Slippery Rock Borough Council convened Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Slippery Rock Borough Building to discuss grants, the municipal authority and new members.
The PennDOT Multimodal Grant Quagmire
The council entered an emotional discussion regarding Slippery Rock Borough not receiving grant money to help local infrastructure. The borough requested $800,000 to help with initiatives in the borough, most notably, streetlights. The grant has a $100,000 minimum and a $2,000,000 cap.
“We need streetlights. I think it checks the boxes, its safety, its public safety. Its safety for you know the residents, its beautification. I just don’t know how it does not check the boxes,” Council President Jeff Campbell said.
Borough members expressed their frustration with Slippery Rock not recieving grant money while other local municipalities such as Fox Chapel, Oakmont and Zelienople received funding for beautification measures while Slippery Rock did not.
“I was disheartened that we didn’t get it. I was even disheartened when I started looking at the other projects that were submitted, thinking, ‘What are we doing wrong?’” Campbell said.
Mayor JD Longo argued that he believes the borough’s status of not having as much of a permanent population as other boroughs had a big part in the grant failure.
“I’m hopeful that when and if, and it will come eventually, when we get this development, you know, whenever it comes, they’ll start to pay attention to us,” Longo said.
2025 Farmers Market Approved
The council then discussed the 2025 Farmers Market and held a vote to allow for it to continue occurring, which passed unanimously.
“The market proved to be a valuable asset for the community, we would like to use the same space that was designated last year. It is understood that this request is contingent on the borough-owned property,” Borough Manager Christian Laskey said, reading a letter from the event organizers.
Slippery Rock Municipal Authority Resignation and Appointment
Samantha Kelly, Treasurer of the Slippery Rock Municipal Authority, sent the council a letter of resignation, which was approved.
JP Howard, a resident of the community, was appointed to fill the remainder of Kelly’s five-year term. The motion to approve his appointment passed unanimously.
PSAB Letter
The Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs (PSAB) asked Slippery Rock Borough if any of the borough’s interests aligned with their priorities that they would ask the borough to sign a supporting resolution to bring awareness for several aspects, most notably, civil service reform.
Currently, according to Laskey, it costs Slippery Rock Borough $8,000 to hire one police officer, which the borough expressed needs to change for services to run smoothly.
Stormwater Pipe Replacement
Council discussed a stormwater pipe that is facing wear and tear and will eventually need to be updated, in which they received a Community Development Grant to assist in the cost of replacing it.
