Export will not rescind latest sewage rate hike
Oct. 13—In July, Export Mayor Joe Zaccagnini broke a contentious tie vote over whether to approve a $5 monthly increase in local sewage rates, passing along a roughly 8% rate hike by the Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority.
Councilman John Nagoda said he and other borough residents felt council had not kept its word about the rate hikes. In 2020, an $8 monthly surcharge went largely toward monitors tracking the flow of sewage through the borough's pipes, part of a state-mandated consent order.
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.
When council took its July vote to tack an additional $5 onto residents' bills — a pass-through following a similar hike by the Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority — Nagoda requested that the issue go back on the table with a full council present.
Last week, council voted 5-2 against Nagoda's proposal to rescind the latest fee hike. Councilman Vince Harding joined Nagoda in voting to do away with it.
"I think it was wrong," Nagoda said. "You should abide by your word. We weren't supposed to raise those rates. We were supposed to lower them when the flow monitors were out."
Several of the governing bodies that are party to the Department of Environmental Protection's consent order bristled at the notion of signing on without a clear idea of the full scope of the problem or what it may cost to fix.
Councilman Joe Ferri, who initially voted against putting the July surcharge in place, was upfront about having changed his mind.
"We're going to need the money," he said. "It's strictly for economic reasons."
Post office issues
Borough residents continue to experience issues with mail delivery.
Melissa Dominiczak of Export said she has had ongoing problems with regular mail delivery, and that there is very little consistency among mail carriers.
"I've called the post office several times, but nothing has improved," she told council.
Issues with mail delivery have become frequent enough that council added a regular monthly agenda item to take residents' complaints.
Councilwoman Melanie Litz said postal officials in Murrysville have designated Export as an auxiliary, or part-time, route and aren't aware of any plans to change that status.
Litz, who has led efforts for the past decade to bring back the borough's post office, suggested council write to the Murrysville branch, the Pittsburgh District office and the USPS headquarters in Arlington, Va.
The USPS is in the midst of consolidating facilities and making its physical footprint smaller, part of a 10-year plan to bring the agency toward a more tenable financial state, according to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. The plans also include reducing the workforce by about 50,000, mostly through impending retirements.
Councilman John Nagoda suggested talking with state Reps. Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville, and Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, to enlist their help.
Mine entrance work
Export Historical Society members met with engineers from mining consultant company Tetra Tech and continue to work on a plan to safely open the entrance to the former Westmoreland Coal Company's No. 2 mine to the public.
The mine entrance lay buried in hillside behind District Court 10-3-02 for years, before being uncovered in 2018 as part of Murrysville Boy Scout Troy Florian's Eagle project.
Borough officials would like to shore up the entrances and create a small visitor area that can display some of the town's mining history.
Tetra Tech officials are assisting with a grant application through the state's Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program, a $26.6 million funding pool to address long-term hazards and environmental pollution posed by legacy mining sites.
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .
