Municipal News

Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 August 2016 01:28

By Jill Brown

At the July 25, 2016 7 p.m. Monessen City council meeting, change was in the works. With a new budget plan, continued world-wide city media attention, and a new bid on the Eastgate buildings, revitalization is planned for Monessen!

Pittsburgh contractor David Lamb did a presentation at July’s Monessen council meeting on his bid for Municipal Complex buildings in the city.

Solicitor Krisha DiMascio said, “We looked at the budget at an emergency budget meeting last week, and the numbers were just wrong. We are aware that there is a problem. I think a lot of progress was made last week. I commend Holly Minno, city clerk.”

Looking to the Department of Public Affairs, there is another matter of the city moving in the right direction. David Lamb, owner and CEO of On-Site Rep in Pittsburgh, made a bid on the Municipal Complex, the Eastgate 11 Buildings in Monessen, parking lots and storage units. For both buildings, he offered $650,000, and says he has been in talks about this since February.

Lamb stated, “We are a small group of professionals with the intention of doing a rebirth to this town… My two concerns: this building requires 1.5 million dollars of upgrades and whether or not the current leases would be profitable. Structurally, it’s a sound building.” He went on to say Monessen could be more like a town in Pittsburgh.

The mayor said, “He (Lamb) was very reluctant at first, but eventually saw he could be the catalyst to get this started. We had some words, but it has been one of the best negotiations I have ever been in.”

Solicitor DiMascio said, “You would have to draft me a firm agreement.”

Councilman John Nestor asked Lamb, “Would you consider letting the city use the Eastgate 11 building for offices?”

Lamb said, “At this point, everything is up for discussion.”

In public address, a resident said, “I turned on the news about the city of Monessen, and I have to thank the mayor for what he did—the answers he gave, too. My wife will thank you, too.”

In other business: Council made a motion to accept resignation from Councilwoman Lucille D’Alfonso effective immediately. It was accepted. Councilwoman Patty Bukowski, said, “I just want to thank Lucille for the time she spent on council. I for one am going to miss her. I hope whomever we get can replace her.”

The mayor concluded, “Monessen is going to be on the move now, despite all the problems we had. Just be patient. I got a lot of good things coming down the pike.”