Charleroi OKs spending authority deal money before receiving first payment

By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
Although the Borough of Charleroi won’t see a cash influx from its deal with the Authority of the Borough of Charleroi for a few months, council already decided how some of it will be spent.
In June, after months of back and forth between Charleroi Borough officials and ABC, a contract was successfully negotiated and signed off by both parties.
The new deal calls for the authority to pay $3.7 million to purchase the borough-owned sewer lines.
That amount is set to be paid to the borough over five years, with the first payment of $1 million due to the borough Oct. 1.
After that point, the remaining $2.7 million will be paid in annual installments of $550,000 through 2028.
Council has discussed how to best invest that money in recent meetings. During Wednesday’s business meeting, council approved two motions totaling $200,000 that will benefit both the Charleroi Regional Police Department and Charleroi Volunteer Fire Department after that first payment is received.
The motions were made separately, and approved unanimously, but there was some discussion about earmarking the money before the borough actually has it.
Council agreed in the first motion to present a $100,000 donation to the police department to purchase two new police vehicles after the first payment from ABC is received.
The second motion states that council will give $100,000 to the fire department to pay off current truck loans.

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