USC adopts Capital Improvement Program
Upper St. Clair Township Commissioners adopted the township’s 2014-2018 Capital Improvement Program on Aug. 5.
The five-year document is a “planning guide,” which includes $66,849,450 worth of projects, according to August Stache Jr., the township’s finance director.
“It is not an actual budget appropriation,” he said.
Stache said that usually only about 50 percent of the projects on the plans get funded.
The items under the 2014 year of the capital plan will be under consideration for funding, along with the township’s operating budget, at the end of 2013.
The proposed capital budget for first year of the five-year plan – 2014 – includes $7,200,100 worth of projects. Of that figure, $5,217,400 are considered a priority for funding in 2014, according to Stache, while another $1,982,700 worth are “under review” for funding.
Stache said that there are “no large projects planned in 2014 or 2015 of the plan.”
He said 2016 has been identified as a year to consider a bond issue of up to $44 million in order to pay for larger projects like sanitary sewer, as well as Community and Recreation Center improvements like gym or locker room expansions, or improvements or expansion at the CRC pool.
Priority items in the 2014 year of the plan include $1,200,000 for the township’s annual street improvement program, plus an additional $60,000 for a crack sealing program. Also listed as priority items for 2014 are more than $400,000 in information technology improvements, including new software and hardware.
Several vehicles are scheduled to be replaced in the public works department under the proposal, including pick up trucks and also a street sweeper that is expected to cost $250,000.
For the Community Development department, $10,000 is listed as a 2014 priority item for funding progress on the 2015 Comprehensive Plan.
New lounge seating and tables are listed for 2014 for the township’s library with an expected cost of $26,000.
Sports court and walkway resurfacing are on the 2014 plan for Hays Park and Tustin Park, for a combined total of $90,000.
Park equipment replacements amounting to $400,000 are also listed as a priority for 2014.
A total of $75,000 is proposed to be spent on the sidewalk plan for the township in 2014, in addition to $5,000 for wayfinding signs for sidewalks and trails in the township.
The approved 20142018 Capital Improvement Program can be viewed at the township’s library and also online at www.twpusc.org.
Township Commissioners also gave final approval for a plan to construct a 220-unit apartment complex off Boyce Plaza Road.
Commissioners voted 5-0, with Commissioner Donald Rectenwald recusing himself from the matter due to a business conflict, to approve the plan known as Torrente at Upper St. Clair. Commissioner Mark Christie was absent.
Developers Boyce Plaza Apartments L.P. will contribute $400,000 to the township to add a traffic light and improve the intersection of Boyce Plaza Road and Boyce Road.
Mark Magalotti, of the township’s traffic engineers Trans Associates, told commissioners July 1 that he estimated the total cost to roadway improvements including the traffic light for the intersection will be $693,986. He said that includes $479,000 for improvements to the roadway that add a left-turn lane, as well as $214,986 for the new traffic light.
To make up the difference between the cost of improvements to the intersection and the contribution by the developers of the apartment complex, he proposed a chart showing possible costs that could be paid by current occupants of commercial properties on Boyce Plaza Road. The chart divided up the cost by percentage, based on the number of peak hour car trips generated by each property.
Scott Brilhart, director of community development for the township, said July 1 that a possible model for seeking funding for the intersection improvements was used by the township in getting a traffic light at Abbyville Road and Route 19. He said the township met with the various property owners and the traffic engineer and went over the benefits of improving the intersection.
He said they could also apply for grants and help from PennDOT.
Matthew Serakowski, township manager, said it would be the township’s goal to have the improvements made to the intersection of Boyce Plaza Road and Boyce Road by the time the apartment complex was expected to be completed in 2015.
Brilhart said construction was expected to commence on the apartment complex this year and be completed in 2015.