Donora: Cooperative demolition work discussed

By KRISTIE LINDEN

klinden@yourmvi.com

A day after Charleroi council agreed to demolish a blighted, dangerous structure at a cost of $9,000 and discussed working with Donora on future demolitions, Donora council considered the idea.

At a workshop meeting Thursday, Solicitor Steve Toprani, who is also solicitor for Charleroi, talked to council about possibly using the borough’s street department employees and equipment to conduct demolitions in Charleroi – and potentially other neighboring municipalities at some point.

Charleroi Council President Mark Alterici talked to his group about it Wednesday night, and it’s a topic he has floated to Toprani and Donora Councilman Joe Greco before. 

Charleroi isn’t the only Mon Valley neighbor to come calling, Greco said. Monongahela Mayor Greg Garry reached out before the pandemic as well to open a dialogue about what arrangements could be made for Donora crews to do demolition work in his city as well.

While no demolition is free, a job done by the borough’s employees at their existing wages with borough-owned equipment is significantly less expensive than jobs bid out to construction companies, borough officials have said. Donora has done its own demolition work for many years.

Charleroi has properties at 725 Washington Ave., where a car crashed into the building over the winter, and another at Fifth and McKean Avenue that recently began to collapse. They need to come down, and Alterici said this week he’d like to talk to Donora before advertising the work for bids.

Greco said it’s a conversation worth having.

“They want to see if Donora wants to get together and get rid of some blight,” Toprani said.

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