A closer look at fields

AGREEMENT FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT ATHLETIC FIELDS

CONSIDERATION OF A JOINT MAINTENANCE

Mr. Brumfield said that on May 1, 1999, the School District, Municipality and Youth Sports Alliance entered into the first agreement to improve the quality of athletic fields owned by the School District. The joint agreement has been very successful, and all of the parties want the partnership to continue.

This new successor agreement has the following major provisions:

1. Term of two years beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2012.
2. The financial arrangements are the same as contained in the previous agreement. The School District pays Mt. Lebanon $83,300 per year for both infield renovation work and maintenance of the turf grass athletic fields. The Youth Sports Alliance contributes $30,000 each year to the School District for the services.
3. School District employees are responsible for weekly infield dragging, irrigation and facility maintenance. The School District is also responsible for all lawn mowing.

http://www.mtlebanon.org/archives/31/Approved%20Commission%20Minutes%205-10-10.pdf 

Podcast of May 10, 2010 Commission meeting Part 1
Podcast of May 10, 2010 Commission meeting Part 2


This does not include the artificial turf in the high school stadium. So let's talk about what this means. YSA is paying nothing for municipal fields. The School District is paying $83,300 per year for thirteen fields. That comes to $6407 per field (confirmed with municipal data), which does not include the cost of the District employees cutting the grass, weekly infield dragging, irrigation and facility maintenance which is another $4000 (est.) which comes to roughly $10,000 per field or $130,000 for School District fields. Using the same math for the five municipal fields, it is costing us roughly $180,000 for fields in Mt. Lebanon. According to the agreement, YSA is to be contributing $30,000 a year for School District fields only. It cannot be documented that they have been making this contribution.

Let's recap. We have McNeilly Field which we still owe all the money. We have YSA putting pressure on a commissioner, I mean, passionate to turf and light Mellon Field for $1 million, without any research done for the real costs. YSA is contributing nothing towards municipal fields. And the School District cannot confirm the $30,000 contribution from YSA. Oh my.

YSA 990 2008 Line 28 shows $3597 contributed towards agreement
YSA 990 2009 Line 28 shows $30,000 contributed towards agreement
YSA 990 2010 Line 28 shows $10,000 contributed towards agreement

Update May 2, 2012 9:15 AM
November 16, 2009 Board Summary Agreement voted unanimously by the School Board

Recreational sports groups in Mt. Lebanon had planned to donate money to help build community athletic fields on a parcel off McNeilly Road, but now they've learned just how much one municipal commissioner wants them to donate: $850,000.
David Humphreys at Monday's commission meeting told representatives from the Youth Sports Alliance and other sports groups that since the project cost is approaching $2.5 million, he wants the groups to pony up $850,000.
That would be half of the $1.7 million cost to do basic improvements to the 23-acre parcel.
Bruce Fisher, of the Youth Sports Alliance, and Art McAuley, of the Mt. Lebanon Soccer Foundation, said the alliance has just received the proper tax status to raise money. McAuley said his group could pledge $125,000 but couldn't commit to the full $850,000 now.
The groups are working with a fund-raising consultant and hope to have a plan soon.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-south/townsouth-route-19-briefs-578029/


 In the July/August 2008 Mt. Lebanon Magazine, http://ebooks.mtlebanon.org/mtl/mtl-112008/pageflip.html page 9 Dave Donnellan said:
Field options being considered It’s never been easy scheduling youth sports on Mt. Lebanon’s limited number of fields. But in recent years, with enrollment in recreational and club sports on the rise and weather as unpredictable as ever, the problem is getting worse. In 2003, more than 500 kids played soc- cer through the Mt. Lebanon Recreation Department. That number has steadily grown, and this year topped out at a whop- ping 1,201 for the spring and fall programs. That doesn’t even count the kids who play for the Mt. Lebanon Soccer Association, a private soccer group. Likewise, recreational T-ball grew from 70 kids in 2003 to 155 this summer.“Each spring and fall the youth sports as- sociations, the Youth Sports Alliance, the school district and the recreation department meet to determine the scheduled use of the fields in Mt. Lebanon. It is always a struggle to try to accommodate the needs of all the users,” says David Donnellan, Mt. Lebanon’s recreation director. “New fields and/or fields with artificial turf and lighting would help, not only to accommodate the growth in youth sports, but also would allow for taking fields out of service periodically so that they can recover and be properly maintained.”But what’s the best way to do that? In 2003, Mt. Lebanon municipality purchased 23 acres off McNeilly Road for $1.8 million in the hopes of turning it into ath- letic fields. Commissioners have held public meetings to gauge interest, but they have not continued on page 10 town topics Fast-tracking the revitalization of Mt. Lebanon’s commercial districts, and in particular the “Uptown” central business district, is the mission of Mt. Lebanon’s Economic Development Council (EDC) Task Force. Led by Commissioner Raja, the task force rep- resents various groups that have a stake in Uptown’s future. For the past several months, the task force has been meeting simultaneously with the EDC in public session at the municipal building at 7:30 a.m. on the last Friday of every month. There is a lot of brainstorming, as is typical when a group of energetic, creative people convenes. Some ideas are huge undertakings that could come to fruition in the long run; some may be pipe dreams. But other ideas have actually become plans that can be ac- complished over the short term. Here is an overview of things that have taken place or are in the works. continued page 8 More than 760 kids, preschool through second grade, signed up for soccer programs through the Mt. Lebanon Recreation Department this fall. The fields get heavy use and parking is often insufficient. Commissioners are looking at several proposals that would either increase the number of fields or extend the amount of time they can be used by installing artificial turf and lights. 




Update 9:29 AM

In Posti's own words, http://jposti.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html
Then: "both parties sharing the cost" Now: Municipality only
Then: "whether a $1 million cost is justifiable" Now: It's justifiable if the municipality pays all costs
Then: "concerned about the environmental impact of artificial turf" Now: Turf away!
Then: Posti wanted an overview of conditions and maintenance costs Now: Who cares?

Read the text cut from the webpage via above URL link:
During Mr. Silhol's Joint Steering Committee report tonight, he described a meeting he, Mr. Allison and Ms. Stipanovich recently had with two commissioners and Mr. Feller to discuss the option that would include installing artificial turf at Mellon as well as Wildcat. This option is obviously one that would need to be considered jointly between the Municipality and the District with both parties sharing the cost.

This evening was the first time we discussed whether we as a board are interested in exploring this option. Some of the concerns I and other board members voiced included the fact that we've recently completed work on Mellon Field to improve drainage as well as whether a $1 million cost is justifiable in light of the high school project and our current economic situation. One of my biggest concerns with this project is that while the Municipality has done their own analysis of their existing fields, undeveloped land and District-owned properties that can be better utilized, we as a District have not yet done an analysis of our own field priorities. In order to understand where installation of turf on Mellon fits into the District's priorities, I would like to see an overview of all of the District's field conditions and what the short and long-term maintenance conditions may be. This is an issue that I raised last month when we approved an unscheduled capital expenditure for Jefferson Field. Mrs. Cappucci also requested a breakdown of how the fields are used - scholastic vs. recreation vs, club sports on each field.

Another concern I shared was the environmental impact of installing artificial turf on these fields - something I believe we're obligated to consider. With our joint participation with the Municipality in the Cool Cities initiative, we do need to give joint consideration to environmental issues that impact the community.

I'm looking forward to learning more about how this project being considered by the Municipality fits into the District's priorities. I do believe that both bodies value the importance of youth sports in our community and I think that there are those among us who would like to find funds to enhance and improve our available options but we also need to address and prioritize the needs within each of our individual taxing bodies while working jointly to find solutions that make sense to a constituency that we both share.

Update 9:37 AM  Happy Birthday, Josephine. Thank you for praying for me.

Update 3:59 PM MLSA 2008 990
                           MLSA 2009 990
                           MLSA 2010 990

Update 4:51 PM 2010 Mt. Lebanon Demographics from US Census

Update 5:01 PM MLLA 2008 990
                           MLLA 2009 990
                           MLLA 2010 990

Update 5:52 PM MLBA 2007 990
                           MLBA 2008 990
                           MLBA 2009 990 
                           MLBA 2010 not on file