Site prep work begins on senior housing project in Irwin

More than $1 million of site preparation work has started on a 50-unit senior citizen housing project in Irwin.

Workers are removing a large swath of trees for the building to be constructed across from the Norwin Public Library and an access road for the Westmoreland County Housing Authority’s Grand View Senior Residences that will be off Laurel Avenue.

The trees had to be removed so that the hillside could be cut and the area filled in with soil to create a level pad for the four-story building, said Erik Spiegel, director of architecture and engineering services for the authority.

The work will continue through spring, Spiegel said.

The authority also has to build a 1,300-foot access road from Laurel Avenue in North Huntingdon to the building site in Irwin, located in what had been a wooded area across a gully from the Norwin Public Library on Caruthers Lane. That will be the only access from a public road to the building, which is being built for income-eligible residents age 62 and older.

Excavators are felling trees and piling them up along the site for an emergency access road connecting Grand View Senior Residence to the rear of a parking lot at the Villages of Easton off Fairwood Drive in Irwin.

It will take about 14 months to complete the four-story building, Spiegel said, with the project expected to be completed by late spring 2024.

Construction is expected to cost between $10 million and $11 million. The housing authority financed the project through the sale of low-income housing tax credits.

The housing authority has plans to build 28 patio homes on the North Huntingdon section of the property it owns off Laurel Avenue. That project is considered the second phase of the development of the site.

The authority had asked Irwin Borough to have street lights placed on utility poles along Caruthers Lane, between the Calvary Baptist Church at 101 Caruthers Lane and the intersection with Laurel Avenue, said Shari Martino, Irwin borough manager.

Martino told council West Penn Power representatives informed her it would cost about $1,000 to $1,500 to have a transformer and light placed on a pole. The manager said she would propose that council have lights installed on two of three poles.

West Penn Power Co. would have to do more engineering work and a site visit to review what is needed for the street lights in that area, said Todd Meyers, West Penn Power spokesman.

A transformer is needed when the current line on some utility poles carries a much higher primary voltage — thousands of volts — than can be used to power street lights, Meyers said.

Martino said council had her ask the authority about sharing the cost of the street light installation. The actual bill for the electricity used by the lights would be minimal, Martino said.

Spiegel said Irwin Borough should cover the costs for the street lights, given the housing authority paid the borough for a building permit.

“It’s a minimal charge,” Spiegel said, adding that most of the traffic along Caruthers Lane would not be for those living at Grand View Senior Residences.

The borough did raise real estate taxes by two mills in the 2023 budget for street light expenses.

Councilman Shawn Stitely said if the housing authority wants street lights along that section of Caruthers Lane, it should pay for them.