Commissioners: Stop and Face the Flood Waters UPDATED

Lebo Citizens readers know that on Monday evening, I spoke about the recent flooding issues and offered a solution to consider, instead of spending $700,000 on artificial turf. The PG's Harry Funk wrote in his article, Mt. Lebanon officials ponder spending

Other residents disagreed, including Elaine Gillen of Vallevista Avenue. She questioned the priorities of spending money on athletic fields vs. addressing safety issues, such as helping to mitigate some of the problems that contributed to widespread flooding on July 10.

My suggestion comes from personal experience. At the bottom of my driveway, Mt. Lebanon installed a backflow valve, also known as a back water valve. I understand there are now 55 of these valves in Lebo. They work!

In The Almanac's Eric Seiverling story,  Mt. Lebanon addresses flooding issues  (saved in Google Docs) Mt. Lebanon Municipal Engineer Dan Deiseroth was quoted as saying:

“In my tenure here, this is the fourth event of this magnitude,” Deiseroth told commissioners. “It’s happening more frequently.”

Four Mt. Lebanon cars were totaled due to the flooding. Carole Gilbert Brown reported in her PG article, Flooded residents in Scott seeking township help that Scott Township had five cars ruined.  She also reported:

Another Ryan Drive resident, Joe Woznicki, said stormwater runoff from the nearby Carriage Park Apartments has caused his property to sink 4 to 6 inches in 18 months. Seven other homes on the street are affected by erosion at the base of the hill from the complex's drain pipes that can't handle the heavier flows, he said.

These homes, as well as Beth El Synagogue and the Twin Hills Park, which is owned by Mt. Lebanon but is in Scott, are "losing more and more of ground surface," Mr. Woznicki said.

 But who got the commissioners' attention on Monday night? A mom of a five year old needing field space to play lacrosse and the sports cabal.

"I look at the fields in our community as I would any other item of infrastructure," said David Franklin of Pinetree Road, a member of the Mt. Lebanon Sports Advisory Board. "At some point, we need to update them." 

Coolidge Avenue resident Chris Sloan called Mt. Lebanon's field conditions substandard compared with some other municipalities and advocated the installation of artificial turf.
"It attracts people," he said. "It's an asset of our community. It could be on our 'pro' list when we do pros and cons."

So there it is in black and white. What is most important infrastructure to Dave Brumfield, John Bendel, and Kristen Linfante? Fields.  They would like to take $700,000 and put it toward turfing a field, and a school district field no less. Who cares about the people who had flooding? Certainly not those three.

Update July 26, 2013 4:53 PM I have started a new list on this blog, right above the change order list. I will post more streets as they come in here. You don't have to sign your name. Just submit the name of the street where residents experienced flooding.

How Twin Hills Park will be used is up in the air

In today's PG, freelance writer Carole Gilbert Brown reports in her article, How Twin Hills Park will be used is up in the air that the agreement for Twin Hills was never executed. 

In an April 21 post on the Lebo Citizens blog (www.lebocitizens.blogspot.com), Mt. Lebanon solicitor Philip Weis explained to a resident who had contacted him that the township was in the process of determining what Scott's park rules are and whether they would apply to Mt. Lebanon.

Scott has its own work cut out for itself, after it was discovered recently that a maintenance and police/fire protection agreement drafted in August 1994 for Twin Hills had not been executed, even though the planning commission and its commissioners had approved the land's purchase.

"It just fell through the cracks," surmised board president Tom Castello, who was not a commissioner when the sales agreement was made.

Scott officials are checking to see how their ordinance differs from Mt. Lebanon's.  A 1971 Scott ordinance does not allow dogs in its parks. The agenda for the original purchase is here.  The meeting minutes can be found here.

You're invited!

Reader and frequent commenter, Richard Gideon will be pointing out the differences between a flag that complies with code and one that most of us commonly see during a free lecture at 2 p.m. Sunday at historic Old St. Luke's Church. 

Expert: Many U.S. flags don't comply with code

June 21, 2012 5:02 am
By Carole Gilbert Brown

While most Americans know how to properly pledge allegiance to their country's flag, it's likely many don't realize that the flag they're saluting probably isn't fabricated to correct specifications.

Richard Gideon, 64, a Greene County native who lives in Mt. Lebanon and is a vexillologist, said the majority of correctly made flags flown today are only found in the military.

"When you see a code flag up against a commercial flag, you get a completely different feeling," he said.

He'll point out the differences between a flag that complies with code and one that most of us commonly see during a free lecture at 2 p.m. Sunday in historic Old St. Luke's Church in the Woodville section of Scott.

He plans to give a 15-20 minute lecture followed by a question-and-answer period.

Commercial flags will have the proper appearance in terms of pattern and design, they often lack the right aspect ratio, or correct proportional relationship between width and height, he said. The flag's length should be 1.9 times its width.

A stickler for detail and a history lover who became interested in vexillology -- the study of flags -- while researching his family's genealogy, Mr. Gideon's lecture is timely: 100 years ago this month that President William Howard Taft signed Executive Order 1556, which set uniform specifications and a pattern for the U.S. flag.

"That was the first time in history that the U.S. flag got some specifications," Mr. Gideon said, adding that the nation's rapid growth from 13 to 50 states was starting to make the flag "look like a bed sheet."

Although Taft amended his June 12, 1912, executive order four months later to explain his reasons for the first order, the next and last executive orders involving the flag occurred when Alaska and Hawaii joined the union in 1959 and 1960 during President Dwight D. Eisenhower's term. But, there have never been any penalties placed into the Flag Code, which is why Mr. Gideon believes differently proportioned flags are flying today.

When questions arose about proportion during the Eisenhower Administration, the president indicated that he was more concerned with "the spirit of the law" than strict adherence to specifications.

Although he understands why no one wants to penalize demonstrations of patriotism, Mr. Gideon believes correctly proportioned flags should be displayed at least in some specific places.

"I think public and government buildings ought to fly code flags," he said.

A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Mr. Gideon started reproducing historic flags in 1994 as a hobby, but turned it into a business, Richard R. Gideon Flags, a year later.

He has authored 37 articles about flags and collaborated on flag books. Information: www.gideonflags.com.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-west/expert-many-us-flags-dont-comply-with-code-641346/