Paving work approved in Monessen

Council authorized projects on Pacific Boulevard, Marion Avenue and Ninth Street, and work will begin soon on Reed Avenue.

Monessen council approved the paving of three streets — Pacific Boulevard, Marion Avenue and Ninth Street — during Thursday’s meeting.

The city awarded a $116,138.80 contract to El Grande Industries to repave the lower portion of Ninth Street between Knox and Schoonmaker avenues and the upper portion from Reed to Schoonmaker. Monessen will use Community Development Block Grant funds to pay for the resurfacing.

Peoples Natural Gas will cover the cost of repaving Marion Avenue and Pacific Boulevard, areas where the utility company previously performed work. The city engineer will seek out bids for the projects.

Reed Avenue will also soon be paved by Reynolds Brothers Inc. The city made its final payment, $113,713.94, to the contractor for Phase 4 of the sewer rehabilitation project, which included work on Reed.

In April 2024, council passed a motion for the city to contribute $7,000 to fix the damage done to Reed during Phase 4 work, with Reynolds Brothers picking up the remainder of the cost.

But the contractor had to wrap up its work and receive payment before the r epav ing of Reed could proceed.

“That’s a done deal. (Reynolds Brothers) will be managing that, so it doesn’t require any motions,” Mozer said.

Mozer also revealed after the meeting that Knox Avenue will be paved in 2026, not this year as originally expected.

The city intends to use CDBG funds to pave Knox, but the state requires the city to survey the residents on the street for information, including income.

And for the paving project to be awarded the funds, more than 50% of the residents who live on the street must have a low or moderate income as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Collecting that information has proven to be difficult for Mozer.

“I went up to (Knox Avenue) trying to get surveys. Everybody recognizes me as the mayor, but nobody wants the mayor coming in and asking how much do you make,” Mozer said. “It’s just not right.”

The mayor decided to leave the surveys with residents and told them to drop them off at city hall. So far the city has collected seven surveys, six of which meet HUD’s re- quirements.

Also Thursday, Municipal fire Chief Delmar Hepple expressed his gratitude to Mozer, city Administrator Mike Korposh, state Rep. Eric Davanzo and his staff for helping secure $29,960 in LSA funds for the fire department to purchase two infrared cameras and positive pressure ventilation fans.

After the meeting, Hepple explained the infrared cameras help identify bodies in smokefilled rooms and find hot spots hidden in walls.

“It actually shows you a white glow of where your problem is in walls, so you don’t have to go through and rip the whole place apart,” Hepple said. “That’s really going to help out our interior guys and make our chance with a rescue in a fire situation a lot better.”