Burns: $200,000 grant headed to Brownstown Borough
State funding to pave roads in conjunction with gas/water line replacement plan
Rep. Frank Burns May 24, 2024 | 10:14 AM
EBENSBURG, May 24 – New natural gas and water lines in Brownstown Borough, installed in tandem to eliminate separate and costly road tear-up and repaving, are being facilitated by a $200,000 state grant announced by state Rep. Frank Burns.
“They came to me explaining the situation, and I made it a priority, because we can get more bang for the buck by working in tandem with the gas company and water authority to create efficiencies,” Burns said.
Burns, D-Cambria, said since the gas company was planning to replace its lines, he quickly embraced the idea of having the water company do its own line replacement at the same time because, “Working together stretches everyone’s dollar further.”
Rick Rambish, Brownstown Borough council president, who also serves on the board of the Greater Johnstown Water Authority, said the borough wanted to avoid the situation where the gas company paved the roads after installing its lines, only to have those roads torn up and repaved by the water company putting in its own new lines on a different timetable.
“The water company liked this idea very much,” Rambish said. “I believe it’s the first time the GJWA has ever been involved in a collaboration with PNG (People’s Natural Gas).
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“We called Frank whenever we heard something was brewing in Harrisburg, and he assured us he was on top of it … He stayed on top of it the whole time and apparently there were no stumbling blocks.” – Rick Rambish, Brownstown Borough council president.
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Rambish said that in addition to the utilities sharing the cost, a state grant was sought to help facilitate the project – for which letters of support from pertinent state legislators were sought.
“Frank said he loved the idea, that he’d follow it, and if he saw a stumbling block, he would get back to us and we’d straighten it out,” Rambish said, “He stayed on top of it the whole time and apparently there were no stumbling blocks.
“We called Frank whenever we heard something was brewing in Harrisburg, and he assured us he was on top of it.”
Rambish said the project will be done in three phases, starting with 1.5 miles this year, and that there are approximately 300 water authority customers in borough.
“You don’t see collaboration like this a while lot,” Rambish said. “There should be more of it, is the way Frank put it.”
Burns said he makes a priority of making sure small communities like Brownstown get their fair share of state help.