"You can't handle the truth!" UPDATED (Ongoing)

I have started to look at the granddaddy of all RTKs (that's what I am calling it for now.) I am not even one fourth of the way through, and I hear Jack Nicholson saying, "You can't handle the truth!"

The truth is over an email exchange between our Public Information Officer, Susan Morgans and Penn State's Andrew McNitt.

Susan writes, "The purpose of this meeting it [sic] NOT to discuss the potential harmful effects of artificial turf..."

Not to discuss the potential harmful effects of artificial turf? That wouldn't look good, now would it, Susan? Yes, I know that the PIO is paid to write fluff, but to intentionally avoid any discussions of potentially harmful effects is unethical, at least to me. I can't believe that even she would stoop that low.

May I remind Susan that she is being paid to disseminate information to residents of Mt. Lebanon, not to organize a "meeting tightly to control any potential problems."

I was relieved to see a police officer at Mellon that night. I remember how I felt threatened at the not for the general public public meeting on April 24. Little did I realize, he was there because of the "small but vocal minority of people who have come to oppose the project recently, long after it was voted on and plans made to move forward."

Update July 30, 2014 8:37 AM I took a quick glance at the RTK. I will be adding to this list throughout the day, but will not break it down by separate updates.

It turns out that Andrew McNitt has a separate business and billed Dan Deiseroth (Gateway) for $2500. He was not representing himself as an expert from Penn State.

John Bendel had his list of Q & A for the June 12 presentation on June 5. Here it is.

Bendel sure was prepared! He had Dan Deiseroth vetting Andrew McNitt. Obviously, McNitt gave the right answers. Here are his responses. Check out McNitt's answer to Item C.

I just love how Susan Morgans was ready for a scene. "We will have a police officer there, and if there is any disruptive behavior that person will need to leave. We cannot invite guests to speak at a meeting and have them publicly debased or bullied." I have scanned a few emails together since they relate to the June 12 "Field Enhancement" meeting. Read page 3 for Susan's justification for using words such as "field improvements" and "field surface."

"July 26, 2014 at 7:21 PM," I saw your letter with your email address redacted. I never did find a check from Gateway. You are welcome to review the RTK. Email me privately. Let me back up a minute. Part of the RTK was for all correspondence to/from municipal engineer Dan Deiseroth (Gateway Engineers) related to or regarding artificial turf within the dates October 1, 2013 - June 19, 2014. I think email records were sterilized. Not a trace of his check. I did find emails from SAB regarding the donation, but nothing other than that. What I did find concerning fundraising, "7:21 PM," was this. Any time that Deiseroth worked on the fundraising, was on him and would not be billed. What a guy.

Here is the email which states that Gateway had agreed to donate $4000 into the Mt. Lebanon Community Endowment Fund. That is why we never saw Gateway's check in the RTK or in the turf donation checks in a previous post.

Another example of lowballing an estimate: Dan Deiseroth estimates the replacement cost based on 108,000 sq. ft. instead of 110,000 sq. ft.

Turf Project Task Force Presentation downplays the true annual contribution. Read about their spin here.

Dan Deiseroth sent an email to J.T. Sauer saying that nobody from the TPTF wants organic infill, but they need to keep it on the table.

Here is a whopper. I don't know who to believe considering Kristen's tendency to "misrepresent." This email shows that the ESB President asked Kristen to insist on artificial turf.

Municipal Planner Keith McGill reminded a member of the Planning Board that the turf project is an improvement on an existing facility and all discussions for the turf project were in the Comprehensive Plan that was recommended by the Planning Board. There was never a presentation made to the Planning Board about the project. The issue of turf was discussed on numerous occasions during the very public 14 month long Comprehensive Plan update process, long before the decision to turf Middle and Wildcat Fields.

This is what my dining room table looks like at the moment. The box on the right contains all the documents I have scanned so far and uploaded here. The box on the left is filled with background information about the School District, which I have yet to review.

RTK 080214

More evidence of misrepresenting the ESB. This time, over the McNitt meeting.

Unfortunately, the text size is extremely small on this email exchange. It sound like sibling rivalry between Susan Morgans and Keith McGill. Kelly Fraasch is asking for more details about the June 12 McNitt meeting, since the ESB wants to reschedule their meeting which is scheduled for the same time. Kelly emailed Steve Feller and cc'ed Susan Morgans, Keith McGill, David Donnellan, Dan Deiseroth and the commission about how the public was told that Dr. McNitt would only be there if a toxicologist would also be attending. Kelly pointed out that they were not doing what they said.
Morgans responds to Feller and Bendel only: "Not answering. I did not hear the discussion or receive any such instructions."
Keith McGill: "What she said. Is someone from the health department willing to provide a written statement indicating that they have no objections to the project and that this is not a public health issue?"
Morgans: "Can we talk about this on Monday? This was David Donnellans and my assignment. I will be back on Monday or are you in charge now? Whatever, I do not think Health Dept. Is prepared to provide a written statement nor do I think it would be appropriate to ask them to do so, but we do have emails and phone conversations that could be summarized and I do not think the health department would mind. They clearly think this is a ridiculous first world problem. Is it possible that we just say no. Both UPMC and the health department have declined to participate and we can find no one with greater credibility to speak?"
McGill: "Steve Feller asked me to prepare an agenda based on Commissioner Bendel's email, which is what I did. I have more than enough of my own work to do. I would suggest you discuss with Steve on Monday."

It was Dan Desieroth's suggestion to bring in Andrew McNitt. Dan said that McNitt is a neutral third party from Penn State.

Update August 6, 2014 8:49 AM As promised in my "Cedar Blvd. Closed Due To Flooding" comment, here is the email which Dave Franklin sent to four of the five commissioners, with the subject heading Turf & Environmental Issues. Sorry, Kelly, you don't count. In addition, Franklin takes a couple jabs at the ESB. I did not scan the 36 page report because the print is too small. Here is a link to the report, from the Field Turf website. Is it possible that this report is what Kristen Linfante alluded to when she said that they based their decision on information that we don't have?

ESB member Pam Scott asked David Donnellan to provide some facts for J.T.Sauer's "extrapolation" that we don't need to worry about health effects from recycled tires. David forward her email to Dan Deiseroth and asked him to prepare a response to Pam's inquiry. Here is the email exchange.  The lead was found in and around fields in NJ which was a chemical plant and not from the turf.

But in June 2014, Deiseroth warns people not to say that anything is lead free. Andy McNitt weighs in on US Standards for lead levels.

I am not a fan of Dave Franklin, but he said something in the RTK that made me laugh. It was about the plaza and the donor sign that Dan Deiseroth designed for Middle and Wildcat Fields. He wanted to know whose idea was the plaza and donor wall. It was never discussed at a SAB meeting or a Turf Task Force meeting or a commission meeting. Here is the quote that is classic. "We're changing out grass for turf, not constructing a stadium."

Remember the not for the general public public meeting on April 24, 2014? Here is the map showing which properties were invited to the meeting on Vee Lynn and Cedar Blvd.

Kelly Fraasch continued to forward studies on the hazards of tire crumb infill to fellow commissioners, Steve Feller, Phil Weis, and Dan Deiseroth. Thank you Kelly, for standing up for us. Here is the link to Kelly's email of studies on the dangers of recycled tire crumb rubber.

I will be cross posting this next one under Cedar Blvd. Closed Due to Flooding. Read what Tim White says about addressing water run  off - "Something to appease the ESB people and diffuse Kelly F." White is going after the ESB again.

This may be the reason why Dave Franklin was pushing Fieldturf so much. Fieldturf offers a $50K grant. The NFL offers grants, but we will never know who donated, will we?

Why GeoTurf and the ESB never had a chance UPDATED 2X

The lies started on November 25, 2013, when Kristen Linfante misrepresented the Environmental Sustainability Board's position on artificial turf.

No, actually it started before that. Back on November 20, 2013, Larry Evans, a retired FieldTurf guy from Mt. Lebanon contacted Kelly Fraasch and suggested that she call Penn State's Andrew McNitt for information about GeoTurf. Kelly followed up with an email to McNitt. Evans had contacted GeoTurf and said that he was a consultant to the commission. What Evans failed to disclose to Kelly was that McNitt had a partnership with FieldTurf and asking for his opinion of GeoTurf is like asking Coke their opinion of Pepsi. FieldTurf on GeoTurf Also in the email link, is an exchange that John Bendel had with the GeoTurf representative. The rep also indicated that irrigation is not needed with GeoTurf because it performs well in our climate. John seemed receptive to GeoTurf's product. But Dave Franklin was not. And we all know Dave Franklin's position on the EPA.

Hellas/GeoTurf provided their references here:
Hellas Reference List pages 1-66

In January, GeoTurf Contact info from 1st Turf Project Task Force Meeting Minutes is on page 68. But something happened in February. GeoTurf missing on vendor list from 2nd Turf Project Task Force Meeting Minutes page 70

In fact, there are two DIFFERENT sets of SAB meeting agendas for February 6, 2014.
From the Municipal website with no mention of the ESB's position on artificial turf
SAB meeting agenda from my RTK See page 126, item #5 ESB Position on Artificial Turf. Mt. Lebanon falsifies official records of its agencies! The meeting minutes skip #5.

FieldTurf - Turf Vendor Questions page 164 "Synthetic turf poses no health risks." Yet, the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) released a consensus statement GUIDELINES TO PREVENT SUDDEN DEATH IN SECONDARY SCHOOL ATHLETICS PROGRAMS In Maryland, schools canceled outdoor activities when it was 93º outside. It was too risky for athletes playing on artificial turf. 

On a side note, I found the Mt. Lebanon Community Endowment contract on pages 128-162.

On Monday's Discussion Session agenda is Dr. Phil Johnson. He will speak about the health and well-being of our populations – including pregnant persons, infants, children, those with respiratory disease including asthma, those with allergies, those with neurodisabilities or disorders; those with cancer or surviving cancer; and those at risk of developing cancer. You can read his letter to the residents of Mt. Lebanon here.
Funny how the second item on the agenda, Wildcat/Middle turf improvements, follows an update from Republic, our new trash collectors.

It's not over! Public Hearing on Unassigned Funds July 8 will be introduced at Monday's Commission meeting by John Bendel. Look at the first item on the list. Also on July 8, the funds will be allocated and the turf bid will be awarded.

Update June 22, 2014 12:07 PM Kelly Fraasch sent out this email yesterday about tomorrow's meeting on artificial turf.

Update June 22, 2014 1:10 PM A suggestion was made to me this morning. Since the public is not permitted to speak during Discussion Sessions, we should wear our "No Artificial Turf" stickers or print out this sign, I [Heart] Lebo Sports on shirts or on paper for both meetings.  

"Field Enhancements" Project meeting recap UPDATED 3X

I have been saving some photos, waiting for the right time to share them on Lebo Citizens. I think it is the right time.

Tonight, Dan Deiseroth talked about flooding on Cedar Blvd. He said that Dixon floods, but never Middle and Wildcat Fields. Evidently, those fields have higher elevations and are not in the FEMA designated floodplain.

Here are some pics of the Wildcat Parking Lot flooding on May 28, 2014.

Wildcat Parking Lot flooding 05.28.14

Wildcat Parking Lot flooding 05.28.14

Wildcat Parking Lot flooding 05.28.14

Wildcat Parking Lot flooding 05.28.14

Wildcat Parking Lot flooding 05.28.14

The following photos illustrate the higher elevations as explained tonight at the "Field Enhancements" meeting. The bids show that fields are at "grade (street) level." The fields are far below Cedar Blvd, and obviously below the pool.

There was mention of an Add Alternate for a storm water filtration system. Here is what I was able to get from the bids.

Dan, feel free to use any of these photos in your next presentation. I am glad that the one you showed tonight was helpful for your business. I know who reads my blog because they recognized the photo immediately. Thanks for reading, Folks!

What I learned tonight is that Andy McNitt is not a toxicologist. The ESB was not given the plans, as David Donnellan claimed. I need to listen to the podcast because I think he mentioned other boards, as well. I learned that fresh strawberries are dangerous. And that artificial turf is perfectly safe, since there are poisons all around us.

Readers, feel free to share your thoughts about tonight's "Field Enhancements" meeting. I found out that our PIO coined that phrase since "artificial turf" has a negative connotation. Yes, I certainly feel better about it.

The podcast has been uploaded on to lebocitizens.com It is also available here.

Update June 13, 2014 2:35 PM Here is what Google Earth says about the elevations of Dixon, Middle, and Wildcat Fields.

Update June 14, 2014 2:40 PM I received Addendum #2 from Gateway Engineers on Thursday, June 12, 2014 at 4:10 PM. It includes:

 4.2. Per grading plan there is fill installation required to raise the southwest corner to elevation.

Specification changes include:

Update June 15, 2014 7:10 PM Here is the information I promised from the RTK concerning pitching mounds on Middle and Wildcat Fields.

Drum roll, please. The panel includes...

The panel for the "Field Enhancements" forum is...

From: John Bendel <jbendel@mtlebanon.org>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc: commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>
Sent: Wed, Jun 11, 2014 10:48 pm
Subject: Re: Thursday's panel

Elaine,

The panel

I will moderate the panel and provide background on the project

Others on the panel:

David Donnellan - field use, Work of turf task force, SAB

Dan Deiseroth, Jim Sauer - project design, storm water, bid specifications, timeline

Andrew McNitt, PSU

The presentations will be followed by question and answer period.

______________________

Don't miss this!!!

My buddy, Mr. Gill, VP from FieldTurf and Andrew McNitt are in the news together.

FieldTurf, Penn State Partner in New Center for Sports Surfaces

Darren Gill is in the news a lot these days. See here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/06/11/5893155/arlington-school-district-hits.html?rh=1

The case is here: http://media.star-telegram.com/smedia/2014/06/11/17/12/7gZpb.So.58.pdf

A first grade level science experiment

A first grade level science experiment was conducted at the Mt Lebanon High School Astroturf on Saturday, June 7 in the afternoon.

An inexpensive combined thermometer/hydrometer device was placed on the turf and given approximately 5 minutes to register the surface temperature of the turf. 

Two iPhones opened to two different weather apps (the iPhone Weather App and Accuweather) were placed beside the device. 

Within a few minutes, the hydrometer failed and registered as “LL”. 

After 5 minutes, a picture was taken of the thermometer reading next to the two iPhone weather apps.

The first photo illustrates the time/date/weather readings on either side of the device at 3:59 pm. The air temperature was 78, with a “real feel” from Accuweather as 89. The turf thermometer registered as 107.2 and no “real feel” was calculable. 

As the thermometer appeared to be rising from the 3:59 pm reading, the first grade level scientists decided to do some observational data collection and give the thermometer a few more minutes to register the turf surface temperature. 

The second photo illustrates the time/date/weather readings on either side of the gauge at 4:06 pm. The air temperature was 79, with a “real feel” from Accuweather as 85. The turf thermometer registered as 113.7 and again, no “real feel” was calculable. 

Some observations: sweaty children were playing barefoot on the turf, children were seated and crowding into the shade of stacked graduation chairs for relief from the heat, crumb rubber was stuck to children’s feet, empty plastic water and sports drinks bottles were scattered throughout the field, an odor was present on the track, and no warnings regarding health or safety were included on the signage provided by Astroturf. 

A third temperature reading was not provided because the first grade level scientists were beginning to feel overheated by their study experience. 

Back home in air conditioning, a Google Scholar search including the words “heat synthetic turf McNitt” reveals 157 results. 

Maybe Dr. McNitt can enlighten Mt Lebanon about heat issues with respect to synthetic turf during the evening Middle/Wildcat field enhancements symposium on Thursday, June 12. 

Until then, these scientists are cooling their feet in the grass. Organic, of course.

Bend it with Bendel

According to the press release issued by PIO Susan Morgans, Commission Vice President and Sports Advisory Board member John Bendel will be facilitating the $11,000 Infomercial at Mellon Auditorium on June 12.

The purpose of this meeting is to update Mt. Lebanon residents about the Middle/Wildcat "Field Improvements" a.k.a. Artificial Turf Project with an unbiased toxicologist and the unbiased Director of the Center for Sports Surface Research at Penn State, Andrew McNitt. It was revealed that Penn State and FieldTurf, an artificial turf company, formed a partnership in July 2009. The cost of this public outreach will be $11,000, according to Municipal Engineer Dan Deiseroth, from Gateway Engineering. You may recall that Gateway made the first contribution of $4,000 to the non-municipal portion of the the project. In the press release, there was no mention of a toxicologist or Penn State. Susan Morgans writes:

Commission Vice President John Bendel will facilitate the meeting, at which he and several consultants will speak and provide audio-visual presentations. 

"Bend it with Bendel" has never seen any documentation that states that artificial turf is unsafe. That translates to "Artificial Turf - proven to be safe!" It must be true. At least that is what the pro-turf signs indicate.

In the same Almanac article

Commissioner Kelly Fraasch then proposed that all Turf Task Force meetings be open to the public. She said other municipal task forces, such as the one handling a possible pay-as-you-throw trash program, were open for any member of the public to attend. Yet, some residents said they had been turned away from task force meetings related to the turf project.

In response, commissioner Dave Brumfield seemed to waver. He said he would like to hear from commissioner John Bendel, who was absent from the meeting, before offering a final opinion.

“I don’t have a problem with those meetings being public,” Brumfield said, “but they are not required to be public. I would want to hear what John has to say.”

We never did hear what John Bendel had to say. We didn't because I didn't ask him during Citizen Comments. The only way we got the SAB Financial Report at the last meeting is because I asked him point blank at the commission meeting. And if I don't ask, they don't tell. Brumfield didn't ask (of course!) and Kelly Fraasch never followed up.

"Bend it with Bendel" told us that the non-municipal funds were due May 15. Now, they are due before the commission awards the contract. Bid opening is June 17. I would guess that the contract would be awarded at the June 23 Commission meeting. That bought the SAB more than a month's time to raise the $250,000.

Another statement the PA governor hopeful made is that there is no Phase 2 to the project. However, on page 64 and 65 of the 2014 Manager's Recommended Budget 

23 Athletic Field Improvements. Installation of artificial turf and lights at Wildcat and Middle Fields $1,050,000.

Bendel, the one who has never heard anything bad about artificial turf, will end the June 12 Informercial, by addressing questions "suggested by the audience." That means there will be no Q & A. Future Gov. Bendel will be in control of the entire dog and pony show. My suggestion at the last commission meeting was to cancel this $11,000 Informercial and use the money toward fixing some roads. 

Turf Project is Out For Bid

Remember this photo that I had on my February 25, 2014 blog posting, Commissioner Franklin has Susan's ear UPDATED 2X?

Turns out, I nailed it. Here is the Mt. Lebanon Flood Zone map, directly from the municipal website. Middle and Wildcat Fields are located in Panel 0456. Any panel highlighted in pink contains a flood zone. The blue areas are the flood zones according to FEMA.

Gateway Engineers swears that the fields have never flooded. We know better than that, right?

So, the project continues...

According to the timeline from the Turf Project Task Force Recommendations made on February 11, 2014, the Project Schedule is as follows:

Design Development –Pending Commission 

Approval February/March 2014 

Construction Documents and Specifications 

April/May 2014 

Advertise for bids May 15, 2014 

Open Bids June 4, 2014 

Award Bids June 10th or 23rd 

Issue Notice to proceed and begin construction 

July 15, 2014 

Final Completion October 21, 2014 

We now know that May 15, 2014 was JT Sauer's deadline to submit to Gateway. The following information was pulled from the "Pittsburgh Builders Exchange," which requires a paid subscription. 

TURF RFP

This would be considered as a Request for Proposal (RFP). There are "bid documents" or "plans" associated with the RFP. These often include specifications, drawings, contract language, etc. Some times, the documents are provided at no costs in electronic format. Other times, such as this instance, there is a fee associated with them. For this project, the "plans" are to be obtained directly from the engineer and include a $75.00 non-refundable fee.

I guess this would be the time to announce the important LeboALERT I received on May 21, 2014.

This is an important notice from LeboALERT. Middle/Wildcat Fields improvement update meeting is Thurs., June 12, from 7 to 8:30 at Mellon Auditorium.

Pretty big venue for such a tiny "vocal minority." This meeting will also include Dr. Andrew McNitt, from the Penn State/FieldTurf Partnership, who will give us an "unbiased" opinion concerning the safety of artificial turf.

I hope that the Turf Project Task Force can get an "unbiased" opinion from financial advisors who have partnerships with FieldTurf who will tell us that we are making a sound investment.

Perhaps there is a FEMA/FieldTurf Partnership who will assure us that flooding is not an issue.

Finally, I am looking forward to hearing from the ESB/FieldTurf Partnership expert since June 12 is the next Mt. Lebanon Environmental Sustainability Board meeting. Gee, I wonder why that happened.

Middle/Wildcat Fields 05.24.14

Please sign this petition if you want to halt public funds for use of artificial turf at Wildcat and Middle Fields.

If you are interested in displaying an anti-artificial turf sign in your yard, email me at EGillen476@aol.com.

Update May 25, 2014 6:15 PM Requests to see the draft were ignored. Dan Deiseroth email to Kelly Fraasch.

Brumfield, Bendel and Gateway pulling another fast one? UPDATED 3X

This comment was published under the post, Gateway is billing us $1,000 per meeting on May 16, 2014 at 11:57 PM. 

Why are Deiseroth, Bendel and Brumfield inviting McNitt, who has a PARTNERSHIP WITH FIELDTURF at Penn State, to the community forum on the safety of synthetic turf?

TALK ABOUT BIAS

Darren Gill, Director of Marketing for Fieldturf, stated that Fieldturf looked for a university partner who can augment what is currently being done internally. “Truth be told, when we sought out this partnership, we only had one partner in mind, and that was Penn State, largely because of Dr. McNitt.”

In July 2009, Fieldturf launched the Center for Sports Surface Research within the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State.

NOTHING BIASED ABOUT THIS $11,000 PUBLIC FORUM

By the way, if Gateway doesn't attend the forum will the price go down to $2500?

After an entire day of rain on Thursday, it's Play Ball at Middle Field last night at 6 PM. Why do we need turf?

Right here in Mt. Lebanon...

Update May 18, 2014 11:15 AM Mt. Lebanon will have experts talk turf with residents (Saved in Google Docs)

Update May 18, 2014 11:32 AM A number of anti-turf yard signs have been stolen out of people's yards. Charlotte Stephenson sent this letter to the Commission early this morning.

From:	Charlotte Stephenson
To:	Commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>
Cc:	Dan Miller <DMiller@pahouse.net>; Coleman McDonough <cmcdonough@mtlebanon.org>
Subject:	Anti-turf Project Yard Signs
Date:	Sun, May 18, 2014 12:57 am

---

Dear Mt. Lebanon Commissioners,

A number of anti-artificial turf project yard signs have been stolen from residents' yards over the last 48 hours. These residents have paid for their signs and the signs are personal property. 

I initiated a police report with Officer O'Brien this evening regarding the theft of my sign and he has placed my complaint into the records. In the event that those who are stealing personal property in our municipality are caught, they will be held to the same standard as any other criminals who steal. My police report will lend credence to future complaints and our police department will be on the lookout for this kind of activity. 

Those of you who are closely aligned with the pro-turf enthusiasts (Commissioners Bendel, Brumfield, Linfante and Silverman) may want to consider passing this message along to them so they know that these acts have not gone unnoticed. Additionally, I received a message from an elderly resident telling me that she was very upset because her second sign was stolen from her yard yesterday. She stated that she has never known Mt. Lebanon to be a risky place in the past and she is disillusioned and feels somewhat threatened by this. Residents are asking if certain Commissioners are involved with these acts. 

Whoever is doing this is only placing those of you who are spearheading this turf project in a poor light with our residents. You will be held responsible in the public eye. I suggest you do what you can to protect the freedom of speech for those of us who do not agree with your policy. 

I am copying Representative Miller on this because he is a resident, and a champion of open honest debate rather than the stifling of opposing views, as is the case of this conduct. I have also blind copied a number of residents on this e-mail, particularly those who have anti-turf yard signs, so they know what is going on. 

Sincerely, 

Charlotte Stephenson

Update May 18, 2014 5:47 PM Sign found on Roycroft, near Kristen Linfante's house.

Please sign this petition if you want to halt public funds for use of artificial turf at Wildcat and Middle Fields.