’s been some interest in it. He said he couldn’t speculate whether the borough might sell it or raze it now that it’s offline.
A divided council in May 2008 voted 4 to 3 to accept an offer from Aqua America to buy bulk water to get the borough back into compliance with state regulations. Aqua supplies water to the rest of the Shenango Valley.
Sharpsville leaders faced the choice of building a new plant, an option that proved too expensive, or hooking up with a commercial supplier.
Several years ago voters overwhelmingly rejected a plan to sell the town’s water system to Aqua for $7 million.
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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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Storm takes a toll on village green
Cleanup crews were clearing fallen trees throughout Brookfield Township well into Sunday evening in the aftermath of severe thunderstorm that ripped through the community Saturday before making it’s way to Mercer County.
On the Historic Brookfield Green more than a dozen trees were knocked down by the storm. Several people who lived there watched workers clear fallen branches from the road and their yards Sunday afternoon.
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Water is on at Forrest Brooke
