Monessen council preparing for upcoming transition
MONESSEN – Days after a newcomer defeated an incumbent in the primary election, members of Monessen council promised a smooth transition when the council seat is turned over in January.
On Tuesday, Donald Gregor came in second on the ballot with 552 votes, effectively putting Councilman David Feehan, with 490 votes, out of the running to appear on the Democrat ballot for two available seats in November. Councilwoman Lois Thomas, a Democrat who was appointed to serve on the council last summer by the Westmoreland County Elections Bureau, received 583 votes-the most in the 15-precinct race.
No Republicans are running for council this year.
During the council’s monthly meeting on Thursday, Feehan pledged to help Gregor ease into his new position.
“I’m giving my successor a binder full of material, so he won’t be in the dark like I was for the first six months of my term in office,” said Feehan. “Don knows my cell phone number and he knows I will always be glad to help him.”
Thomas said council will remain committed to addressing issues affecting the city-no matter who is in office.
“We’ve come too far to go backwards,” she said. “We plan on working just as hard to keep Monessen moving forward. If Donnie needs to know anything, we’re going to bring him up to speed.”
Acting Mayor and Councilman Tony Orzechowski congratulated Gregor and thanked the other candidates who ran for council seats.
“I already reached out to Don and we will be talking about a few things,” he said.
It is still unclear if and when Mayor Matt Shorraw and Councilman Gil Coles will return to city hall for council meetings. Both have been absent for all meetings so far this year and most of last year.
In other business, council discussed different approaches for upgrading the city’s aging sewer system.
“Our pipes are failing, and they’ve now gone past the point of failure,” said Orzechowski.
One option is relining the pipes with a cement mixture, but Feehan called that idea a temporary solution. This city is also considering completely replacing the water and sewage lines. Orzechowski said the city is planning another presentation within the next few months to discuss this matter.
Council members also discussed plans to install a wastewater retention tank in the city. In 2016, the Authority of the Borough of Charleroi presented a proposal for the retention tank, but the project was nixed by a previous council because it couldn’t come to an agreement about who would handle engineering.
Orzechowski said delaying this project has raised the price of a tank from $850,000 to $2.1 million.
“When we all came on as a council, we agreed that this has been kicked down the road for many years,” said Orzechowski.
Orzechowski added that because of requirements set forth by the state Department of Environmental Protection, the city has to address this problem sooner rather than later. He said that the city will be meeting with state officials and city engineers to find a workable solution.
Also, during the meeting, the council:
n Accepted a $296,249 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development’s 2018 Community Development Block Grant Program.
n Approved a quote from New Coat Paving & Sealing Company in the amount of $10,820 as the lowest responsible quote received for paving a section of Dale Street that was damaged by mine subsidence and a broken water line.
n Granted tax forgiveness and exonerated all taxes against city-owned properties purchased from the Westmoreland County Tax Repository list. The city will notify the Westmoreland County Tax Assessment Office and Westmoreland County commissioners of this action.
n Accepted the resignation of Apryl Kadish from the Monessen Planning Commission and voted to advertise for a replacement for that seat.
n Motioned to advertise for college-age seasonal workers to cut grass and weeds on city-owned properties.