Opinions August 17, 2012
Letter to the editor: recreation
It is with great disappointment that I read in this morning’s paper that the Mt. Lebanon Commission again failed to find a way to advance a workable plan to improve our community’s recreation infrastructure ( http://triblive.com/home/2416636-74/lebanon-recreation-commission-fraasch-improvements-municipal-parks-bond-commissioners-fields ). To be honest, I’m embarrassed of our facilities and the community’s inability to invest in our future. Since becoming a Mt. Lebanon resident over five years ago, I’ve staunchly defended it as a great place to live—particularly with a young family. I still firmly believe that to be the case, but as my children grow older and become more active in recreation programs, I’m starting to question. Particularly when I see the lack of commitment by the municipality to do what needs to be done to keep our community vibrant and attractive to families—which are vital to keeping a community healthy.
The commission’s efforts to invest in “hidden” infrastructure, such as our storm and sanitary sewer systems while also keeping up with the equally important road maintenance and delivering other municipal services are commendable. But this is not enough to keep our community healthy and growing. Families don’t move to communities because of good sewers, roads or trash collection; they move to top rated school districts in communities that offer safe, attractive places for the kids to swim, play ball and enjoy nature. The Mt. Lebanon School Board made the tough decision, based on well-founded analysis from their staff and experts, to invest in the future of our children. It was a tough decision, but they worked hard and the high school renovation project is under way. Unfortunately, it appears that the municipality, despite years of analysis and discussion, can’t do the same. This unwillingness to make a decision may result from fear of being criticized by the vocal minority, or it may be due to distraction with less important but chronic issues such as the deer population, which I must assume find our community particularly welcoming as compared to neighboring communities, based on the amount of media coverage and discussion at commission meetings (and special meetings) deer get in Mt. Lebanon.)
These remarks may seem particularly pointed, but I don’t have much choice. As a member of the silent majority—young, working, busy families who don’t have the time to attend every commission meeting and write dozens of emails—I have less opportunity to impress upon you the importance of this issue. It is the silent majority that is the heartbeat of the community. Although a population that is diverse in age is important, families are the common denominator behind every community that is thriving. And more than any other segment of the population, families are mobile. They can choose where they live—and there are lots of communities in this region that will welcome them with open arms (and safe, attractive parks).
Thanks to the commission for taking a leadership role in our community. Thanks also to the municipal staff; which does wonderful things with limited resources, behind the scenes, and under constant scrutiny. Parks are important to my family, other families in Mt. Lebanon, and families that are thinking about moving here. Please find a way to make us proud of our recreation system again. And let me know if there is anything I can do to help you get there.
John K. Trant
Sandrae Drive
Editor’s Note: Mr. Trant is the chief strategy officer for Cranberry Township in Butler County.
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I was glad to see this article on lebomag.com. Yes, the vocal minority wants artificial turf. It is unfortunate that the absence of artificial turf is what is stopping some of the commissioners from moving forward with Kelly's comprehensive plan to improve our parks and recreational facilities.
Regarding naming rights, I bumped into this comment made by someone in a community that was considering whoring out the middle school for naming rights money.
ReplyDeleteOne person called it: "cheesy!" is that what Mt Lebanon has become? Cheesy! Hawking every surface that will hold an advertisement for the almighty dollar? Have we no pride, no class left?
But I thought this comment was priceless. "Name it The Involuntary Property Tax Payer Middle School."
Hey we've been paying for this stuff for years, why should some corporation get to wheel in and stick their name on it?
If that's the way the community wants to go... some suggestion for sponsors:
Budweiser Field (for those parents that like to enjoy youth athletics with their evening brewski)
Sassy Sinsations Park (which one is the convenient make out spot these days)
Victoria Secret Pool (bound to motivate more adult males to purchase pool passes)
Harvard High School (now every proud Lebo parent will honestly able to put a bumper sticker on their car proclaiming "my kids attending Harvard!" think of what it'll do for property values. As prospective home buyers drive around they think, "wow what a great school district, all the graduates go to Harvard.")
Nobody gets everything, and that applies to ML, too.
ReplyDeleteI hope Mr. Trant isn't comparing Cranberry to us, because it simply can't be done. ML is 100 years old, almost completely built up and contains a gracious housing stock on largely narrow streets.
Is it really worth it to pay so much money for turf? How did generations of sports players survive on plain old grass?
Costs are so high these days that I think non-mandatory projects should not be done without the consent of the voters. After all, there's a limit to everything and we've reached it here.
Sorry, Mr. Trant, but with all due respect while you may be a "strategy officer" it doesn't appear that you took the time to understand the possibility of a more cost-effective solution to the high school renovation. If you had, you wouldn't be celebrating the direction the project has taken.
ReplyDeleteSpending money unnecessarily does not indicate progress.
Methinks this guy ought to move to Cranberry, the sooner the better. He lacks the knowledge or the willingness to accept, just like the *gimmie*, entitlement helicopter parents, that 78 % of our households do not have children in the school district, will likely never use the fields or pool.
ReplyDeletePlay your scare card that if we don't play your game people won't move here and property values will plummet. We haven't spent beans on recreation here in years, but talk to the realtors - it's a sellers market. Demand exceeds supply !
No, no, no, no, no!
ReplyDeleteCommissioner Fraasch worked hard to incorporate the entire community's best interests in her proposal.
Thank you, Kelly.
How much did it cost the taxpayers to publish Mr. Trant's letter on the municipal web site and publication? How much did it cost the taxpayers to publish Mr. Trant's letter here? Why do we rely on those communication models when there are less expensive alternatives?
ReplyDeleteI have been instructed to direct any questions you have to Susan Morgans. She can be reached at smorgans@mtlebanon.org. I have been told that both the magazine and website are funded through advertising and at no cost to the taxpayer. While you are reading Lebomag, vote on their beverage poll. I am one of the nine who voted.
ReplyDeleteElaine
While I agree with some of the things in Mr. Trant's letter, I don't think a minority of households can qualify as a "silent majority." And, in Mt. Lebanon, households with children are outnumbered, two to one, by households without:
ReplyDelete4,048 households with one or more people under 18 years
8,996 households with no people under 18 years
(13,044 households total)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007-2009 American Community Survey
Yes, in Mt. Lebanon, we value what Mr. Trant calls "young families." Sometimes, it would seem, we value them to the point that we take Mt. Lebanon's other households for granted.
Excellent point Mr. Moertel. Mr. Trant makes a number of assumptions several of which are open to debate. He wrote: "The Mt. Lebanon School Board made the tough decision, based on well-founded analysis from their staff and experts, to invest in the future of our children."
ReplyDeleteHe's correct the School Board made a tough decision, but he may not have arrived here in time to have attended the DeJong analysis of the high school project and it's conclusions. One conclusion of the study was that the community didn't want to spend over $100,000,000. The majority set the limit at more like $80,000,000.
As to whether it was a good or a bad investment remains to be seen. Early indications, like budget cuts, change orders and the districts involvement with Pursuant Ketchum to find contributions in the magnitude of $30,000,000 doesn't seem to support that investment strategy.
Thanks to Mr. Moertel for pointing out the obvious: while the young may be the future, they learn from the past.
ReplyDeleteThe experience and knowledge of the majority of our adult residents are being ignored to meet the whims of a few.
I love how a few posters on this blog assume they know how ALL of our older residents feel about Recreation spending and fields. You guys need to turn off the computers and get out more. A large portion of our senior population fully sports Rec spending, including fields. These groups are also appropriately represented in Commissioner Fraasch's proposal. Thanks for adding your two cents Mr. Trant. Don't let the hecklers get you down.
ReplyDeleteWho granted permission to publish this letter in MtL? Doesn't the publication policy prohibit the publication of political positions? Angry residents should contact Steve Feller and the Commission to demand equal time!
ReplyDeleteMe thinks Mrs. Morgans succumbed to an itchy trigger finger when she read the words "fear of being criticized by the vocal minority". Aren't you and Mr. Lewis perceived as such, Elaine?
ReplyDeleteI have been instructed to ask you to direct your questions to Susan Morgans, the Public Information Officer. She can be reached at smorgans@mtlebanon.org.
ReplyDelete(shhhh, 8:10 AM. Yes, we are.)
Elaine
12:58 AM, readers can send their emails to sfeller@mtlebanon.org and/ or commission@mtlebanon.org
ReplyDeleteI don't have an old copy of MTL magazine, so I am not sure of the publication policy. I do know that when a few of us were mailing hundreds of letters to residents who did not take advantage of the Homestead Exclusion, I asked Susan Morgans if she would put something in MTL announcing the tax/rent relief link on my website. She said that they do not promote websites that are political in nature. Of course, we saw the smiling faces of the Real Lebo gals promoting their blog. It's who you know around here.
Make sure you vote on the new poll at Lebomag.com. "What was your favorite Mt. Lebanon event this summer?" There is only one vote so far and it isn't mine. My favorite was the Garden Tour.
Elaine
This is a perfect example of why this community is going down hill.
ReplyDeleteMr. Trant writes a letter, a good letter and he is certainly allowed to express his opinion. Though Mr. Trant bases his opinion on several obviously incorrect facts, one of which Mr. Moertel points out. No problem so far, right. In a free country everyone is entitled to an open discussion.
Unfortunately, 11:33 enters the discussion, making wild acquisitions, claiming things were written that weren't and calling names. So now the sides are lining up and discord is off to the races.
Part of the problem in the community today is cause by the MTL magazine propaganda machine and the public information officer.
She couldn't wait (or was ordered) to get Mr. Trant's letter out to the community because it supports youth sports! Morgans as PIO knows the demographics of the community as well Mr. Moertel. But no footnote appears correcting his conclusion accompanying the letter.
I'm not upset with Mr. Trant, it's great that he is getting involved and hopefully he will get more involved as I'm sure like every resident he has something to contribute.
It's the beaurcratic machine, protecting their turf, spewing misinformation and propaganda that is ruining this community.
MTLmagazine doesn't pick sides, bull! If she made the decision to publish the letter she should be gone. If she was instructed to publish it that person should be out.
I'm tired of the proponents, the magazine goes straight from the mailbox to the trash.
Last sentence should read - I'm tired of the propaganda not proponents as auto check decided to insert. Though maybe it knew who is promoting the propaganda ( youth sports people) and decided the correction was appropriate.
ReplyDeleteI am confused by some of the comments on this story. Mr. Trant is simply advocating for something to be done. He seems to be fed up with the constant talk about deer (my goodness so am I) and wants to actually see something done with our run down parks.
ReplyDeleteYes, he may not know the whole history of the story (for instance he seems to view the High School Project as something that went pretty quickly, however, he just moved here in 2006/2007- he probably has no idea that the conversation started in 2000) but he is on the right track.
Something needs done. There is a plan out there right now and I get the feeling this guy would support the plan to invest in recreation, not just in a turfed field.
We haven't seen the parks in decent shape until this year. Not sure why, I have heard the person to credit is Commissioner Fraasch. How many of those anti-turf or pro-Kelley Fraasch's rec proposal have advocated as such to the Commission? I can only bet the pro-turf folks are emailing the Commission. Franklin is probably daily.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't speak out soon, no one can say anything when they are rolling out the green carpet on Middle/Wildcat that cost $1.5m and will only last 10 years at best.
And no one that I know is arguing against some things need to be done.
ReplyDeleteThe question is what is most pressing, what can we afford and how much if any should we borrow.
I would think a mower at the golf course is a necessity otherwise the course will deteriorate to the point no one will play it. If the is the end game maybe we should sell it off to a developer now rather than later.
The pool in my mind needs something. A zero entry new design maybe, maybe not. The bath house and snack bar though have sucked for years.
Fields, personally I think we have enough since most are empty practically every time I drive by. Are they stressed perhaps but that isn't because we don't have enough but rather because everyone wants them at the same time.
Kind of like trying to get in to town. At 8:00 am every road is jam packed beyond capacity. But for the rest of the day getting to town is a breeze.
Now we could build a few more bridges, a few more tunnels, but there's no money, no land and no budget to maintain it once we do.
Somehow the South Hills has still prospered. Our athletes will too without new fields as they have always done.
Don't believe the scare tactics that some how if we don't invest millions in sports fields our kids will turn into listless piles of fat and flesh.
Elaine, what is this "I have been instructed" stuff?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.470.org/userfiles/gallery/main/OG12-tt-22522.jpg
ReplyDeleteHi Mt. Lebanon taxpayers, I'm a Mt. Lebanon kid and I'm sitting in my house doing nuthin. You see I'd love to participate in the Summer Olympics someday (see above link) but unfortunately there's no available space for me to practice or compete.
I don't think its fair that people want to spend a million zillion dollars on fields while there's nowhere for me to tactics my sport. We have fields now.
Why can't we expand Mt. Lebanon lake and purchase some 470s for us Olympic hopefuls. It's not fair.
2:51 PM, I was at a commission meeting one time, actually it happened twice. Susan Morgans was a little cranky with me and the blog, which she doesn't read BTW. Anytime someone has a question or an issue pertaining to the PIO,, she wants me to ask my readers to email her directly. Oops. Maybe I should have asked you to do the same. smorgans@mtlebanon.org. Sorry, Susan, even though you don't read my blog.
ReplyDeleteElaine
2:51 it's called Cedar or Cedarhurst Lake and is Lebo's best kept secret.
ReplyDeleteDon't hold your breathe though waiting for someone to lobby for your sport, even the school districts oldest coed sport was told to take a hike while at the same time they discuss spending more on school fields while asking the YSA to contribute less money. You're right though, life isn't fair and you don't always get what you want. Good thing you're learning that now.
Wow, I didn't even know we had a lake, but apparently we do.
ReplyDeleteIn a 1945 newspaper article that called it a Death Lake it mentions that it was stocked with fish.
How come we let this gem go unused. I love to fish and so do many of my neighbors. Isn't that recreation? Now Peters got nothing on us.
I believe the lake is private property.
ReplyDeleteElaine
If 2:51 was written by a kid, then I'm Batman. gimme a break.
ReplyDelete"This town would be different without..." petty little autocrats whose egos and inflated sense of importance get in the way of bringing together a community. Publish that one, O-Mighty Morgans!
ReplyDeleteElaine,
ReplyDeleteLet me get this straight, the PIO gave you her direct email address and recommended that you give it to your readers and encourage them to contact her directly.
Ummmm...am I missing something? How is that a negative? It is exactly what the PIO should have done and your attempts to characterize it as something other than excellent responsiveness to taxpayer concerns are (a) predictable and (b) truly absurd.
Boo-hoo, the PIO was "cranky" with you not once but twice (so glad you are keeping score, it's a healthy thing to do). Well, you showed her with your clever "I have been instructed..." routine.
And for the record, do you know how CRANKY I and most people would be if we had to deal with busybodies like you at our job? I'm guessing you've heard it before, but get a life or in terms you can udnerstand: "You have been instructed to get a life."
Ooooh testy today 4:57 aren't we!
ReplyDeleteChill a little bit, grab a couple brewski's and head for the nearest youth sports venue and relax. You'll feel much better returning to work in the morning.
Is it true 5:37 that at one time they considered changing the name of the magazine to mtl Pravda?
ReplyDeleteAnother question, why is the name in lower case letters? TIME, LIFE, USNews, Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, US all use Capitals and lower case letters. Is this a subtle message that "community" is a minor interest?
Following Oprah's lead they could have called it "M", that would have been more appropriate.
ReplyDelete