Armstrong Officials Aim to Keep 'Wealth' Afloat
Aspinwall Herald
1 April 2011
By Mary Ann Thomas
Armstrong County commissioners plan to form a task force to lobby for
finances for the Allegheny River's system of eight locks and dams.
"We need to create economic wealth along the waterway," Commissioners
Chairwoman Patty Kirkpatrick said on Thursday during an Army Corps of
Engineers news conference at Lock and Dam No. 2 at Highland Park.
Kirkpatrick and fellow Commissioners Rich Fink and Jim Scahill are
trying to rally boaters, businesses, local communities and others to
promote ways to pay for the future of the river's aging navigation
system, which is running low on cash.
The Army Corps held the news conference to announce the closure of Lock
No. 8 in Templeton and No. 9 in Rimer to recreational boaters because
of federal budget cuts. The locks still remain open to commercial
vessels by appointment.
Locks at Schenley, Clinton and Kittanning, all in Armstrong County,
survived the ax but with greatly reduced hours. One 8-hour shift was
dropped from locks at Highland Park, Plum and Natrona to make up the
difference.
The Army Corps held public sessions and met with businesses, boaters
and others who use the Allegheny to determine the least painful and
most productive way to absorb the river's operations budget cut --
slashed in half to $4 million in President Obama's proposed 2011-12
budget.
"It was the best compromise we could come up with, given the federal
funding," said Rich Lockwood, chief of operations for the Army Corps'
Pittsburgh District.
Mary Ann Thomas can be reached at mthomas@tribweb.com or 412-782-2121
x1510.