close

Charleroi gets grant to replace traffic lights

3 min read
article image -

Christmas came early to the Borough of Charleroi.

It was announced Thursday that the borough received a $6 million CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation Air Quality) grant for the replacement of the town’s traffic lights.

Councilman Larry Celaschi said it was the best Christmas present the borough could have received.

“We would have been happy with a $2 million grant,” he said, adding that the grant should cover the entire project, though the money will not be available for three years.

The current traffic signals are in disrepair and the borough is under orders from the state Department of Transportation to replace them.

Although the grant money is not immediately available, considering the deteriorating state of the lights, Celaschi believes the start date of the project will be moved up. PennDOT will conduct a traffic study to see which signals will be replaced and which will be eliminated.

Council on Thursday also adopted the final budget, setting the millage at 5.33 mills. The budget was passed with expenditures of $2,057,665, revenues of $2,088,890, and a fund balance of $37,225.

Council also adopted a social media policy. The policy sets guidelines for the borough and for all full- and part-time employees, including elected and non-elected officials. The borough will designate a person to monitor the content on the borough social media site. The purpose of establishing the social media policy is to share information about Charleroi with residents, business owners, vendors, employees and visitors.

The policy bans inappropriate content, discriminatory actions, personal attacks, threats, opposition or support of a political campaign or ballot measure, solicitation of commerce, encouragement of illegal activity, or personal information about another person.

Elected officials may not use their personal social media pages or sites to conduct official business of the borough. They also must not conduct borough-related discussions on social media with other elected officials, for risk of having a quorum. Any federal, state or local political candidate who has announced a run for election or re-election may not post on any of the borough’s social media sites.

Any breach of the policy will result is disciplinary act, up to and including dismissal.

Councilman Paul Pivovarnik thanked his colleagues as he reached the end of his term.

He said, “When one door closes or a chapter ends, another may begin, so at this time I would like to announce my run for the Democrat nomination for the Pa. House seat for the 49th District. I ask for your support, prayers, and any advice you may give.”

In addition to Pivovarnik, Councilman Frank Paterra attended his last meeting as a borough councilman. Ed Bryner will take over as mayor in January.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today