At the last commission meeting, John Bendel was the only commissioner opposed to replacing bricks with asphalt on Rae Avenue. His reason? He was concerned about preserving the integrity of that neighborhood.
In the Trib's article Mt. Lebanon residents opposed to loss of brick roads, Bendel was quoted as saying, “The brick streets, they give our neighborhoods character, and preserving them is key to preserving the historical nature of those neighborhoods.” What a hypocrite.
A few months ago, I contacted the Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board regarding the fields in the historic district of Mt. Lebanon. See Dear Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board.
Recently, I had sent this to the Historic Preservation Board.
My frustration is that you are speaking to the Commission and asking them to spend $140,000 more for bricks on Rae Avenue, in order to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood, while looking the other way while the Commission spends $800,000 to destroy the integrity of our historic fields, one of the last green spaces in Mt. Lebanon, as you described in your application. You could have had a portion of the unassigned funds for bricks, had you gotten involved. Do you even know how Wildcat got its name? I lived in Mt. Lebanon most of my life and have a passion for preserving the integrity of our community. Where's your passion?After further communication from Historic Preservation Board member Bill Callahan, I questioned their silence concerning preserving the historic fields on Cedar Blvd.
Your commission liaison, Mr. Bendel, has not informed you of these plans. Why is that?This is another example of commissioners' friends staying quiet on the artificial turf project. We have a bunch of "sheeple" on our Boards now.
The Parks Advisory Board and the Environmental Sustainability Board has weighed in on the artificial turf, yet the Historic Preservation Board has been silent. Your chair person has gone to the podium on several occasions concerning bricks, yet never once commented on the removal of one of our last green spaces in Mt. Lebanon. Surely, you have seen the signs all over Mt. Lebanon about artificial turf. Have you even questioned your municipal liaison, Susan Morgans or your commission liaison, John Bendel about this project? Why is that?
I have sat at Commission Discussion Sessions where you and the Board Chair have discussed the application for the National Register. I have seen your picture with Dan Miller, but never once has the subject of artificial turf changing the integrity of our historical fields been brought up. Why is that?
Again, I ask you folks, where is your passion to preserve the integrity of these historical grass fields on Cedar Blvd.?
Update August 21, 2014 7:58 AM Meanwhile, players are threatening legal action over artificial turf at the 2015 Women's World Cup.
Players threaten legal action over artificial turf at Women's World Cup “Consigning women to a second-class surface is gender discrimination that violates European charters and numerous provisions of Canadian law.”
Players retain legal counsel in fight against artificial turf at 2015 Women's World Cup
“We’ve worked so hard as female athletes – not only here in the United States, but internationally – to grow the game and in my opinion I think this is taking a step back. All of the men’s international players around the world would argue the same point. A lot of these guys will not play on an artificial surface because it is an injury-prone surface and I don’t blame them.”
Update August 21, 2014 10:48 AM A Lebo Citizens reader sent me this photo and note:
These injuries are from playing soccer on turf. This women is a World Cup player. Men World Cup players won't play soccer on turf because of this type of injury. Can you imagine if kids came home with these types of injuries from Lebo turf?
Update August 24, 2014 4:20 PM
Alex Morgan upset about 159 degrees temps on turf field
From Twitter: 159 degrees on soccer field
| Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) | |
|
The temperature of the Turf field today. How is this healthy for us??? #Grass2015#GrassNotTurf pic.twitter.com/YEnnVApra3
| |
23 comments:
The HPB is backward thinking and expensive. If we keep them they will ask for outhouse plumbing and dirt roads.
10:51, I don't know if it is as black and white as you make it regarding the HPB.
Thank God people understood the historical significance of keeping the B wing of the high school and what it stood for.
Proponents, many of them BOSNers, wanted to tear it down and replace it with a completely new, Walmart-like structure. They claimed that the B wing couldn't be brought up to 21st educational standards, yet now Steinhauer has no problem showing off the 21st century classrooms in it.
There is a place for preservation and spending a little more in my opinion, to do so. That said, I'm not sure a rebricking a secondary street is worth it.
Does anyone miss the bricks on Castle Shannon Blvd from Sunset to Mt. Lebanon Blvd? How about the bricks on Mt. Lebanon Blvd. from about McDonalds that were replaced with asphalt?
Baaaa...
A. Boardmember
Hey Mt Lebanon-
You may or may not like brick streets. It doesn't matter if you like them or want them or live on Rae or CS Blvd. It doesn't matter if they last 4 times as long as asphalt, look better, or are 10x more permeable and green.
What matters is whether your government and municipal leadership have integrity.
Currently, Mt Lebanon's historic district is undergoing review with the National Historic Register.
On their application, brick streets on Rae & Castle Shannon Blvd and the grassy Middle/Wildcat fields are contributing characteristics of the historic district.
How can this town continue to destroy its historic features while also seeking to benefit from historic district qualifications at the state and national level? Think of the tax breaks, grants, credits that our municipal government is seeking through this designation while at the VERY SAME TIME, carelessly destroying features of the historic district.
How low can Mt Lebanon go?
Good point 12:14.
If the municipality is going to go after a historical designation it better be prepared to live up to all that it means.
If we're going to brick streets they should remain pristine, not rutted washboards. If our parks/fields are historic, million dollar turfings every 8 years don't reflect much history and suck up cash that could go to real preservation.
http://www.sptimes.com/News/10599/NorthPinellas/Largo_s_brick_streets.html
"Mayor Thomas Feaster has encouraged residents to come up with ideas for how to pay for the brick streets' difference in cost.
So far, people are looking at other budget items in city redevelopment plans as possible sacrifices for the brick streets.
Largo has budgeted $793,000 for landscaping along roads and parking lots downtown. Williams thinks the city could hold off on some of the trees and other accents to free up money for the bricks.
"To me, that's a legitimate thing to ask," Williams said. "If I have to sacrifice this, so they can have almost $1-million worth of landscaping. . . ."
Hmmm, I wonder if Commissioner Bendel will sacrifice artificial turf for the brick roads. Largo's Mayor thought it a legitimate thing to ask in his town.
With the municipality's bond rating drop it might be a good time to look a lot harder at wants and needs and decide which things can be sacrificed.
We've been put on notice that we can't tax and borrow forever.
Didn't Brumfield say something along the line that he read nothing negative about artificial turf?
I wonder if this comment from a top goalie in women's soccer in Sports Illustrated would count.
"Current FIFA Women's World Player of the Year Nadine Angerer, the German national team goalkeeper, told SI.com she’ll do whatever she can to ensure the World Cup is played on natural grass, just like every previous senior Women’s World Cup.
“From the perspective of goalkeepers, we have to jump on this concrete,” Angerer said. “We are landing all the time, and it’s really bad. I played just a few weeks ago in Vancouver on this turf [in a Germany-Canada friendly], and it’s really embarrassing. Seriously, it’s concrete.”"
Doesn't appear that Nadine Angerer will look at our turfed field as a "crown jewel."
And please don't tell me these women aren't talking about FieldTurf. Nowhere do they say - we want to play on FieldTurf. They want natural grass.
It's not too late for the commissioners to change their minds. The contract has not been signed.
Do the right thing, Commissioners and STOP THE PROJECT. Stop it to preserve the historical integrity of our fields and neighborhoods. Stop it for the environment. Stop it for our bond rating. Stop it for the flood victims. And most importantly, stop it for the health and safety of our kids.
Elaine
Too bad Kristen has a friend at PennFuture and Next Pittsburgh. Normally, PennFuture would be fighting for the preservation of the natural, scenic and
historic values in the environment and preservation of forests, wetlands, aquifers and floodplains. A LEGAL ANALYSIS OF RIPARIAN BUFFER ORDINANCES IN PENNSYLVANIA
Elaine
You know there might be something just as bad as the "Good Old Boy Network" and that is the "Good Old Girls Network."
I would encourage anyone to drive down Rae and see how "historic" this crappy brick road looks.
I get there are areas where we want to preserve our history but Rae isn't it. 1/3 of the upper part of the road had its bricks removed years ago and the rest looks like a patchwork job with different colored brick filling in where previous construction took place.
If the residents truly want to preserve the funding, then they can come up with it. Or heck, Bendel can defund turf in an instant to fund this road.
In fact, if Bendel was serious about this, he would have asked the commission to defund the turf and redirect funding to Rae.
It shows he is clearly more serious about turfing than historic preservation.
8:10 AM, all four commissioners who voted to fund the turf project can unvote it. They all have the power to redirect the funds to a more worthwhile project. The turf project will most likely come back costing much more than anticipated. If there was no problem with the plan, I would think the permit would have been issued by now. It is only common sense. And with Gateway's history with Brafferton and other projects, I would expect it to go the same way with this project. It's not over yet, Folks.
Perhaps the commissioners will come to their senses and see that there are many more pressing needs than putting in expensive, toxic turf in an area prone to flooding.
Elaine
From the Trib--
"The bids for the Mapleton project contained multiple options that would have retained or replaced the brick along Rae Avenue, but the commission majority chose the cheaper option to replace it with asphalt.
The total contract for sewer work and road reconstruction was $2.63 million, but it would have been $2.97 million to resurface Rae Avenue with new brick or $3.02 million to clean and replace the existing bricks, Manager Steve Feller said."
I don't get it, pressure to spend an extra $340,000 to rebrick a street that is-- for lack of a better term-- deep in the bowels of Mt. Lebanon and we've debated and dragged our feet on less expensive, but very practical items like making crosswalks safer. We started one, there are other crosswalks that could benefit from the safety enhancements.
From a purely historic or aesthetic approach, I could understand if we were debating say, a Grant Street-like bricking of the Beverly Road business section or around the Clearview Commons intersection of Washington Road, but $340,000 for a seldom seen or travelled residential street... seriously????
I wonder, does installing speed bumps on the streets surrounding Rae preserve the historical charm of the neighborhood as well?
"Historic Preservation" is one of those terms that sounds good and, if it were applied to certain public buildings, would likely get overwhelming support if placed on a referendum ballot. But I would caution the residents of Mt. Lebanon to guard against embracing "historic preservation" without limitations. I have seen the effect of "historic preservation" in at least one town - East Hampton, New York - where I lived during the late 1960's; it had its good and bad features. With that in mind, and given the character of the times, here are some points to ponder:
1. "Historic Preservation" affects neighborhoods or towns so designated differently than it does individual public buildings. Private property in such designated areas will be subjected to more regulation than is currently the case. Homeowners (if that term may be accurately applied) will also be subject to the whims of the "governing body" charged with seeing that homes conform to "the character of the community." Certain modern innovations might be proscribed, as well as such items at paint colors, changes to home design or footprint, etc. Homeowners in such designated areas will be subject to frequent "inspections" and possible fines - if they have the effrontery to behave like free Americans.
2. "Historic Preservation" may be an expedient to settling disputes between neighbors over trivial disagreements.
3. During a time when the commission proclaims its desire to attract "new, young families*" into the municipality, "Historic Preservation" will likely impede sales of homes to such families. Although Millennials (aged 18 to 29) are unlikely to be able to afford to buy homes in Lebo anyway, Gen-X'ers (roughly 30 to 45), likely the target group the commission would like to attract, are not as memorized by "history" as are members of the current "older demographic." I base that statement on studies from the Reason Foundation concerning issues Gen-X'ers feel are important. Gen-X'ers are more likely to desire safe communities with good schools and well-maintained infrastructures; they don't want to be "nannied" or have artificial restrictions placed on them.
4. "Historic Preservation," when it is applied to neighborhoods or communities, assures that certain political factions maintain and consolidate their power while forcing "undesirables" out of their homes. This "power grab" opens the door to discrimination under the cover of "public good."
None of the aforementioned items may happen here - and I am not implying that the people who are pushing for "Historic Preservation" of neighborhoods are "bad people"; but the specter of possible "omnipotent moral busybodies" insinuating themselves into someone's personal life ought not to be discounted. As Henry David Thoreau once observed, "If I knew ... that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life."
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*I recently wrote to the Mt. Lebanon Commission, asking the members to define the target demographic they intended to attract with their artificial field turf. I received only one reply - from Kelly Fraasch - who wrote, "I am not sure what demographic the Commission is looking at specifically because I don't think it has ever been discussed."
Where is Rae Street?
Richard, I suspect you never got an answer other than Kelly's, on who they are trying to attract is because none of them have ever delved into the goal. Their only reason for suggesting that turf is a magnet for families is because it makes for a good sound byte.
1:14, you don't know where Rae Street is. How gauche! This bricked street defines the historical character of Mt. Lebanon, didn't you move here because of it?
Bendel isn't really into historic preservation. He is currently seated on that board, and represents Ward 1 which includes VA Manor, where some residents would like to restrict development. He also lives on a brick street. If you hear him start talking about preserving park lets, just start holding your ears and singing "I can't hear you!" because it isn't true.
Until Mt Lebanon takes care of basic public safety and protection of public health, like flooding, every undertaking of this government and municipality will be divisive. Have fun with that, Bendel and Brumfield.
Where is Rae Street?
Rae Avenue is a cross street between Mapleton and Coolidge. There are 14 houses on the street. You can see the different road surfaces on the County website map.
Elaine
Commenting on neighborhoods, munis, etc....that insidiously want to invade people's lives, I am often reminded of the book, "Animal Farm." ML is not a private community, it is public.
Two houses on Newburn have their second set of speed bumps while other streets are not repaired. Newburn also had a storm water slice of the $4.2 million bond issue. Who has political pull on Newburn?
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