Keep these in mind for Saturday UPDATED again

What a monumental task! Going through a list of Google Docs, I have tried to list significant documents obtained either through Right To Knows at various government levels or emails. I hope it is helpful for those attending Saturday's Anti-Turf Project Protest.

*November 19, 2013, Linfante announces to a turf supporter that it will pass with 3 votes
and again here 3 votes plus White going after Fraasch again

Nobody wants organic infill according to Deiseroth

Gateway donates to turf project

White mocks ESB and "diffuse Kelly F"

Linfante battles with Fraasch

Linfante/Hrabovsky and igniting/ignoring

Darren Gill, VP of FieldTurf contacts Elaine Gillen

Technical deficiencies, including proposed zinc treatment system, identified by the Allegheny County Conservation District

Franklin's research papers including 2009 Ridgewood Park, NJ study ---> April 2011 Ridgewood repairs turf after flooding  ---> August 2014 Ridgewood repairs artificial turf fields after costly flooding

Deiseroth requests infill with the least amount of lead

Franklin "rain on the organic parade"

Turf Project Task Force Presentation Spin Initial contributions and annual contributions

Deiseroth not billing us for his time spent fundraising

Addresses for April 24, 2014 "neighborhood meeting about the turf project"

McGill no Planning Board recommendation required for turf project

*Parks Advisory Board pushes back

* Environmental Sustainability Board's statement to the Commission concerning artificial turf and an audio montage of Linfante lying about the ESB's position on artificial turf

Fundraising updates, ESB reviews, Planning Board review - none occurred

McNitt "neutral third party to the project"

Bendel vetting McNitt

McNitt fee Not from Penn State, but from his own business

Morgans instructs McNitt - don't discuss potential harmful effects of artificial turf

ESB NOT cosponsoring McNitt presentation

McNitt's rehearsed answers for Q and A before presentation

Turf donation checks including $50,000 from Mt. Lebanon Baseball and $50,000 from Mt. Lebanon Soccer Gateway and other corporate donors are not identified by the Mt. Lebanon Community Endowment.

Silverman's economic plan

Deiseroth's future turf replacement cost estimate based on 108,000 sq. ft.

Evans misrepresenting himself to GeoTurf, Silverman contacted about hazardous materials in turf, Franklin berating Fraasch, Notes from initial Turf Project Task Force meeting

Application for NPDES Permit

Post Construction Stormwater Management Report

Department of Environmental Protection Responses and authorizing NPDES permit

Almanac Commissioners hear flooding and financial concerns

It never floods. Cedar Blvd. Closed due to Flooding

Fraasch on artificial turf

Update November 3, 2014 3:19 PM In addition to the videos that Albert Turfstein provided, please view the October 3, 2013 Sports Advisory Board Meeting. Click on Turf Project and watch Tim White say, "Mr. Bendel pissed away all the money we had."

*added at 9:51 PM 

Update November 4, 2014 12:56 PM The Sports Advisory Board Meeting Agenda is available here. Comments are limited to five minutes. They are allocating ten minutes for Citizen Comments.

Update November 7, 2014 5:43 PM The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the Middle and Wildcat Fields artificial turf project 

Another board emasculated by the Commission

For anyone keeping score, another board has been emasculated by the Commission. Let's see. So far, the Environmental Sustainability Board, the Parks Advisory Board, and the Planning Board have told us that the Commission voted on November 25 for a project that no one knew about. I have published the ESB's statement about being misrepresented by Kristen Linfante, commission liaison. I published the August 2013 Planning Board agenda prior to any concrete plans about the project. During a Sports Advisory Board meeting, the Parks Advisory Board liaison admitted that the PAB had not been informed.

No public hearing occurred. Boards were not informed. The vote came down to three commissioners - Dave Brumfield, Kristen Linfante, and John Bendel. Kristen let it be known that they are the decision makers and don't need any input from boards. 

Don't forget to attend tonight's meeting at Wildcat and Middle Fields, starting at 6:00 PM.

I would like to add that the Trib's Mt. Lebanon residents stand against turf project article made reference to the April 30 ESB meeting. The location has been determined. It will be held in the Municipal Building. The flyer for the meeting is here. 

My meeting with Rep. Miller

Yesterday, I met with State Representative Dan Miller, Commissioner Kelly Fraasch, and former Mt. Lebanon Commission President Matt Kluck. The topic was transparency in Mt. Lebanon. I had attended Rep. Miller's Right To Know Information Session in November and know that transparency in government is very important to Dan.

I am extremely frustrated with what is happening within the Municipality. Just trying to get an email to the Planning Board was an ordeal. I sent an email to Municipal Planner Keith McGill asking him to forward my email to the members of the Planning Board. On the subject of the Planning Board, the meeting last night was in the commission chambers and was not video recorded, even though a staff person was paid to sit there and video record it. Here is an email exchange that I had with Commissioner Fraasch and Keith McGill. Kelly has had a difficult time getting all the boards and authority meetings videotaped. No consistency whatsoever.

I suggested that the boards get their own email addresses, such as sportsadvisoryboard at mtlebanon dot org. It is ludicrous that we cannot reach the boards via email.

Another problem that I have is the lack of transparency when it comes to personal emails and text messages for RTK requests. A Right To Know was granted to me yesterday, after my meeting. My RTK was:

All communication to/from Commissioners for March 11, 12, and 13, 2014 pertaining to turf, Castlegate, Newcomer's tax, and/or about residents or guests who spoke at the March 11, 2014 meeting during Citizens Comments.

I filed an appeal today with the Office Of Open Records over an email exchange from that RTK request in which Kristen Linfante had with Kelly Fraasch. Kristen had sent an email to the commission and copied staff about a citizen who challenged the turf project during Citizen Comments at a commission meeting. The reason why I appealed the RTK is because her personal email, sent by a constituent, was not included in the RTK. I also challenged the RTK because I never get any text messages included in any of my RTKs. I am still waiting for a final determination of a previous appeal that was sent to the OOR for the very same thing.

I couldn't believe I was saying this at Dan's meeting yesterday, but the MTLSD website does not list phone numbers of the school board members, only email addresses in their contact information. The municipality should follow MTLSD, and adopt the same policy. (I know! Can you believe that I said that??) By including phone numbers, residents are encouraged to text message or call commissioners and makes it virtually impossible to access that information for Right To Know requests.

I also raised questions about the turf project. There seems to be a lot of secrecy when it comes to this turf project. Even fundraising has raised flags. I want to share an email exchange that came to me today over the fundraising email sent out by the Recreation Department's Sandy Kyper.

From: Stephen Feller [mailto:sfeller@mtlebanon.org]
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 2:57 PM
To: A Concerned Resident
Cc: David Donnellan
Subject: your question

I am told that the email was sent to the addresses on the recreation program notification data base and that this includes over 8,000 addresses that have asked to be notified about recreation programs and facility updates. Some of these folks do not live in Mt. Lebanon. 

OVER EIGHT THOUSAND ADDRESSES? The “recreation program notification database” solely belongs to the Municipality for Municipality specific use and it was used to benefit the Soccer Association, the Lacrosse Association and the Endowment, which are all third party independent organizations.

Finally, I would like to share an email exchange, which was a followup to Rep. Miller's meeting. I do hope changes are made as a result of my meeting.

Food For Thought For The Planning Board UPDATED

In preparation for tonight's Planning Board meeting, a concerned resident found a previous discussion on artificial turf in the August 27, 2013 meeting minutes. 

Mr. Pittman asked about the artificial turf that is recommended form Wildcat and Middle fields.
Mr. McGill said he believes the majority of the commission supports an artificial surface. They looked at the pros and cons of artificial and natural surfaces, received advice from the sports advisory board and conducted several meetings hearing arguments both for and against turf, of turf on one field either Wildcat or Middle field.
Mr. Pittman is concerned about the expense and if the use of the fields warrants it. He said he goes by those fields and many times they are not in use.
Mr. McGill said the users of those fields have indicated that fields are often not in unusable condition. Every year it is a challenge for the recreation department to provide adequate field space for all of the different sports. Some sports organizations have had to lease fields in other communities because there were no fields available in Mt. Lebanon. Adding lighting to these fields could extend time frame that they would be in use.
Mr. Pittman said artificial turf does not alleviate the need for field space, it only protects the field after a weather event. He is concerned about the athletes’ safety with artificial surfaces.
Mr. Sabeh said the newer surfaces are designed to be safer than grass and absorb more impact, thereby protecting the athlete better.

With all due respect, Mr. Sabeh, you are misinformed. I have been posting links to documentation that says otherwise on Lebo Citizens. Here are some new ones which were sent to me.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Artificial Turf 

Are artificial turf fields carcinogenic?

Mr. Sabeh, in case you were wondering about lawsuits, grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable. This extensive list will keep you busy for some time.

http://www.synturf.org/lawsuits.html 


State of California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General 

I understand that you base your decisions on the 2013 Comprehensive Plan. (Please allow extra time for link to open. It is a large document.)

Action 8: Promote public/private partnerships related to recreation planning and improvements to maximize recreation opportunities in a cost effective manner.

Mr. Sabeh, check out how a school district was stuck replacing six year old artificial turf after it failed prematurely. Beaverton School District to spend up to $850,000 to replace failing artificial turf fields 

Although the district signed a limited warranty with the installer, faulty record-keeping on the district's part complicated negotiations for a new field.

You may have heard of a similar incident occurring here in Mt. Lebanon, Mr. Sabeh. Talk with Mr. Feller about poor record keeping and warranties connected with the Public Safety Building.

Please think long and hard before you rubber stamp this project, Mr. Sabeh. Turfing fields is a life long commitment. Once the artificial turf is installed, there is no turning back without extensive soil remediation which takes years to recover. This turf will be replaced every eight years, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Think about the lawsuits. Consider the safety of our children. Please.

Update April 22, 2014 10:13 AM I sent an email this morning to Keith McGill, asking to forward a link to this post to the Planning Board. Here is his response.

Good morning Elaine,

The agenda item on tonight's Planning Board meeting for the Wildcat/Middle Field project is an update for the Planning Board on the status of a project that is identified in the Comprehensive Plan.

The Board will not be taking an action or making a recommendation on this project as no action is required. The project is an improvement of an existing facility. As you are aware the Commission voted in favor of a motion to assign funds for this project in November of 2013 with a requirement that non-municipal funds be in place to allow the project to move forward.

The Planning Board takes Citizens comments at the end of the meeting for any non-action items.

As always, thank you for your interest in the community and I will look forward to seeing you at tonight's meeting.

Respectfully,

Keith

Keeping it Real 2014

Little did James Cannon III realize when he made his Keeping it Real - The truth behind artificial surfaces in Mt. Lebanon presentation to the Commission in 2012, that he would still be advocating for grass fields two years later. Jim is part of a larger group that has banded together opposing toxic turf.

Flyers are being distributed to neighboring streets by residents who believe the Mt. Lebanon Middle and Wildcat Fields Turf Project must stop. The reasons are plentiful:

• THIS IS A POTENTIAL HEALTH RISK
• THIS IS POOR ECONOMIC POLICY and a MILLION DOLLAR PROJECT
• GOVERNANCE BY THE COMMISSION IS QUESTIONABLE 
• MUNICIPAL REGULATIONS HAVE NOT BEEN CONSIDERED (all the while fundraising is already underway)
• THIS IS A RISK TO OUR ENVIRONMENT

I am including the link to the flyer which can be printed and distributed by all Lebo Citizens readers who believe the same.

Joan E. Gibson submitted an opinion piece to The Almanac  (Saved in Google Docs) this week, asking commissioners to further investigate the dangers of playing on artificial turf, citing the American Academy of Neurology and "the article in the most recent issue of American Family Physician Practice Guidelines (April 1, 2014) the article is entitled 'Evaluation and Management of Concussion in Athletes: Recommendations from the AAN.'”

According to the Turf Project Task Force Presentation timeline, Mt. Lebanon will advertise for bids on May 15, 2014. We have a very narrow window of opportunity to stop this before bids go out. 

What can you do?

MAKE YOUR CONCERNS KNOWN TO THE COMMISSIONERS!

Important meetings this week:

• CRITICAL MEETING: The turf project is on the Planning Board Agenda for 4/22. This is the best opportunity to stop this project. Go to the Commission Chamber in the Municipal Building at 7:00 PM.
• Attend the Municipal informational meeting on 4/24 at the concession stand building at the fields on Cedar Blvd. at 6:00 PM and ASK QUESTIONS! (In case of inclement weather meet in the ice rink lobby.)
• Attend the Commission discussion meeting on 4/28 at 6:30 PM, and then the regular meeting at 8:00 in the Municipal Building. Plan to ASK QUESTIONS when they are permitted at the beginning of the 8:00 meeting! Sign up to speak near the Commission Chamber door. Bring friends and family. (Agendas to follow)
• Attend the Environmental Sustainability Board’s (ESB) Educational Forum on Artificial Turf on 4/30 at 7:00 PM in the Municipal Bldg. Get the real facts about artificial turf!
• Write to the Commissioners at commission@mtlebanon.org

MOST IMPORTANTLY – GET INVOLVED! The commission is putting your health and safety at potential risk with this project. You have VERY LITTLE time to tell them NO!

For more health and environment information, here are some useful links:

Commissioner Kelly Fraasch’s blog: www.kellyfraasch.com/blog

Lebo Citizens www.lebocitizens.com

Recorded public meetings including those of the Commission, Sports Advisory Board (SAB), Planning Board, Environmental Sustainability Board (ESB)and Parks Advisory Board (PAB) can be viewed at www.mtlebanon.org/index.aspx?NID=2151

Note: The hyperlink to James Cannon's presentation has been removed from this page.

Back to the Planning Board?

Before the School District rebids the High School Renovation in September, shouldn't they go back to the Planning Board? The June 2010 Planning Board minutes show that the School District has made some significant changes since then. No more LEED certification and changing the loading dock are just a few redesigns.
Is this another example of the School District getting special treatment, such as getting a 20% discount on the stormwater fee for adding water quality to their curriculum or trying to get lower inspection fees?

We couldn't bring up costs.

During the Shared Parking Agreement Hearing, residents were not allowed to bring up any issues concerning costs.  We tried to bring up the fact that we are paying from the same purse, but the Commissioners were making their decision on what is best for the Municipality.  I don't believe the Zoning Hearing Board and the Planning Board made any exceptions for the School District.  The Commissioners are now weighing the possibility of waiving the $587,000 inspection fees for the high school renovation.  As Steve Feller said in the Trib this morning,

"There's no doubt this fee is significant, but this is the most significant project we have and the most significant burden on the inspectors."

Let's be consistent.  Why should the School District expect the Municipality to have their inspectors work at cost, when they approve increases for the Administration without blinking an eye? 

Read more:  Mt. Lebanon High School inspection fees create impasse

Surprise, surprise

Last night, the Mt.Lebanon Planning Board voted unanimously to approve all three items on their agenda. 

1.The Mount Lebanon School District had submitted an application for final approval of the renovation of the high school.
2. Request for a recommendation for Conditional Use approval by The Mount Lebanon School District.
3. Request for a recommendation for Conditional Use approval by The Mount Lebanon School District for an Alternate Parking Plan, accomplished by means of a Shared Parking Agreement.