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Thursday, November 19, 2009 2:45 PM EST
Port Allegany Part 2: Community keeps on moving
By Kate Day Sager
Olean Times Herald
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| Port Allegany borough manager Dick Kallenborn (left) and Judy Taylor, president of the borough council, are shown near the town square, where a variety of activities are held throughout the year. Photo by Kate Day Sager/Olean Times Herald |
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PORT ALLEGANY, Pa. - While the community of Port Allegany has experienced the challenges of the ongoing recession, leaders of the town said the friendly, outgoing nature of the residents continue to make it a nice place to live.
Borough manager Dick Kallenborn and Judy Taylor, president of the borough council, recently shared their thoughts about a community that has continued to move ahead with projects despite an economic downturn that has affected the entire nation.
“What we’re doing that is exciting is we’ve been working on getting a complete dike system built to protect our community,” Mr. Kallenborn said. “It looks like that dike system is ready to go and is in the design stages right now with construction slated for either 2010 or 2011.”
He said the $12 million project will be paid for by state funds that had been set aside after flooding that was caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Since that time, the community has had a problem with lowland flooding, and a dike system has been sorely needed.
“Those moneys (reserved by the state) were not sufficient to do the job so we had asked the state to kick in about another $5 million,” Mr. Kallenborn said.
“We’re hoping that we’ll be getting an announcement from the governor’s office (regarding the project) shortly,” he said.
Mr. Kallenborn said the borough had conducted archeological and core-sample studies in the past, but the project had been shelved.
“About two years ago we decided to pull it back up again and see if we could get this project back online,” he said. “With a lot of help from Sen. Joe Scarnati and others we have been able to get this project pushed to the forefront.”
He said the dike will be constructed near the vocational-technical school at Lillibridge Creek and will follow the waterway to the Allegheny River and around the borough.
“The plus for this is that Saint-Gobain Glass Container Corp., which is our largest employer in the community, is very anxious to expand their facility,” he said. “They have not been able to do it because all of their land sits within the flood zone.”
He said Saint-Gobain is the third largest employer in the county with 350 to 400 employees. The plant produces a variety of items such as bottles, baby-food jars and bottles for New York state wineries.
“It (the dike) will help our community, it will help our industries and the safety of our people,” Mr. Kallenborn said.
He said another plus for the community is that it has not had a tax increase in 11 years.
“We believe in doing more with less,” he said. “We have a large population of retired folks and they can’t afford increased taxes.”
Mr. Kallenborn said he often buys surplus items, such as pipes, when the prices are down, thereby saving money for the borough when items are needed in repairs or upgrades.
“All in all we’re in pretty good shape. Our borough is fiscally sound,” he said.
Other attributes of the community include the newly renovated Main Street area, which has new sidewalks, street lights and drainage systems. He said the community leaders and residents are also proud of the town square, which is used for a variety of activities such as summer concerts, car shows, firemen’s carnivals and ice skating in the winter.
Mr. Kallenborn admitted that the community, like others, has had struggles that have come from lay-offs at local plants. He said that while Pittsburgh Corning Corp., which makes glass blocks, has laid off employees in the past couple of years, the company has seen increased production through the end of the year.
The layoffs at the Ethan Allen furniture plant in Eldred also affected a number of borough residents but many have returned to school to learn a new trade, he said.
Mr. Kallenborn said the Postlewaite plant outside of town has been good for the economy as it employs a number of local residents. The company makes wood chips and pellets, and has a recycling unit for glass.
Mrs. Taylor said residents of the community are also very caring and often come to the aid of others in need during these trying times.
“I’m in charge of the local food pantry. Last Wednesday we had 72 families (requesting help) and we ran out of food,” Mrs. Taylor said. “I had $1,104 come in within three days” after the community learned of the need. She said much of the money came from the churches and their congregations in town.
(Contact reporter Kate Day Sager at kates_th@yahoo.com)
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Herrfrage wrote on Nov 20, 2009 1:30 PM:
Much nicer-thanks. "