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Duquesne Light is planning to relocate its McKeesport service center from the city's 10th Ward to the RIDC Industrial Center of McKeesport.

The power company's site plan received preliminary approval March 27 from the city planning commission. City council is expected to vote on the proposal at tonight's meeting.

The new facility --- which will include a warehouse and repair garage for Duquesne Light vehicles --- will preserve about 50 jobs, officials said.

"It's exciting any time you have a company making a longterm commitment to stay in the city," Mayor Mike Cherepko said. The facility would not be practical, he said, if not for the flyover ramp at the foot of Coursin Street that carries traffic over the CSX Railroad tracks.

"Without question," Cherepko said. "They flat-out told us that without the flyover ramp, this wouldn't have happened."

. . .

Planning commission approval of the plan was conditional on Duquesne Light's obtaining a valid street address for 9-1-1 emergency purposes, paying the necessary sewerage tap-in fees, and getting the plans approved by a registered engineer.

The property is zoned for industrial use. Equitable Gas operates a similar facility nearby.

Duquesne Light is proposing a warehouse, offices and maintenance facility totaling about 28,000 square feet, Evan Hoover, chief estimator at Michael Baker Corp., told council Tuesday night. Baker is working on the project on behalf of the power company.

The facility will be a direct replacement for one located at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Rebecca Street, near the Municipal Authority of the City of McKeesport wastewater treatment plant.

. . .

According to county tax records, the current facility opened in 1928. Covering a little more than four acres, the land is valued at $135,000.

The land is located on the Youghiogheny River waterfront --- across from the McKees Point Marina and adjacent to a state Fish and Boat Commission launching ramp.

Cherepko said the future use of the property would be up to the power company, but agreed the parcel offers potential for riverfront development.

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