South Garage Entrance Closed for Repairs

The South Garage entrance will be closed for repairs from Saturday, May 26 (6:00 AM) through Tuesday, May 29 (6:00 AM),  Please use the 3rd floor entrance to enter the garage. Take Florida Ave. to Municipal Way. Vehicles parked above the 3rd floor are to use extreme caution due to the possibility of 2-way traffic accessing those floors above the 3rd floor entrance.

Tax hike and cuts and reserves! Oh my!

In case you didn't see today's PG, Molly Born had an article called, Tax hike, funding, job cuts, tap of reserves characterize plan in Mt. Lebanon. No surprises.  It was very, very, very, very,  (oops...one too many very's) difficult for the board to make $850,000 in cuts. No concessions from the teachers, Dr. Tim, or Ms. Jan.

So far, YSA leads in votes for both Yes and No - Updated

As of Tuesday, May 22 at 11:07 a.m.

BASED ON THE DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED ON THIS BLOG, DO YOU FEEL THAT THE MUNICIPALITY HAS BEEN A RESPONSIBLE PARTNER IN THE JOINT MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT?

No 13 (59%)

Yes 9 (40%)

BASED ON THE DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED ON THIS BLOG, DO YOU FEEL THAT THE School District HAS BEEN A RESPONSIBLE PARTNER IN THE JOINT MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT?

No 19 (82%)

Yes 4 (17%)

BASED ON THE DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED ON THIS BLOG, DO YOU FEEL THAT THE YOUTH SPORTS ALLIANCE (YSA) HAS BEEN A RESPONSIBLE PARTNER IN THE JOINT MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT?

No 28 (63%)

Yes 16 (36%)

Granted, the YSA poll has been up 24 hours longer than the other two polls, but YSA is leading as the most responsible partner and the most irresponsible partner of the Joint Maintenance Agreement. 

It would be helpful to the JMA partners crafting the upcoming extension to find out why people are voting the way they are voting.  

How can the Municipality improve?  What about the School District?  Where have they fallen short? Besides YSA catching up in contributions, what else should be done? 

In addition to voting, now is the time to share your opinion.  Do we forget the JMA altogether? How can it be improved, so that all parties are responsible partners in the Joint Maintenance Agreement?

Update May 22 2012 6:36 p.m. Through a Right To Know, Marcia Taylor provided the following information regarding District payments for the Joint Maintenance Agreement.

"These documents are printouts or copies for General Fund Account No. 01-2845-37102. This account is used for Ballfield Maintenance. These documents mainly show yearly totals, and are marked accordingly. Beginning with the 2010 year, we are able to show monthly data as well, and have produced that."

District payments for Joint Maintenance Agreement

Change order tabled. Budget approved.

It appears that there are some legal matters to resolve, so the first change order for the high school renovation was tabled.  It was removed from the agenda.  Details of the change order were mentioned in the post, Now on to Numero Uno Change Order 


The Mt. Lebanon School Board approved the final budget for 2012-13 at the May 21 Regular Board meeting with a unanimous vote of 8-0. Mary Birks was absent. The final budget is $80,584,500 with a millage rate of 27.13 mills—a 0.5 mill increase from last year. The millage increase translates into an additional $100 a year on a home assessed at $200,000. The budget includes cost reductions of approximately $850,000. A list of those reductions is available here.

The podcast is now available at lebocitizens.com.

What's in it for the Municipality?

Continuing the Joint Maintenance Agreement (JMA) thread, I started a new poll here on Lebo Citizens.  I have been questioning the Municipality's involvement in the JMA. What IS in it for the Municipality? Why should the Municipality be concerned with School District fields? The agreement has not changed since 1999.  The District fee has been $83,300 since Day 1. The YSA claims to have an increase in participants.  Why are they being charged $30,000 each year if field use has increased? They are wearing out the fields, based on their own reports. As it stands, the School District has been bank rolling the YSA during their "lean years." Recently, the District has been looking at various sports and clubs as possible cuts in the budget. Scott Goldman and Dan Remely voted for eliminating hockey and crew from their budget, while others have compromised with a $3000 reduction in the budget.

The District would be able to control costs, in my opinion, if they did their own maintenance. Perhaps each school would be responsible for their own fields. I had suggested for different sports groups to adopt their own field, but that idea didn't seem to fly with some folks.

I have been trying to come up with a list of pros and cons for the Municipality's involvement in the JMA partnership.  I haven't been able to come up with any positive points. If anything, it muddies the waters. If the Municipality got out of the District landscaping business, that would create a clear division when it comes to signage revenue.  The District is in an agreement with UPMC which permits UPMC to advertise for free within certain conditions. By not renewing the agreement, the Municipality would be free and clear of any sports agreements with UPMC.  They could have their own contract with UPMC and generate income for the Municipality.

I am leaving it up to you, the readers, to come up with any reasons why the Municipality should be in such an agreement. 

Now on to Numero Uno Change Order

According to the Construction Manager's Update, there are a few "Construction Challenges To Date" listed.

Existing Utility Interference with Foundations

Rerouting of Fine Arts Theatre Sanitary Line To Outside Science Building Footprint
Storm Line Relocation To Allow Drilled Pier Construction To Continue
Installation Of Water Line North Of Athletic Facility

If we only knew someone connected with the Water Company.  Has anyone ever heard of PA 811 Call Before You Dig, the Pennsylvania One Call System? http://www.pa1call.org/PA811/Public/  They break it.  We pay it?

Requirement to Import Materials

The moisture content of the excavations currently stockpiled on the practice field is too high to properly compact for use as structural fill. We are in the process of working out change order language with Nello Construction.

Remember this? http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-south/architect-says-planned-mt-lebanon-pool-600000-over-budget-588337/ We knew back in 2005 that the soil was wrong based on the soil borings. From the podcast, I got these numbers.

The cost of the new materials for suitable fill is $350,000.
The amount of voluntary credits for the old fill is $125,000.
The net amount of the change order is $225,000.

What is interesting is that $225,000 is approximately what we have spent so far on the Public Safety Building, another Nello work of art completed ten years ago. That was never right from the beginning.

So on Monday evening, the board will be approving its first change order with Nello Construction - you know, the company who was $8 million cheaper or 20% lower than the next bidder.  I believe they were able to save the project from going to referendum.  Pick up the phone, folks.  Make the call.

Tax likely to fill budget gap in Mt. Lebanon schools

In today's PG, Tax likely to fill budget gap in Mt. Lebanon schools, the school board will be approving a .5 mill increase on Monday. I love their revenue-generating ideas.  That should cover the $30,000 a year commitment made by YSA.

Revenue-generating ideas still stand: Formerly free sporting events would now cost attendees and ticket prices for events that charge admission would increase by $1, bringing in $18,400. Mt. Lebanon High School students would be charged $50 a year for parking, collecting $10,000. And an increase in building rental fees will net $8,000.

Note how there were no pay freezes for Dr. Tim or Ms. Jan. Notice how there were no concessions made by teachers. The new budget will use roughly $106,000 in reserve funds.  The board made $800,000 in program and staff cuts. The millage increase would mean an extra $50 a year for a home valued at $100,000. If the district loses the grievance, it will be far worse for many years to come.

Mt. Lebanon residents, are you content with this new budget? I am not. Are you still willing to hide and not take a stand? Still post anonymously here on the blog and not take action? I was drowning two years ago with the 10.5% increase.  It has only gotten worse. But we allow this to happen.  Is everyone that well off here?  I guess I don't belong in Mt. Lebanon.