New Castle News

Local News

July 20, 2010

City gets millions from sale of sanitary sewers

NEW CASTLE — The city of New Castle has netted $17,328,000 from the sale of its sanitary sewers.

City officials had set $16.5 million as the minimum figure they wanted from the sale of the system to the New Castle Sanitation Authority.

“The interest rates went their way,” investment banker Joseph Muscatello explained as the reason for the city receiving more than the minimum.

City council approved the transfer of the sewer system to the authority in May. The authority issued bonds on June 17 and the closing occurred Thursday. That is when the city learned the exact amount it would receive after all costs were determined.

Mayor Anthony Mastrangelo said $14 million of the proceeds will be used to reduce debt, $2 million will go toward the paving of streets and the balance will go into a reserve fund for capital improvements.

Mastrangelo said about 35 streets were identified by the city’s engineer and public works director as among the worst. However, only 15 of them will be paved this year.

He noted the Pennsylvania American Water Co. and Columbia Gas Co. of Pennsylvania said those are streets they will not be working on this year.

“It would be a waste of our money” to pave the streets and then have them torn up, Mastrangelo said. The city plans to pave the balance of the streets next year.

The sale of the sewers allows the city to reduce its bond payments over the next eight years, which Muscatello called the city’s toughest period.

Annual bond payments beginning this year and running through 2018 will be $2,950,000, he said. Without the sale, this year’s payment would have been $4,826,000. Annual payments through 2018 would have ranged from $4,987,000 to $4,132,000.

From 2019 through 2024, the annual payments will be $2,950,000, which would have been the same amount without the sale, Muscatello said.

The bond issue also provides $260,000, which the sanitation authority will use to repair 3,100 feet of sewer line on Sampson Street. The line had been identified as in need of repair prior to the transfer of the sewer system.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News
  • police.jpg New city police chief leads raid on drug house

    Bobby Salem took a bite out of New Castle’s illegal drug trade on his first day as city police chief. He oversaw a raid on a suspected “drug house” at 1610 E. Washington St. yesterday netting guns, drugs and  money, and resulted in the arrests of five out-of-town, low- to mid-level drug dealers.

    February 11, 2012 1 Photo

  • New Castle council refinances bond

    New Castle City Council adopted an ordinance yesterday to refinance a 2005 bond issue. Council adopted an ordinance on Jan. 26 to refinance.

    February 11, 2012

  • Salem.jpg City’s new police chief sworn in

    Robert A. Salem was sworn in Thursday night as New Castle’s police chief. City council confirmed his appointment on a 3-0 vote before a packed council chambers that included family members and fellow police officers. Other officers stood in the hallway outside chambers.

    February 10, 2012 1 Photo

  • Supervisors probe floor at ice rink

    The Neshannock Township supervisors are investigating the crumbling new floor at the Hess Ice Rink. The supervisors will send a letter to Sierra Stone of Grove City, the company that installed the a rubberized floor made of recycled tires, in the lobby, two bathrooms and two locker rooms.

    February 10, 2012

  • Council OKs assessments

    New Castle City Council approved compromise assessment settlements for two properties Thursday night.

    February 10, 2012

  • Council briefs: A roundup from meeting

    Reporter John K. Manna offers a roundup of items from Thursday night’s meeting of New Castle City Council.

    February 10, 2012

  • Russo.jpg Local firefighter honored for rescue efforts

    Rick Russo and Robert Spitko II had never really made each other’s acquaintance until this week. But one rainy, foggy night in August, the two firefighters worked shoulder to shoulder in a rescue attempt that saved the life of a homeless woman stranded in a rising stream near Norristown, Pa.

    February 9, 2012 1 Photo

  • County has 550 properties available

    Anyone wanting to buy properties from Lawrence County’s repository has a few new rules to follow. The county has deed to about 550 properties that have gone unsold through annual tax “upset” and free and clear sales.

    February 9, 2012

  • Shad.jpg Shad Hanna’s: Demolition expected to resume

    Demolition of the former Shad Hanna’s restaurant is about to resume. Anthony Cioffi, New Castle code enforcement foreman, said the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection halted the demolition to determine if any asbestos was in the building.

    February 8, 2012 1 Photo

  • Kladitis.jpg Northminster launching Bible study for young adults

    Anthony Kladitis, youth pastor at Northminster Presbyterian Church, is launching a new Bible study. Called “Engage(d),” he promises that the gathering “is not your father’s Bible study.”

    February 8, 2012 1 Photo