Westmoreland Heritage Trail officials make minor revisions as extension gets underway

Westmoreland Heritage Trail officials have made some minor adjustments as they prepare to build a 750-foot extension to the trail in Export.

Export Council voted unanimously Tuesday to execute an easement agreement with trail officials. Westmoreland County Parks Planning Coordinator Jeff Richards said they worked with the borough to refine several areas of the planned extension.

“First, we’re shifting the trail a little farther toward the creek,” Richards said.

The extension will also include a concrete landing on the eastern side of the pedestrian bridge across Turtle Creek.

“We had considered replacing the stairs with an ADA-compliant ramp,” Richards said. “But the extension would be quite a distance, so the ramp is out but the landing is in.”

ADA-compliant parking spaces are nearing completion along the northern side of the trail, Richards said, and a small bump-out near Lincoln Avenue has been eliminated.

“In terms of providing the necessary protection between trail use and vehicle movement, once we see the concrete put in, we can talk about bollard positions,” he said. Bollards are the short, vertical posts that prevent larger vehicles from entering onto the trail.

The easement agreement will now be forwarded to the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for approval.

Richards said the construction contractor, Westmoreland Construction Group out of North Huntingdon, “has been very patient with us as we’ve been moving along.”

Councilman James Mahinske was not present.

Sewage vote delayed

In August, Councilman John Nagoda asked that the borough’s most recent $5 sewage-rate hike be reconsidered with a full council present.

With Councilman James Mahinske absent, however, the vote was tabled until council’s October meeting.

Council voted in 2020 to impose an $8 sewage surcharge to help fund improvements required by the borough’s long-term flood-control project as well as its mandatory participation in two state consent orders.

Much of it went to monitors tracking the flow of sewage in the system, which had to remain in place three months longer than initially expected.

At the time, council members said the surcharge would be in place for a year. But when it came up for a vote in May 2021, council voted 5-2 to keep it in place. Nagoda and Councilman Vince Harding voted to do away with the surcharge.

Harding was not present for council’s July 2022 vote to add $5 to local bills, a 3-3 tie broken by the mayor’s vote in favor of imposing the rate hike. The hike was a pass-through cost, Solicitor Wes Long said, in response to a similar hike by the Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority, which contracts with Export to accept and process borough sewage.

Council’s next meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 4 at the borough building, 5821 Washington Ave.

Festival a success

Both Mayor Joe Zaccagnini and Councilwoman Melanie Litz thanked organizers, volunteers and those who attended to last month’s Export Ethnic Food & Music Festival.

“The festival went great, but just like every year, we’re always in need of volunteers the day of the festival,” Litz said. “People to help with parking, the kids’ area, the caboose, if we want to keep it open during the festival.”

Litz said anyone interested in volunteering can contact her at 724-327-7308.