MERCER COUNTY Housing authority OKs asbestos removal

Work also is progressing on a 60-unit apartment complex for the elderly.
FARRELL, Pa. -- The Mercer County Housing Authority's Community Center at 211 Federal St. will be getting a new heating plant, but first some asbestos has to be removed from the system.
The authority board voted Wednesday to pay R.L. Abatement Inc. of Hopewell, Pa., $17,980 to remove asbestos from pipes in two rooms at the center.
Asbestos was found in insulation used to wrap the pipes, said L. DeWitt Boosel, authority executive director.
The board also awarded a $94,600 contract to Sheehan Plumbing & amp; Heating of Sharpsville to replace the boiler and heating controls.
Boosel said that, because cold weather is nearing, the control system will be replaced now but that the boiler and asbestos work won't be done until spring.
Other matters
In other business, Boosel informed the board that:
*The authority is nearing completion on terms of a joint loan with seven other housing authorities in Pennsylvania to borrow money for capital improvements. The authority is expected to get $1.3 million out of the loan to be used for handicap-accessible projects at its Malleable Heights, Vermeire Manor and Sharpsville Gardens apartment complexes. The borrowing arrangement must be approved by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
*The city of Hermitage has begun infrastructure improvements at the site of a proposed 60-unit apartment complex for the elderly at Lamor and North Keel Ridge roads. The city is a partner in the project with the housing authority and agreed to pay for the water, sewer and storm-water management systems at the site, a cost estimated at about $600,000.
Boosel said building construction is expected to total about $6.5 million and the authority is seeking about $3 million in tax credit allocations from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency to help pay for the work.
The authority can sell the credits to banks or other institutions needing a tax write-off.
The authority would have to borrow the rest of the money or perhaps seek additional tax credits to complete the financing.