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 

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.  

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. 

Bullied again UPDATED 3X Petition Link, RTK, Meeting Agendas Added

Lots of bullying going on tonight at the "Not for The General Public" Artificial Turf at Middle and Wildcat Fields meeting.

Three commissioners were there, so it WAS a public meeting. Dave Brumfield, Kelly Fraasch, and Steve Silverman attended the meeting.

David Donnellan, Dan Deiseroth, and Jim Sauer walked residents (angry ones, at that) through the project.

Neighboring residents were uninformed, took notes and asked many questions. 

Unfortunately, because of the photo below, I was unable to hear what was going on because I ended up calling the police.

Dave Franklin was talking with He Who Shall Not Be Named, when He Who Shall Not Be Named came charging over to me and threatened me with a wiretapping charge (See County drops wiretapping charge against South Fayette High School student who recorded bullying) and how I couldn't take his photo, and warned me not to mess with him. So I cropped He Who Shall Not Be Named out of the picture. Even though it was a public place, during a public meeting, I certainly don't want to mess with He Who Shall Not Be Named. He knows where I live. Bullying!

I missed most of the meeting because I spent it talking with the police. At the tail end, I asked David Donnellan if I could speak, and he ended the meeting abruptly, due to another meeting. I could not speak. Bullying!

Kelly Fraasch told us that the Turf Project Task Force was the meeting that Donnellan, Deiseroth, Franklin, Chip and Jim Sauer were attending. Kelly said that we could go to the meeting after asking Dan Deiseroth if it was public. He said that it was. People heard him say that. Two residents walked up to the meeting at the Rec Center and were asked to leave because they were told that it was not a public meeting and they were not invited. They were asked to put back the agendas they had taken. David Donnellan told one resident that he was gracious enough to let her speak at the concession stand since it was not a meeting for the general public. Remember, any time there are three commissioners in one place, that constitutes a quorum. All of us could have spoken, but they had "time constraints" due to the private meeting on how to spend taxpayer dollars. Bullying!

After David Donnellan hurried off to the Turf Project Task Force super secret meeting, I asked the crowd to stay and reminded them that this meeting meant nothing. The commissioners are the ones who made the decision. Residents must come to the Commission Meeting on April 28 and let their comments go on public record. There was a petition circulated and was signed by all the residents who attended the meeting. An online petition will be available soon. 

On Saturday at the Main Park, residents will be able to sign the petition, pick up flyers and stickers at the Earth Day celebration.

So here is my recommendation, for what it is worth. Sign the petition. Email all of the commissioners (commission@mtlebanon.org). Go to the meeting on April 28. Speak during Citizens Comments. Ask Commissioner Silverman where he stands on this issue. His constituents were pretty upset tonight. I will be asking the commissioners to rescind the vote. If that won't happen, I will be demanding their resignations.

Mt. Lebanon, PA Residents Against Artificial Turf at Wildcat and Middle Fields Petition here.

Update April 25, 2014 1:59 PM Through a Right To Know, here is All fundraising emails to and from the Recreation Department. I love the question asked on page 9. More facts for Monday night's commission meeting.

Update April 25, 2014 8:06 PM Here are the agendas for Monday's Commission meetings.

Commission Discussion Session starting at 6:30 PM Note Items 3, 4, and 6. 

Commission Meeting starting at 8:00 PM Note Item 2 - Citizen Comments.