Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Town Hall Meeting planned (Updated)

It was announced at tonight's (well, technically last night's) commission meeting that the commission will be sponsoring a town hall meeting next Thursday, April 19 to discuss the wants and needs of the community in regard to parks and recreation. More information will be posted on the municipal website.

Update April 11, 2012 10:40 am Space is limited, so please leave the kids at home. Also, at last night's meeting, the commission discussed developing the area around Public Works for a new field which could easily be done. It is my understanding that the youth sports groups will be represented at theTown Hall meeting, but this is meeting is to discuss our parks and recreation, in general. It could be that people think that too much is being spent on fields and not enough on tennis, the library, the parks, the pool...you get the idea.

Update April 11, 2012 11:54 pm

This is an important notice from LeboALERT.

Special meeting to get input on parks/rec maintenance, improvements,Thurs, April 19, 7:30 pm, commission chamber. http://lebomag.com/category/muniupdates/

Update April 13, 2012 12:50 pm  Hearings to decide on Mt. Lebanon spending surplus

"I think we ought to be considerate and not look at the $1.3 million as something we have to spend," said Commissioner John Bendel, who recommended that $300,000 be put toward the reserve and another $500,000 be paid toward the municipality's pension fund.
Projects that may be considered for funding included new radios for the public works department, replacing floors in the municipal ice rink, upgrading the government's phone system, fixing drainage at the Bird Park athletic field, installing about 850 feet of new sidewalks and replacing equipment at the municipal fueling station.
Or we could put in another field.
at

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 11, 2012 at 11:30 AM

    Finally, some rational thinking and "hopefully" a willingness to listen to constituent input.

    What the Kluck, Matt, maybe you showed them the way it ought to be done.

    Giffen Good

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 11, 2012 at 12:04 PM

    The short notice on this Town Hall meeting to be held in the Commission Chambers in the Municipal Bldg., seating capacity about 88 or so, is really the prelude to a now scheduled Commission Public Hearing the following week, April 23, on additional Capital Investment considerations and spending during 2012 using 2011 budget surplus funds amounting to $1.3 million.

    Don't overlook the fact that the Municipal millage rate for 2012 has also been increased by over 0.5 mills, just about equal to the 2011 surplus. However, ordinances passed last December allow for using surpluses for added capital spending, yet disallow using surpluses to reduce millages.

    Some folks consider large budget surpluses to represent excess taxation that should result in a millage adjustment, even if for just one year. They're out of luck, what the kluck !

    Veblen Good

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousApril 11, 2012 at 1:15 PM

    After all the bellyaching about our town hall being held in the limited seating chambers (even though people on different sides of the political spectrum were included and the meeting was available on podcast), this one is being held in the same location. Could it be that the location is logical given the sound system, parking access, handicap access and seating for people who can’t stand for long and cost?

    That town hall was intended to wake the community up to the economic reality that is now coming to light. There were 76 of 80 attendees. A few didn’t come because of the protestors. Some initial invitees snubbed it and then got angry when they couldn’t get back in because of the limited seating. I will admit that holding the meeting by invitation was intentional to ensure maximum attendance. We wanted to make sure that the effort in planning such an event was worthwhile for all involved. The moderator did a great job of fielding questions and most everyone who wanted to talk had the opportunity. Compare that to the budget input meetings held by the school district in the library where two people showed up.

    In any case, it’s great that this is planned and I hope the community participates to the fullest possible extent!

    -Charlotte Stephenson

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousApril 11, 2012 at 4:59 PM

    Charlotte,

    It could be that the venue offers unique capability for recording that can subsequently be shown on the cable channels, and links placed on the website for electronic viewing.

    Residents will also be able to submit comments directly to Commission Pres. David Brumfield, who promises to make such comments known.

    Bill Lewis

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousApril 11, 2012 at 6:16 PM

    Bill,

    Yes, that's right. Since you brought that up I do remember that we were going to show the program on the cable channel, but there was a technical problem during the recording and it didn't work out. Although, there was also load protest against it being shown on the cable channel too.

    I hope Mr. Brumfield will be able to clearly communicate all comments so engagement of the community is facilitated.

    Charlotte

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousApril 11, 2012 at 8:50 PM

    Meant to say "there was also a loud protest against it being shown on the cable channel too." - Charlotte

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.