Weekly Pointers From Whiskey Point – 17 March 2023

Flooded Shops Should Be Up And Running Soon

The last retail shops affected by the water main break will be open soon. Dusty Bradshaw Aldous of Dusty’s Discounts tells me that her merchandise should be moved back into her shop by the middle of next week, and she should be ready to reopen the week after that.

As most readers will already know, the January 26th water main break flooded eight store spaces – four in the Yohe Building and four in the Essee Flats Building (Zimmer Printing, Little City Coffee, etc.), two of which were storefront locations for new retail stores that were about to open any day.

Many thanks to the Monongahela Area Historical Society for raising some funds to help the six stores that had to close immediately after the flooding. The disaster also temporarily displaced the residents from 12 upper-story apartments (some lived in hotel rooms, or with relatives, for up to a month, on very short notice), and it caused many problems for the landlords of the two buildings. The water pressurized the Yohe Building, filling it above the first-story floor line.

Repair work on Fourth Street also cut off parking needed by Rabe’s Trading Post and led to reduced sales at both that store and Leighanna’s Closet children’s clothing store (the latter of which closed early a few times as a result). All the basement utility meters in the two buildings had to be replaced, plus all the gypsum wallboard (drywall) in the basement level of Dusty’s Discounts, and the floor surfaces and bottom portion of the plaster in the four first-story shops in the Yohe Building. This also entailed repainting shop walls and replacing many thousands of dollars of business-related equipment in the Yohe Building shops, repaving Rabe’s Fourth Street parking lot, and replacing some segments of concrete sidewalks.

It is good to see things returning to normal after this far-reaching disaster. Some business owners have already lost about two months’ worth of business sales. Please support them as they reopen.

Good Luck Purse-Wise

Best wishes for a “lucky” St. Patrick’s Day week to everyone with a ticket for tomorrow’s (sold out) big event, the Monongahela Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual purse Bash! This event typically includes 500 screaming and smiling individuals across a 4-hour period in which almost everyone wins something! A purse, some cash, a basket raffle prize, or something.

It’s a big draw, often bringing women who love purses into the community from far and wide. Most of the men involved stay in a back room where they are kept busy counting piles and piles of dollar bills, ND redistributing a big portion of them to the winners who are in attendance.

Walkworks Active Transportation Planning Project

The City’s WalkWorks Active Transportation Planning project is moving along. An online survey and an interactive online map are about to be released to the public to gather input.

The Steering Committee list for this project includes about 35 individuals, many representing agencies such as PennDOT, the SPC (Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission / regional planning commission), the Washington County Planning Commission, the Monongahela Planning Commission, the Mid-Mon Valley Transit Authority, Monongahela City Council, and others, as people who walk Downtown, people who use wheelchairs in town, bicyclists, etc., and a team of consultants. The Steering Committee has met twice and will meet again soon.

A group of people who walk for exercise Downtown have met to learn about the project. A meeting is planned for wheelchair users, and similar meetings are planned for other specific groups. A public meeting for general community input will be announced soon.

Our Sympathy

We want to express our sympathy to the family of Tanya Hutchko Lazzari, who passed away recently after a brief illness. Mrs. Lazzari was the mother of Mark Lazzari, the city planner who has been leading the team on our WalkWorks Active Transportation Planning project.

Mrs. Lazzari was a City resident, residing with her husband Wayne on Fourth Street (also where Mark Lazzari grew up). She was a member of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church (OCA) on High Street in Monongahela. Frye Funeral Home is handling the arrangements, with visitation this coming Sunday, Parastas services Sunday evening, and burial services beginning from the funeral home, including a service at the church on Monday.

What Did You Observe This Week?

There’s a lot to observe if you watch Monongahela closely enough.

• They have been rebuilding the drive-through at Key Bank after the canopy part was hit by a driver and destroyed a couple of months ago.
• The flooring is in at the various shop spaces in the Yohe Building, and a lot of drywall has been installed, awaiting paint when I saw it.
• The parking spots Downtown along West Main Street were all taken this afternoon. That is usually a sign of a high level of business activity.
• City Mission was busy with many shoppers taking advantage of their St. Patrick’s Day sale.
• Di’s Deli had a banner day with many orders for items from their Friday fish fry menu.
• The bars were getting busy, too, it being St. Patrick’s Day and all.
• Despite this week’s temperature swings and momentary snowstorm threat, trees, shrubs, and flowers are starting to bud.

The Fastest Litter Picker In The West

Many thanks to City Council member Sarah O’Brien who organized a litter clean-up project for the sidewalks behind Family Dollar in the 1200 block of Chess Street (especially on the side toward the Monongahela High School/M.E.C. Building). Of the people who picked the stuff up, Sarah showed she could pick it up twice and fast and stuff the bags twice as full as anyone else on the team.

Many thanks also to Family Dollar for letting the team use their shovel, broom, and dumpsters. And also, many thanks to PennDOT for providing safety vests, garbage bags, and gloves. Most of the visible litter is now gone. Still, there was also stuff layered under several years’ worth of leaves, which were frozen in masses the other day, under shale and soil that had come down the hill onto the sidewalk from erosion, and under a tangle of weeds.

The team is hoping to come back by on a warmer and drier day to blow the leaves out of the way to get down to another layer of litter. Some of what was picked up may have been blown there by the wind on garbage collection days, but that would not explain the empty glass flasks from cognac and other types of alcohol.

MMSP Monthly Board Meeting

The Monongahela Main Street Program held its monthly board meeting at Mon Valley Outdoors earlier this week. Many thanks to Jim Scagline, shop owner, who hosted the event and gladly told us about his store at the beginning of the meeting. Meeting there was a great idea, and we are considering continuing to meet in shops from time to time.

WE HAVE A WONDERFUL CITY!

Terry A. Necciai, RA, Exec.Dir., MMSP

MMSP Board of Directors

The current Board of Directors of the Monongahela Main Street Program is as follows:

• Tobias Provan, President
• Janet Roslund, Vice President
• Walter Seal, Treasurer
• Dan Tregembo, Secretary
• Jimmy Braum
• Ken Kulak
• Amy Leavor
• Dorothea Pemberton
• Chris Grilli (Advisory Committee)
• Paula Pro (Advisory Committee)
• Scott Frederick (Advisory Committee)
• Non-Voting: Terry Necciai, Exec.Dir.