Revenue from Hempfield’s Live Casino Pittsburgh will provide $800,000 to help the North Huntingdon Township Municipal Authority replace one of its 14 pump stations.
And the money couldn’t have come at a better time.
“With each passing year, the structural integrity of this station comes into question and it’s been a growing concern of ours,” Branthoover said of the 50-year-old underground facility that serves 65 properties.
The authority was one of 53 Westmoreland organizations and municipalities to receive grant funding from the state Local Share Account, which takes a portion of Live Casino Pittsburgh’s revenue and distributes it back to the state and local communities.
The county was made eligible for the program when the Hempfield casino opened in November 2020 and was classified as a Category 4 facility by the state Gaming Control Board.
Since the account’s inception, more than $1 million has been allocated to Murrysville, said Mayor Regis Synan. The funding has helped the municipality expand its Sardis Volunteer Fire Department and operate the Franklin Township Municipal Sewage Authority.
Murrysville’s $825,000 allocation for 2024 will help the municipality replace a bridge and install public restrooms at Duff Park.
“What these LSA grants do is give local governments the flexibility to complete important projects while avoiding tax increases on homeowners and businesses,” Synan said.
Hempfield will use $118,000 of its more than $2 million allocation to purchase a storm sewer camera inspection system, said Supervisor Doug Weimer. The township received an additional Local Share Account allocation for housing the casino.
The camera system can be used underground to assess stormwater drains and pipes, Weimer said. Previously, this type of work required the township to borrow a camera system from the local municipal authority.
“We have a number of older neighborhoods that were built before the commonplace stormwater requirements that we have today,” he said.
“We have to go in now and fix that — not only upsize the pipes and fix what might be there, but actually go into some neighborhoods … and put in stormwater ponds and put in stormwater pipes to actually get that water away from the homes, their basements and local businesses.”
Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli’s office also will benefit from the account.
About $37,000 will help the office purchase 58 iPads for its magisterial courts and police departments, and about $97,000 will fund a GPS mapping system to assist with accident and crime scene reconstruction.
County detectives and local police officers will have access to the mapping system — which will digitally map a crime scene and store the data for investigators to refer back to, Ziccarelli said.
This will free up state police troopers, who currently supply the technology to the county, she said.
“Previously, if you had an accident on Route 30, you know it’ll bottleneck your commute — and for a significant amount of time,” Ziccarelli said. “Through this GPS mapping system, we’re able to streamline that, try to make that as expeditiously as possible to reopen the roadways.”
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