Now they tell us?

From:	LeboALERT <noreply@mtlebanon.org>
To:	EGillen476 <EGillen476@aol.com>
Subject:	LeboALERT: Some property damage...
Date:	Thu, Jul 5, 2018 11:18 am

---

This is an important notice from LeboALERT.


Some property damage from the 6/20/18 storm may qualify for assistance. For guidelines and how to apply, visit www.mtlebanon.org.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the direct link, Folks.

http://www.mtlebanon.org/3406/Residents-information-regarding-62018-fl

From Facebook:

I had been asking for more timely information on Mt. Lebanon Magazine's Facebook page, but they decided to wait until their SEPTEMBER issue to discuss flooding.

Elaine Trigg Gillen Seriously, what is Mt. Lebanon doing? There is nothing on the municipal website. Nothing about getting tetanus shots. Nothing about how to get rid of debris. Nothing about helping the folks in Bridgeville? You just want photos? Is this really a community with character? Disgraceful.

Manage

LikeShow more reactions

· Reply · 1w

Elaine Trigg Gillen Good to know that we will be more informed in a few months from now when the September issue of mtl Magazine comes out.

Turf Project is Out For Bid

Remember this photo that I had on my February 25, 2014 blog posting, Commissioner Franklin has Susan's ear UPDATED 2X?

Turns out, I nailed it. Here is the Mt. Lebanon Flood Zone map, directly from the municipal website. Middle and Wildcat Fields are located in Panel 0456. Any panel highlighted in pink contains a flood zone. The blue areas are the flood zones according to FEMA.

Gateway Engineers swears that the fields have never flooded. We know better than that, right?

So, the project continues...

According to the timeline from the Turf Project Task Force Recommendations made on February 11, 2014, the Project Schedule is as follows:

Design Development –Pending Commission 

Approval February/March 2014 

Construction Documents and Specifications 

April/May 2014 

Advertise for bids May 15, 2014 

Open Bids June 4, 2014 

Award Bids June 10th or 23rd 

Issue Notice to proceed and begin construction 

July 15, 2014 

Final Completion October 21, 2014 

We now know that May 15, 2014 was JT Sauer's deadline to submit to Gateway. The following information was pulled from the "Pittsburgh Builders Exchange," which requires a paid subscription. 

TURF RFP

This would be considered as a Request for Proposal (RFP). There are "bid documents" or "plans" associated with the RFP. These often include specifications, drawings, contract language, etc. Some times, the documents are provided at no costs in electronic format. Other times, such as this instance, there is a fee associated with them. For this project, the "plans" are to be obtained directly from the engineer and include a $75.00 non-refundable fee.

I guess this would be the time to announce the important LeboALERT I received on May 21, 2014.

This is an important notice from LeboALERT. Middle/Wildcat Fields improvement update meeting is Thurs., June 12, from 7 to 8:30 at Mellon Auditorium.

Pretty big venue for such a tiny "vocal minority." This meeting will also include Dr. Andrew McNitt, from the Penn State/FieldTurf Partnership, who will give us an "unbiased" opinion concerning the safety of artificial turf.

I hope that the Turf Project Task Force can get an "unbiased" opinion from financial advisors who have partnerships with FieldTurf who will tell us that we are making a sound investment.

Perhaps there is a FEMA/FieldTurf Partnership who will assure us that flooding is not an issue.

Finally, I am looking forward to hearing from the ESB/FieldTurf Partnership expert since June 12 is the next Mt. Lebanon Environmental Sustainability Board meeting. Gee, I wonder why that happened.

Middle/Wildcat Fields 05.24.14

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

If you are interested in displaying an anti-artificial turf sign in your yard, email me at EGillen476@aol.com.

Update May 25, 2014 6:15 PM Requests to see the draft were ignored. Dan Deiseroth email to Kelly Fraasch.

Extensive Flood Damage vs. Turfing a Field UPDATED

I asked Gateway Engineers' Dan Deiseroth and Manager Steve Feller for a list of streets affected by the July 9-10 flooding. Here is the information I requested. Thanks to both gentlemen!

On Fri, Aug 9, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Daniel S. Deiseroth <ddeiseroth@gatewayengineers.com> wrote:

Steve,

As requested, below is the list of streets (Ward) affected by the July flooding.

Altoona Place (5)

Anawanda Avenue (4)

Arden Lane (1)

Austin Avenue (5)

Beverly Road (1)

Beverly Road (1)

Castle Shannon Boulevard (3) (4)

Cedar Boulevard (2) (5)

Chalmers Place (5)

Colony Circle (1)

Edward Avenue (1)

Eisenhower Drive (3)

Ella Street (5)

Elm Spring Road (1)

Forest Glen Drive (2)

Hazel Drive (3) (4)

Hoodridge Drive (3)

Iroquois Drive (2)

Jefferson Drive (3)

Larchmont Road (1)

Lebanon Hills Drive (3)

Lindendale Drive (5)

Lovingston Drive (4)

Lynn Haven Drive (3)

Mabrick Avenue (5)

Mapleton Drive (5)

Maplewood Drive (2)

Marlin Drive West (1)

McFarland Road (1) (5)

McMonagle Avenue (1)

McNeilly Road (4)

Mohawk Drive (2)

Moreland Drive (2)

Newburn Drive (1)

Old Gilkeson Road (3)

Orchard Drive (3)

Ordale Drive (2) (3)

Park Entrance Drive (3)

Piper Drive (3)

Rawley Drive (2)

Rock Haven Lane (3)

Rosewood Drive ????

Roycroft Avenue (3)

Sandrae Drive (2)

Scott Road (4)

Scrubgrass Road (1)

Seneca Drive (2)

Shadowlawn Avenue (1)

Valley Park Drive (4)

Wainwright Drive (3)

White Oak Circle (3)

Woodhaven Drive (2)

Let me know if you need anything else.

Daniel S. Deiseroth, P.E.

I have asked my neighbor to get in touch with Public Works and report their constant flooding. 911 was called that day, so there may be more streets than what was reported by Gateway. The municipality should do a cross check with the 911 calls related to flooding.

I hope this is a wake up call for the commissioners. We have real infrastructure problems and they ain't ball fields!

Update August 9, 2013 5:55 PM I added the wards as requested. The commissioners and their wards are listed as follows:

Ward 1 John Bendel
Ward 2 Matt Kluck
Ward 3 Kristen Linfante
Ward 4 David Brumfield
Ward 5 Kelly Fraasch

My list included Sleepy Hollow, Coolidge, Vallevista, Sleepy Hollow, Youngwood, Wainwright, Woodland, Forest Glen, Moreland, Castle Shannon, Woodhaven,...

Flooding update from mtl Magazine

Yesterday (August 1, 2013 5:16 PM) on Facebook:

If you have a flood or other serious storm related damage to your Mt. Lebanon home or business, please give the Public Works Department a call right away at 412.343.3403 for help in assessing what happened. The longer you wait, the harder it is for them to piece together the sequence of events. Obviously, if you are having an immediate emergency, call 9-1-1. Thanks for helping them to help you.

Later (August 2, 2013 9:58 AM) on Facebook and in a LeboALERT:

The U.S. Small Business Association has opened an outreach center at the Allegheny County airport to serve residents and business owners who would like to apply for low interest loans to repair damage from the recent severe storms. For specific information, visit www.mtlebanon.orgunder "news and announcements" at the bottom of the homepage.

I am still collecting names of streets where there were flooding issues.  There is a list on the sidebar. Don't do what we did and repair the damage, only to have it happen again. Make sure the problem is corrected. Contact the commission at commission@mtlebanon.org and contact Tom Kelley, Public Works at tkelley@mtlebanon.org. 

The municipality is collecting a storm water fee from residents and tax-exempt organizations. To read more about Mt. Lebanon's storm water fee, visit Storm Sewers Budget and the Approved Ordinance. Not only does the municipality collect a storm water fee, they are also considering spending $700,000 to turf a school district fee.  I am hoping they do the right thing and help residents who had storm related damage to their homes.

Commissioners: Stop and Face the Flood Waters UPDATED

Lebo Citizens readers know that on Monday evening, I spoke about the recent flooding issues and offered a solution to consider, instead of spending $700,000 on artificial turf. The PG's Harry Funk wrote in his article, Mt. Lebanon officials ponder spending

Other residents disagreed, including Elaine Gillen of Vallevista Avenue. She questioned the priorities of spending money on athletic fields vs. addressing safety issues, such as helping to mitigate some of the problems that contributed to widespread flooding on July 10.

My suggestion comes from personal experience. At the bottom of my driveway, Mt. Lebanon installed a backflow valve, also known as a back water valve. I understand there are now 55 of these valves in Lebo. They work!

In The Almanac's Eric Seiverling story,  Mt. Lebanon addresses flooding issues  (saved in Google Docs) Mt. Lebanon Municipal Engineer Dan Deiseroth was quoted as saying:

“In my tenure here, this is the fourth event of this magnitude,” Deiseroth told commissioners. “It’s happening more frequently.”

Four Mt. Lebanon cars were totaled due to the flooding. Carole Gilbert Brown reported in her PG article, Flooded residents in Scott seeking township help that Scott Township had five cars ruined.  She also reported:

Another Ryan Drive resident, Joe Woznicki, said stormwater runoff from the nearby Carriage Park Apartments has caused his property to sink 4 to 6 inches in 18 months. Seven other homes on the street are affected by erosion at the base of the hill from the complex's drain pipes that can't handle the heavier flows, he said.

These homes, as well as Beth El Synagogue and the Twin Hills Park, which is owned by Mt. Lebanon but is in Scott, are "losing more and more of ground surface," Mr. Woznicki said.

 But who got the commissioners' attention on Monday night? A mom of a five year old needing field space to play lacrosse and the sports cabal.

"I look at the fields in our community as I would any other item of infrastructure," said David Franklin of Pinetree Road, a member of the Mt. Lebanon Sports Advisory Board. "At some point, we need to update them." 

Coolidge Avenue resident Chris Sloan called Mt. Lebanon's field conditions substandard compared with some other municipalities and advocated the installation of artificial turf.
"It attracts people," he said. "It's an asset of our community. It could be on our 'pro' list when we do pros and cons."

So there it is in black and white. What is most important infrastructure to Dave Brumfield, John Bendel, and Kristen Linfante? Fields.  They would like to take $700,000 and put it toward turfing a field, and a school district field no less. Who cares about the people who had flooding? Certainly not those three.

Update July 26, 2013 4:53 PM I have started a new list on this blog, right above the change order list. I will post more streets as they come in here. You don't have to sign your name. Just submit the name of the street where residents experienced flooding.

We're surrounded by greed

Remember when the school district increased our taxes by 10.5% in May 2010? Sure you do! Mt. Lebanon Passes Budget To Pay For School Renovations Want to know how excessive that tax increase was? I filed a Right To Know for Jan Klein's July 1, 2013 report presented to the school board directors. My July 16 request was finally granted today.

The ONE PAGE report is located here. Notice the excess funds available from the May 2010 tax increase $2,375,000!!!!! How about that General Capital Fund, Dave and Dave? $6,350,000!!!

The commission majority wants to turf Mellon Field and the School District is sitting on $8,585,000, yet they want to wrap bonds to pay for the entire balance of high school renovation.

Dave Brumfield, Kristen Linfante, John Bendel, Dave Franklin, and all the rest of the sports people that were at the commission meeting last night: Why aren't you going after the school district to fix their own damn fields? For that, our sidewalks are missing on safe walking routes, people are plagued with flooding issues, our municipal building can't be locked securely, the golf course can't have a tractor, staff has to cut back, we can't close the pension funding gap, haven't paid for McNeilly, and we haven't started to fund the TOD project.  But hey, you have $829,561 just burning a hole in your pockets. So what do you want to do? Turf a school district field because it is a "safety hazard." Equally hazardous as people losing cars and damage to their homes due to flood waters or making kids walk to school on busy streets that have no sidewalks. What are you thinking, boys and girls??????

Brumfield has no plan

The commission meeting went as predicted. The sports people were there in full force. One by one, we heard their sad stories of kindergartners not being able to play lacrosse, soccer games canceled week after week because of wet fields. Never mind that the last major rainstorm dropped 4 inches of rain and that homes all over Mt. Lebanon were flooded, ground is saturated to the point that trees are being uprooted and streets are uplifted.

I asked that all the unassigned funds go to public safety issues such as the police radio, installing sidewalks leading to schools, and installing back water valves in the homes that are constantly flooded.  When my back water valve was inspected today, the plumber told me that there are 55 such valves in Mt. Lebanon. I said it was a no brainer to spend money on sidewalks and help people with flooding issues, not spend $700,000 on artificial turf.

A heated discussion followed among the commissioners. Clearly, it was decided in advance that Brumfield, Bendel, and Linfante were voting for artificial turf. Hints were made that municipal money was going to turf Mellon. The unassigned funds are to be spent on MUNICIPAL capital projects, not school district fields. Our staff has to cut back, but it is OK to blow $700,000 on school district fields.

The shining moment in tonight's meeting was when Kelly asked if Dave had a plan. He admitted freely that he did not have a plan. But they were quick to point out that this wasn't going to be spent immediately and that $700,000 was not enough to turf anything. It would have to come from the school district and -are you sitting down?- donations from the sports groups. No plan.

So after this goes down, and it will, the next want WILL be McNeilly. You mark my words.

Oh, before I forget, they will not be buying a golf course tractor or go for Building Security replacement. Think about what replacing Building Security means, Folks.

I have uploaded the podcasts to tonight's meetings. So if you are as hyper as I am at this point, listen to the commission meeting. It is available here.