Lebo Citizens: bridge

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Bridge sinking three inches?

Any truth to the rumor that the new bridge at the high school has sunk three inches? Or that the gym has sunk? I just heard that this morning. Truth be told, I have not listened or watched any construction updates, so please forgive me if this is old news or inaccurate information.

While I am on the subject of our high school crown jewel, a Lebo Citizens reader has sent me photos of our artificial turf that was installed at the high school in 2010. For those of you who have not been up there, it looks like a rat's nest.

Installed July 2010

The blades of "grass" are flat and matted. Rubber tire infill is all over the track. It is worn along edges of the field where use is limited. Seams are coming apart. The school district is to maintain the new toxic turf at Middle and Wildcat Fields, or that is what the Mt. Lebanon High School Athletic Director has committed to. Where is School Board Director Ed Kubit? He is the school district liaison on the Sports Advisory Board. He has been missing in action at the SAB meetings. Why hasn't he presented any information to his peers on the school board about this alleged field maintenance agreement? We just know about general discussions between the two Roycroft royals.

"For The Board" Cappucci wrote to a constituent about these photos. Here is her response.

From: Elaine Cappucci [mailto:ECappucci@mtlsd.net]
Sent: Friday, May 2, 2014 1:16 PM
Subject: RE: high school turf
The high school turf is properly groomed/maintained regularly (at least once per month). The loft in the turf will vary depending on when it was groomed and how much activity has occurred on the turf.
Elaine Cappucci

Obviously I am not a sports jock, but how much activity occurs on the edges of the field? The worn and matted appearance is consistently bad everywhere on the field.

Even the curbs near the high school stadium are a disaster. Can't Mt. Lebanon maintain anything properly?

For a $1 million+, let's remove this:

Installed ????

So that we can have this:

Installed July 2010

Please sign this petition if you want to halt public funds for use of artificial turf at Wildcat and Middle Fields.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

They push...and push...and push

In today's paper, Matt Santoni from the Trib, writes:

Board member Dan Remely recommended further changes to the project as it moves forward, like relaxing the district's pursuit of "green" certification for the building, or fighting the municipality's decision to designate the building as a "high-rise" based on its height from the proposed new entrance on Horsman Drive.
Mt. Lebanon Fire Chief Nicholas Sohyda said the designation has been part of the fire code since 1970, when it was amended to say that any building higher than 50 feet would be considered a high-rise.
The code for such buildings includes requirements like smoke-evacuation systems, pressurized stairwells, communications systems, water pumps for the sprinkler system and a small "fire command" room with alarm panels and connections to the intercom system.
Municipal Commission President Dan Miller, himself a volunteer firefighter, said any conversation about relaxing the building's fire code standards was "a non-starter."
"I've pulled a dead child from a fire. ... I'm sure as hell not going to let them skimp on public safety just to save a million bucks," Miller said. "I tried to save them money on the inspection fees, but I'm not going to let them skimp on that."

As I recall, Dan Remely said that the "high rise" designation cost the District a million dollars. If we eliminate the million dollar bridge, aren't we back to even? Oh wait, that's right. The bridge is there to keep the kids safe when crossing Horsman Drive. Here's an idea. Eliminate the bridge and when hiring a crossing guard for the student parking at the church, hire a second crossing guard for Horsman. I wonder what the ROI would be for that decision.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_734251.html