New recycling regulations for next year

Recycling changes loom for Mt. Lebanon, other South Hills Communities

Starting next year, Mt. Lebanon residents will be unable to throw glass and select types of plastic into their recycling bins. 

We will only be able to recycle plastics numbered 1 and 2. No glass bottles or jars will be accepted.  The article states that we can recycle cardboard. That is not entirely true. We cannot recycle pizza boxes because of the grease. I wonder about the grease in boxes containing cheese sticks, fries, or any other take out food. I think they are discriminating against pizza lovers. I'm offended.

We better not be hit with Pay as You Throw next. My recycling can is usually quite filled with glass jars and bottles. I have tried to be more mindful about recycling and now it is going to blow up in our faces. With our super duper Public Works that has gone waaaaaaaaaaay over budget and is behind six months, maybe we can have our own glass recycling program since we will have the space for it.

I'm still not over the stormwater fee. Mt. Lebanon started charging us a stormwater fee starting in 2011, so that they could control stormwater runoff in areas prone to flooding. Yeah, that's working well. Maybe we will hear more about how that million dollars a year collected every year in fees, in the September issue of mtl Magazine. We will get to see all the flood photos collected of this past June.

Western Pa. towns eye fees to control stormwater runoff

“During the past two years, I have been asked to speak at three different professional conferences on this subject and Mt. Lebanon's program,” said Mt. Lebanon municipal Manager Steve Feller. “Because of the stormwater fee, Mt. Lebanon has had the resources to initiate numerous projects to maintain and enhance the existing system and also expand the system to areas deficient of storm sewer infrastructure.”
Since Mt. Lebanon adopted the program, which raises about $1 million a year, Dormont, Whitehall and Scott have weighed potential fees, Feller said.

The bottom line is that we are paying for deficient storm sewer infrastructure while flooding is worse than ever and next we will hear that we have to pay more as we try to be green.

For those offended by the snow removal criticism and other sacred cows

Mt. Lebanon sacred cows continue to increase. Add Public Works to the list. On Nextdoor, a person made the mistake of questioning snow removal this year. Most of the comments have been civil, but there are always those who become very defensive. It turns out that this year has not been as good for a reason. The answer is on Monday's commission agenda.

The municipality is buying two trucks for snow removal.  See? There was a problem. Funding for these vehicles has been appropriated in the 2018 municipal budget. 

Block parties has been on the sacred cow list for a couple of years now. In fact, remember how our now commission president got one of his Sleepy Hollow buddies all fired up and came to my door to tell me to mind my own business? The police ended up going to his house and told him that the next time, he will be arrested for trespassing. See Another unexpected visitor Also, a member of our PIO's family received preferential treatment, also from the same street.

On Monday's Commission Discussion Session agenda, FIFTEEN minutes will be devoted to reviewing the block party street list. I will be curious to see if Sleepy Hollow and Roycroft will be added to the "OK to have a block party" list. A certain school board director, also on the sacred cow list, may have the power to get her family and friends hired in the district, so it will be interesting to see if she carries any weight with the municipality and gets Roycroft approved.

Public Works Employee Electrocuted; Files Lawsuit

Public works company, employee facing lawsuit from technician shocked during tree removal

$2 million, then $3 million, now it's up to $6.9 million

Mt. Lebanon approves public works, gun range projects

Commissioners voted 3-1 to approve a contract with RSSC Architecture of Wexford for architectural and design services for the project at a cost not to exceed $288,500. Commissioners Dave Brumfield, Steve Silverman and Stephen McLean voted in favor. Ms. Fraasch dissented. Commissioner John Bendel was absent.

These guys exhaust me. Thanks, Janice Crompton, for reporting this.

Brick Street Policy - 25 minutes, Archery Hunt - 10 minutes

The agenda for tonight's Commission Discussion Session is posted here. If Dave Brumfield adheres to the schedule, "Ian McMeans, Matt Bagaley and others will present the policy for discussion" for twenty-five minutes. Ian McMeans is the assistant manager. Matt Bagaley is from Gateway Engineering. I wonder who the "others" are.

Twenty-five minutes for a discussion about brick streets sounds like a long time to "review of possible policy for the replacement of brick streets." I bet high maintenance Ward 1 gets their way again.

Keith McGill, not Tony DeNicola, will be providing a review of 2016 controlled archery hunt report. In ten minutes or less. What a gig! Tony DeNicola, Bonnie Cross, and Susan Morgans account for almost $500,000 of the municipal budget. Manager McGill earns way too much to answer emails from residents and be the frontman for the deer killing. 

On another note, core drilling took place at Public Works. This is in preparation for the Public Works Facility and Firing Range project at the tune of $6,735,000. I wonder if Tony will lure the deer inside the firing range to kill them. 

Mt. Lebanon, the Money Pit

Two articles have me shaking my head.

Mt. Lebanon Ice Center could be replaced next year

“I think we are on borrowed time,” said Commissioner Steve Silverman about the lifespan of the main rink and a studio rink, which have been damaged by buckling floors and a broken defrost system...An alternative favored by all of the commissioners would be total replacement of both rinks, which would take place during the off-season, between March and August of 2017. The cost is estimated between $1.7 million and $2.4 million...The municipality could pay for the project through capital funds, a bond issue or Regional Asset District funds through Allegheny County.

Costly public works project looms for Mt. Lebanon

“We need to do this, period,” said Commissioner David Brumfield. “We've known this for years. We've been working on this for years. Even with other costs, the fact of delaying this isn't a feasible option. It's not like if we didn't do this, we wouldn't be putting money into the public works yard over the next 10 years. We've all been in that building, and let's just say there are going to be a few dollars headed there no matter what happens. We need to figure out how to move forward.” 

A modified site plan for the facility, in which the prevention of flooding is a primary concern, estimates the total cost for the project to reach approximately $6.5 million.

So why the hell did we tear up two perfectly good fields to put in artificial turf at the cost of $1+ million. The turf is a year old. It has a life expectancy of 8 years or so. Are we putting away the required funds every year to pay for the replacement?

Why are we spending over $100,000 a year to kill deer which is intended to lower car/deer collisions, but has only tripled them? 

Mt. Lebanon spent $26,364 for parking sensors on Washington Road. Seriously, was that really needed?

Why was the greening of Rockwood Park rejected? Here is how Mt. Lebanon corrected the problem in Rockwood Park. 

Parking lot

Upper entrance to Rockwood Park

Entrance to Rockwood Park

More rails are falling off and deteriorating.

The patrolling has stopped again.

Ward 1 is going to keep their bricked streets. Ward 1 will continue to demand killing deer in Twin Hills Park. The lacrosse people in Ward 1 got their artificial turf. These are all pet projects of Ward 1 commissioner John Bendel. 

Ward 2 commissioner Steve Silverman wants more deer killing, was working to get an artificial turf field before he was sworn into office. He says that we are on borrowed time when it comes to the ice rink.

Ward 3's Steve McLean wants more deer killing. 

Dave Brumfield, Ward 4's commissioner wants more archery, just had to have the artificial turf, pushing for the public works project, was a big supporter of the swimming pool, had to have McNeilly Park, and wants to turf Mellon School's field.

I haven't spoken to Kelly Fraasch, Ward 5 commissioner in over a year, but I do remember how she was pushing for more property for Robb Hollow. We bought more parcels, for what? She voted for parking sensors. 

Mt. Lebanon has replaced former Assistant Manager Marcia Taylor when she retired with THREE full time people. 

At least three of these commissioners are numbers guys - running businesses, accounting, or banking. Don't they understand that there is just so much money available? When spending in one area, spending has to be cut in other areas. Basic accounting, Folks.

Fall in Mt. Lebanon

Blood-stained leaves, bags of entrails at Public Works - ahhhhh, just another beautiful fall day in Mt. Lebanon.

A Lebo Citizens reader drove by Public Works today and personally witnessed a dead deer with its legs up in the air next to the dumpster on a blue tarp behind a red SUV and 2 hunters with beards, standing next to it giving him the eye as he drove by both ways. The hunters, one in a red suv parked right next to the dumpster and another in a dark gray Tacoma using the far dumpster to dispose of deer entrails. Unfortunately, he did not have a camera with him.

Another Lebo Citizens reader happened to drive by and got these photos.

When the first blog reader returned with a camera, he took these pics:

Tonight, when the second blog reader returned:

Blood dripping down side of dumpster

Blood dripping down side of dumpster

The Goddard School is now open

The Goddard School on Painters Run is now open. Enrollment is open to all ages, from infants to school age. Weather permitting, children play outside every day, enjoy nature walks, and picnics. Just across the street, they can watch deer being killed. There is a yellow warning sign posted across the street from Crust. The distance from Public Works to The Goddard School is well below the 1,000' limitation.

Measuring the distance of Robb Hollow Park, I drew a line as close to 1,000' as I could from The Goddard School.

Mt. Lebanon removed Bird Park from the archery program because of its proximity to Markham School. Are they going to be consistent and remove Public Works and most of Robb Hollow Park as well? It might be a good question to ask at the commission meeting on Monday.

Throwback Thursday

Back when it was called Mt. Lebanon Community Magazine, there was an article in the October 1995 issue called "Lean and Green."

Mt. Lebanon started a program where residents would adopt a green space and keep it free from litter, debris, and weeds.

Since we lived next to Rockwood Park, it was only natural to adopt the Park. We had been doing that unofficially for ten years. My husband and I would clean up litter, pick up sticks and fallen branches, rake leaves, clean off the picnic tables, remove bird poop from the swings and slides, provide bandaids to kids with scraped knees and elbows, and before cell phones, we called the police for frantic parents whose children were injured. Any park related issues were reported to Tom Kelley and his predecessors, Mike Rudman and James Harrod. I have even used my grass edger and edged the front of the park along the street. We cooperated with MTL police to allow a police officer camp out on our porch to catch the person that kept vandalizing (setting fire) my back neighbor's car back in the late 80's.

We kept our promise these past thirty years. We also had a good working relationship with the public works directors. Three dead trees were cut down along the edge of the park with no questions asked.

Until now. There is a dead tree along the edge of Rockwood Park, in line with the other trees that were cut down and now I am being told that I have to maintain that area since it is a paper street. The paper street is part of the park. 

Rudy Sukal came to look at the tree and said that his GPS shows that since it is on the paper street, I am responsible for maintaining the area. We have been doing that for thirty years. 

I just want the tree removed so that I can replace it with bushes or trees, not sure which, but they would definitely be deer resistant. I am not asking for the tree to be replaced. I would take care of that part.

Here is the tree. Rudy doesn't want to start a precedence, even though this will be the fourth tree that died in a row. The three others were removed by Mt. Lebanon. I guess this goes along with what Kelly Fraasch told me. There are consequences to my actions. Exposing the crap in this town has cost me. Retaliation is alive and well in our lovely community known as Mt. Lebanon. This is just one of several consequences that I am facing. 

This is why people don't go to commission meetings and are afraid to sign peaceful pledges. Payback is a bitch.

"This is bullshit and I'm going home." UPDATED

That is what Public Works Director Tom Kelley said at the June 3, 2014 Parks Advisory Board meeting at 00:55:13.

PAB Chair Hugh Beal was asking for an accounting of the funds allocated to the Parks per the Budget. Not enough money is being spent on the Parks, in his opinion. At 00:47:33, Hugh asked to look at Forestry. His copy of the 2013 Budget Actuals showed that there was $348,000 designated to Forestry. Beal pointed out at the 00:49:20 time stamp, that he found six dead trees in Rockwood Park, a park the size of a postage stamp, for example. Hugh said that he wasn't questioning Tom Kelley's competency or auditing anything; he was just inquiring about how the money was being spent. Kelley responded that he didn't care if Hugh was. To my surprise, Tom Kelley even mentioned my name when talking about Rockwood Park! He went on to say that he didn't like Hugh Beal's attitude and stormed out of the meeting. Yikes! Is this what the PAB has to deal with because they are against the turf project at Middle and Wildcat Fields?

By the way, the Parks Advisory Board representative for the Sports Advisory Board was not at the PAB meeting again. They didn't have a quorum. Who's the PAB representative on the Sports Advisory Board? Dave Franklin. I think it may be time to kick Franklin off of the Parks Advisory Board. It might also be time for Mr. Feller to have a little talk with his staff.

Commissioners, do you see what you are doing to Mt. Lebanon? You have boards and staff trying to keep Mt. Lebanon safe, and you have tied their hands by allocating over $750,000 to turf beautiful grass fields. That money could be well spent in other ways.

For anyone wondering, the dead trees have been removed from Rockwood Park. Thanks to all involved.

Update July 1, 2014 11:07 PM The Mt. Lebanon Parks Summit was held this evening. Hosted by the Parks Advisory Board, individuals from the Environmental Sustainability Board and the Mt. Lebanon Nature Conservancy shared their thoughts on possible improvements to the park system. The podcast is available here.

What does this mean? UPDATED

What happened to the school district doing the maintenance? Are they going to pay fees now? Or are they going to lose slots as Dave Brumfield told us would happen?

Who hired Mr. DeLorenzo? Isn't it a little early for this?

Update May 21, 2014 8:52 PM Thanks to another Lebo Citizens reader, here is the original job posting. Grounds Maintenance Person

Update May 23, 2014 4:10 PM Kristen Linfante shared this email with me a few minutes ago. Thank you, Kristen. I removed the name of the former employee.

From: Tom Kelley <tkelley@mtlebanon.org>
Date: May 23, 2014, 3:37:18 PM EDT
To: Kristen Linfante <klinfante@mtlebanon.org>, Commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>
Cc: Stephen Feller <sfeller@mtlebanon.org>
Subject: Re: new hire?

Kristen and Commission,

 Ty was hired to fill an entry level position in the public works department that was vacated by the medical retirement of XXXXXXXXX.  This is an entry level position that pays less than the laborer positions, and although the job title is field maintenance person,  it is a distributed hours position meaning that field maintenance is only one of his many job duties which will also include: assisting the forestry crew; winter maintenance; assisting labor crews with serer maintenance; assisting trades with building maintenance and other work as directed.  We received over 60 applications for the position and Ty was the top ranked candidate.

We've been duped UPDATED

Remember this article on the Mt. Lebanon Magazine website? home(town) improvement There was a $4.5 million bond issued in January. Last night, the Commission approved the multiple contracts for the pool. The grand total construction cost of all five contracts is $3,953,900. This does not include the cost of a project manager, since there are multiple contracts.

The Recreation Bond will not be used for Robb Hollow. It will not be used for the golf course. It will not be used for Public Works. It is going toward the Pool. The entire bond and then some.  We've been duped.

I should have seen this coming. Here are the minutes of a November 6, 2012 Park Advisory Board meeting. Notice who attended the meeting. That was the first clue.

IV. Recreation Bond UpdateDonnellan reported that an Ordinance for a bond issue not to exceed $4.8 million was introduced on October 22. He stated the bond was to include $3.3 million for swimming pool improvements, $750,000 for Robb Hollow improvements and $500,000 for golf courseimprovements. He said a public hearing would be held on November 13, and a vote on the Ordinance was scheduled for November 26. (Editor’s note: The Ordinance was enacted immediately following the public hearing on November 13).Kelly Fraasch announced that there was a meeting scheduled for November 11 at 1:00 p.m. to walk Robb Hollow Park and discuss possible improvements. Members of the Nature Conservancy, Parks Advisory Board, Environmental Sustainability Board, and the Friends of Robb Hollow Park were invited.John Vogel distributed a copy of an email from Ms. Fraasch detailing plans for the meeting. Vogel requested that Donnellan forward the meeting invitation on to board members who were absent.A discussion of the planned improvements followed. There was concern among the group that the Parks Advisory Board had not had sufficient input into the planned projects and that they did not reflect the recent prioritization of projects from the board.Fraasch reported that the Commission was discussing a committee to review athletic fields.The Parks Advisory Board recommended that the bond issue funding for improvements to the golf course and Robb Hollow Park needs further consideration.Fraasch presented her latest proposal for Robb Hollow Park. The plan included opening access to the upper and lower areas of the park, moving the leaf operation, grassing areas for additional greenspace; as well as providing opportunities for future development of a play area, outdoor classroom, dog park and pavilion.

The second clue was that none of Kelly Fraasch's presentations ever made the Municipal website. However, the YSA Recreation presentation was posted.  Where is her study for Robb Hollow? You can find it here, on her blog.

Look at page 55 of the new Capital Improvement Program 2014-2018. (Allow for extra time for the large document to open.) More discussion for turfing and lighting Middle and Wildcat Fields with a $200,000 non-municipal contribution, either from the YSA, advertising or grants.  Yeah, right.

No dog park, outdoor classroom, play area or improvements to Public Works space. No hopes of developing Robb Hollow, which would have released us from McNeilly. Even Moody's said the $4.5 million bond was to be used for renovation of recreational facilities. We've been duped.

Update August 15, 2013 2:20 PM $3.95 million in recreation upgrades get Mt. Lebanon commission's OK