TARENTUM RECEIVES GRANT AWARDS

TOTALING $184K in JANUARY!

January was a good month for Tarentum. Bill Rossey, the Borough Manager, received word that Tarentum had been awarded $184,000 in three separate grants, thanks to the borough's aggressive revitalization efforts.

Business owners and residents alike have, for decades, protested the unsightly jersey barriers that were erected as a temporary measure to replace aging railings along East Sixth Avenue decades ago.

Bill Rossey and the Tarentum Business Area Advisory Committee, made the project a top priority and considered it a cornerstone in their campaign to revitalize the borough central commerce core as it is a high-profile gateway into Tarentum.

The $100,000 grant, awarded by the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County (RAAC) Board with the help of ACED, will be used to remove the barriers that run from the Tarentum Bridge to Lock Street, add decorative aluminum railings, sidewalks and landscaping, as well as reconfigure the challenging intersection at Lock and Sixth. 

Additionally, the borough received two additional grants of $84,000, both from  the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and administered by ACED.

$60,000 will be used to create a streetscape design that will incorporate new store facades, landscaping and street lighting. Rossey believes that some of the money will be available to do actual landscape improvements.

$24,000 will be used to create handicapped-access ramps at 24 street corners from Riverview Park to East Sixth Avenue.

"It's nice to see that years of hard work and planning are starting to pay off in ways that will showcase the tremendous-and improving-assets that we have here in Tarentum," says Rossey.