Toxic Newcomers Turf will cost more

The Crown Jewel Toxic Turf Project being built to lure unsuspecting newcomers to the community and will allegedly increase the value of each and every one of our homes is going to cost taxpayers more than expected. According to the Sports Advisory Board - April 3, 2014 video, the Middle/Wildcat Toxic Turf Project will be 1,000 square feet more than initially thought. A better survey was done and indicates the true size will be 111,200 square feet. The soccer field will be 165x320, not 180x360. The area will be smaller than the High School and Jefferson fields. All soccer games and varsity games will use 2 time slots. The fields will not be available for simultaneous use. I would love to have a revised time slot number using that information.

At the beginning of the meeting, a very powerful message was delivered in citizens comments by a former Mt. Lebanon Soccer/Basketball mom. She started out by saying that there is a definite need for more fields in Mt. Lebanon. Turfing an existing field with toxic turf does not solve any problems. I guess this woman is a research scientist and analyzed the existing data out there concerning the toxicity of artificially turfed fields, both organic infill and synthetic infill, as well as the blades of grass and backing. Her conclusions were that artificial turf was marketed and studied for adult, professional use only. Many other factors were not considered, including the size and metabolism of children, which she identified in her comments. She spoke for about 20 minutes and there were 10 minutes of Q and A's.

The day after the SAB meeting, on April 4, 2014, a comment was posted on Four more documents from the mother of all RTKs at 1:29 PM, which I found very disturbing.

Referring to the previous video posted on Lebo Citizens (http://vimeo.com/49518944) regarding the hazards of synthetic turf and featuring two scientists including Kathleen Michels, Ph.D.:
Dr. Michels has been nominated to be the "Mom on a Mission 2014" by HealthyChild, Healthy World.
http://healthychild.org/mom-on-a-mission-finalist/kathleen-michaels/
Some of the mothers in Mt Lebanon who have advocated for healthy playing fields have been threatened, mocked, and intimidated by members of the Sports Advisory Board. One elected mother received such a threatening email from a Mt Lebanon coach that it was turned over to the police.
Ask yourself, Mothers, if artificial turf were good for Mt Lebanon, why would Dr. Michels be nominated for this honor by Healthy Child, Healthy World, and at the very same time, why would mothers who feel the same way in Mt Lebanon be treated with such aggression, hostility, disparagement, and unfairness?

OK, back to the meeting. Core samples were done and indicate no rock. Plans include a portable pitchers mound on Middle and a permanent clay mound for Wildcat. David Donnellan promised to get the concept plan of the layout online within a couple of days of the Sports Advisory Board meeting. Tuesday's Discussion Session Agenda reveals that this will be discussed.

The good news is that The Mt. Lebanon Community Endowment website, Field Improvement Project Fund is up and running. Dave Franklin sent 200-300 emails during its roll out and raised $2500 in 48 hours. That comes to an average of $7.58 per signature from his petition. The amount raised so far is around $115,000 to $120,000. Field hockey contributed $500 which will give them a small spot to play, under the trees - all said in jest. No mention of the amount of the soccer donation, which John Bendel was uncomfortable sharing with me.

Under Potential Capital Projects, a couple of ideas came up. One was an indoor multipurpose athletic facility. Dave Franklin shared his wife's plan. She said that an elementary school can be closed, move the administrative offices from the high school, and use the fields, auditorium, etc., as a community center.

Finally, a public meeting is planned for all affected neighbors on April 24, 2014 at 6:00 PM. The meeting will be at Middle and Wildcat Fields.

"Turf Project"

While the readers on Lebo Citizens have taken a beating for not wanting to go with Pay As You Throw, the Sports Advisory Board, a.k.a. Turf Board meeting agenda for tomorrow has been posted here and here:

Mt. Lebanon Sports Advisory Board Meeting Agenda 

October 3, 2013, 8:00 p.m. 

Municipal Building Room 104C 

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

2. Citizen Comments

3. Approval of the June 6, 2013 Meeting Minutes

4. Asset/Inventory Review from Each Organization (Worksheets should be submitted prior to the meeting)

5. Field Sign Sponsorship Program

6. Brafferton Field Project Update

7. Cedar Boulevard Parking Lot Project

8. Turf Project

9. Inventory Field/Athletic Facilities and Utilization

10. Forum for Unrepresented Groups

11. Other Short and Long Term Goals

12. Announcements

   a. Historic Preservation Board National Register Designation Meeting- December 5 at 6:00 p.m.     Room C, Municipal Building

13. Adjournment

I don't understand how we can have a group of people wanting a Pay As You Throw program which encourages us to recycle, and then turn around and ask for artificial turf.  At least Brumfield is consistent. He is against the PAYT idea. For that, I have to give him credit. 

Anyone up to attending tomorrow's meeting?

No Quorum at Turf Board Meeting UPDATED

The guy who works on word puzzles at the Turf Board meetings recorded last night's meeting for me. I have uploaded it on lebocitizens.com.  Since there were not enough voting members for a quorum,  there was only a discussion.

Since there was no roll call, it was hard to determine who was there. I heard David Donnellan, David Franklin, John Bendel and David Brumfield's voices. There was quite a discussion about signage. David Donnellan explained why there was only one sign sold.  David Brumfield noted that the Commission could amend the ordinance, and it shouldn't be a problem. Yet another amended ordinance.

Brafferton Field bids were discussed. Bids will be opened on September 17. Hopefully, no lawsuits will result.

John Bendel discussed turfing Middle and Wildcat Fields. He believes that the majority of the commission would be in favor of allocating $400,00 to $475,000 from the unassigned funds for turf. The Commission has asked the engineer to look at Mellon turfing. Dave Brumfield was hoping that the SAB could help raise funds for this project. Dave Brumfield is pushing for Mellon which would be a plus for the business district. School Board Director Ed Kubit was not present. This was after the discussion of how one sign was sold.

Kids could run into each other!!!!!

I am sorry I didn't hear this said at the last commission meeting.

Players scrimmaging on separate halves of the same field could run into one another or could hurt themselves when frequent use of a field leaves the grass full of mud or ruts, they said.

I wonder if the Trib reporter was able to keep a straight face when he included that in his article, Mt. Lebanon pushed to put turf on field. We need more field space because players could run into each other. 

I have never heard this threat mentioned at any school board meetings. This is an extremely dangerous situation. This is worse than people having flooded basements and garages.  Kids running into each other on a field definitely trumps kids walking to and from school on busy streets that have no sidewalks.

Those opposed to putting turf on more fields noted other upgrades they thought would make better use of the money, such as flood control or sidewalks in residential neighborhoods.
“I want to specifically request that you put sidewalks on this list (of potential projects),” said Doug Descalzi, one of several residents on and around North Meadowcroft Avenue who said their neighborhood would favor the municipality adding sidewalks to their streets.
“I don't see how you can have this list and not have something like this on it.”

The Descalzi Family made this video and posted it on YouTube.



Dave Franklin was quoted in Matt Santoni's article.

“I'm not going to suggest that artificial turf is more important than sidewalks or storm sewers, but I look at fields the same way as any other infrastructure,” said David Franklin, a member of Mt. Lebanon's Parks Advisory Board and Sports Advisory Board. “I don't think the decision to improve fields is a frivolous decision.”

Clearly, Commissioners, turfing a school district field is not a frivolous decision. We don't want kids running into each other on the playing fields. This is a top priority over sidewalks or assisting residents with flooding issues. Perhaps the Turf Board can suggest turfing basements next. They could then be used immediately by not having to wait for them to dry out. 

Turf Board Update on Monday

The Sports Advisory Board, a.k.a. Turf Board is giving a report on Monday during the Commission Discussion Session in Conference Room C, at the Municipal Building. They are listed as number 4 on the agenda.

The audio from the June 6, 2013 meeting is available here and here.  Since the video portion of the meeting was corrupted, I found out that Tim White and David Donnellan ran the meeting. The initial list of members can be found from my February 14, 2013 post Introducing Dave's New Sports Advisory Board UPDATED 4x followed by my February 23, 2013 post Sports Advisory Board Redux.

On Monday, the Turf Board will be making a presentation on, you guessed it - artificial turf. They will try to tell you that a vote was taken, but there wasn't a vote taken. There was a push for turf. When Joy Pajak, representing Women's Golf asked for some upgrades to the golf course, she was shot down by Guess Who because holes 4 and 5 were upgraded. Remember, the golf course brings in revenue. Also, keep in mind that Brafferton Field was changed into a multi use field including lacrosse. The YSA presentation concluded that there were no slots available for lacrosse and so the push for lights and artificial turf on Wildcat and Middle Fields. Listen to the SAB meeting where it was suggested that the municipality GIVE money to the school district for lighting and turfing Mellon Field.

Well, I just gave the whole presentation. That should shave off ten minutes from the Discussion Session, President Kluck.

Turf Board Summary of Needs Assessment UPDATED

Tonight, the Sports Advisory Board, a.k.a. Turf Board, met and reviewed the results of the Needs Assessment Survey. This survey was completed by fifteen members at the initial meeting on March 26, 2013. The agenda and the summary are available here.

Of course, the most important issue is fields and the least important being new sports, such as bowling, biking, and kayaking.  When breaking down into three groups last month, two of the groups felt that turfing would enhance the most important issue. No surprise, they are suggesting turf for two or THREE fields - Wildcat and one or two of the middle school fields.

On page 14 of the pdf or page 11 of the document, note the comments.

Group 1
Changing the hearts and minds of a large portion of our residents who seem to have an allergic reaction to investing money to maintain/improve these facilities

Group 2
Reccommendation to fix the top three is financing, turf, maintenance, and development of new or improved/renovated facilities

Group 3
The greatest need greatest enhancement our field sports Wildcat and Mellon
Financial support by realistic fees/players/teams/sports money

Group 1 thinks we have an allergic reaction to investing money on sports facilities? Have they not seen the sports complex at the high school which is part of a $113 million renovation? Did they not see the new turf at the high school? Are they not aware that the commissioners just passed a $4.8 million recreation bond?  Mt. Lebanon to seek input on $4.8M bond

Groups 2 and 3 are all about turf. Not just one field, folks, but three.


Note: Previously, there was a Right To Know filed for the completed Needs Assessment forms, but it was denied by Steve Feller.

Update April 5, 2013 10:45 AM The podcast for the meeting is here.