Deer blood and fur on Safe Walking Route

These photos were taken this morning around 8:00 AM. Lots of blood on Washington Road, heading north, just before the light at Castle Shannon Blvd. Definitely the result of bow killing. This is horrible on so many levels!

Deer blood and fur in library parking lot.

Close up of blood on sidewalk on Mellon’s safe walking route.

From opposite direction. Note that all this blood is within the school zone.

Deer blood and fur in library parking lot.

Blood on Washington Road—from the parking lot steps, dwindling down just before the traffic light at Castle Shannon Blvd.

Announcements currently on the School District website

Shooting starts Feb. 1, 2017 - March 31, 2017

Look for more of these signs going up. On public property only. Private properties will remain private.

But only at the PUBLIC areas, not private property. The commissioners believe that it is none of our business to know where the bullets will be flying on private properties in Mt. Lebanon. Dave Brumfield was quoted in The Almanac:

“What is at issue is a number of residents that have volunteered their property for the program. In doing so, they did not expect to open themselves up to public ridicule or harassment from someone who might disagree with their beliefs on the issue of the deer cull.”

Killing on private property will occur seven days a week, starting at 4 PM, while killing on public areas will be restricted to five days a week. For Heaven's sake, do not go sled riding at the golf course on a Friday night. Your children may be exposed to a "teaching moment."

I sent the following email to the commissioners, manager, and police chief. I have not heard back from any of those seven people.

Commissioners,

In case you missed it, I posted Keith's letter to the district concerning your "sharpshooting" program in my post, https://lebocitizens.blogspot.com/2017/01/bullets-never-cross-sidewalks.html Your announcements to this lethal program are always buried on the municipal website.

I wonder if MLPD will be issuing the same suggestion in Keith's letter on NextDoor. Also, will his suggestion be posted on Facebook and other MTL social media?

Elaine Gillen

"Parents and teachers may want to tell children to avoid the designated parks after dark and suggest they use sidewalks/established safe walking routes instead of shortcuts through private properties."

Remember to keep your kids and pets on sidewalks. Mt. Lebanon has installed bullet proof glass next to all sidewalks in Mt. Lebanon. That must be true if our manager suggests that we use sidewalks. He also wants us to tell children to avoid the designated parks after dark. The only problem with that statement is that shooting will begin at 6:00 PM, not after dark as he states.

There will be shooting on properties that are on safe walking routes.

Chief Aaron Lauth acknowledged that there will be shooting on properties that are on safe walking routes. They need to stop repeating the lie that there's not. See his explanation below for what they meant by "no shooting will be on safe walking routes." It is so ridiculous, as if bullets will just stay in the yards.

On Sun, Jan 31, 2016 at 12:26 PM, Aaron Lauth <alauth@mtlebanon.org> wrote:

Ms. XXXXXXX,

All safe walking routes are recommended routes of travel that are established using public streets and their adjoining sidewalks (where appropriate). No safe walking routes recommend that children walk through private property during their travels to and from school. Also, none of the public properties identified for use during the sharpshooting activities are recommended for travel by the established safe walking routes.

Since the established safe walking routes encompass nearly all of Mt. Lebanon, you are correct that some of the private properties that have been selected for culling activities may be adjacent to public streets and sidewalks where these recommended routes exist.

As you are aware, the MLPD has been tasked with evaluating the safety of the culling activities throughout the program. As part of this safety analysis, specific criteria and a site inspection team have been established. The site inspection team consists of White Buffalo professionals and two Mt. Lebanon police officers who have extensive training as police marksmen and have participated on our regional Critical Incident Response Team. They will evaluate each potential location based on a variety of factors, including shooter position, elevation to be used, sight lines/obstructions, proposed weapons (.22/.223), minimum/maximum target range, backdrop selection, potential for human activity, proximity to any safe walking route and compliance with the 1000-foot Gun Free School Zone criteria applicable to public properties.

As I'm sure you are also aware, safety zones and setbacks are not required for a sharpshooting cull permitted by the PA Game Commission, however all efforts will be made to eliminate the potential for any human conflict at any of the proposed culling locations. Based on our preliminary discussions with White Buffalo, locations will be selected mostly because they are isolated from any potential conflicts that could have an influence on safety or the culling activities.

As is evidenced by the established protocols listed above, safety will always be the top priority of this culling program.

Thanks,

Aaron V. Lauth

Chief of Police

Mt Lebanon Police Department

555 Washington Road

Pittsburgh, PA  15228

(412)343-4015

alauth@mtlebanon.org

www.mtlebanonpd.org

I found the catch.

The municipality claims that none of the archery sites are on safe walking routes. I could never understand how they could make that claim. Here is what they really mean. Mike Gallagher wrote in an email on page 2 of the pdf,

"None of the routes are mapped out to go through the parks mentioned." 

Uh, what about the private properties that are being handled by White Buffalo? They are hunting on both private and public property. I could not understand, until now, that the claim was pertaining to the public property and NOT about the private properties.

Read about set backs and Jody's concerns about our densely populated community!

PA Code, Chapter 447, Hazardous Walking Routes UPDATED - Timmy has spoken

I know that parents are outraged over the archery that will take place starting this Saturday and will end late January 2016. Steve Feller's letter to Tim Steinhauer states:

No hunting will take place on school safe-walking routes. Only police officers certified for the program will hunt on public property.

And then goes on to say:

Several groups of private properties will be used for hunting. Theses properties were thoroughly vetted, and hunters will follow the rules of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Are the private properties on school safe-walking routes? Parents ask, "How is this permitted?" Well, it's not.  Please Google PA Code, Chapter 447, Hazardous Walking Routes. 

I maintain that every street in Mt. Lebanon has been charted on safe walking routes. (You have to be able to get from here to there.) 

From the School District website:

Safe Walking

The Mt. Lebanon School District is a walking school district. Student safe walking awareness is reviewed annually with the assistance of the Mt. Lebanon Police Department (MLPD). In addition to reinforcing safe walking rules with students at the beginning of the school year, the MLPD has established Safe Walking Routes for each elementary school. Please review these routes with your child throughout the school year.   Safe Walking Routes The Municipality of Mt. Lebanon, along with the Mt. Lebanon Police Department and Juvenile Protection has formulated the following walking routes.  These routes are recommended safe walking routes according to pedestrian and vehicle laws of the Commonwealth of PA.  The walking routes are all encompassing not simply for routes to each elementary school.  They were designed to be used 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  These routes will show the safest area to walk on the street as well as the safest place to cross every street and crossing guard locations.  The routes will take you to a signalized intersection with a stop sign or traffic signal making it easier to cross.  For students in elementary school, locate your school map and find your address.  You may then follow the blue arrows to the school.  The reverse would be done for walking home.  For students in middle and high school, locate the elementary school map where you live and follow that towards your school and onto the next elementary school map where the middle or high school is located. Because the maps are all encompassing for safety, all walking routes will follow a street or sidewalk.  Pathways and cut through stairs have been eliminated as safe walking routes. Foster Elementary School Walking Route Hoover Elementary School Walking Route Howe Elementary School Walking Route Jefferson Elementary School Walking Route Lincoln Elementary School Walking Route Markham Elementary School Walking Route Washington Elementary School Walking Route From an attorney:

Let’s first only review it for the purposes of the district’s safe walking routes in the context of the archery kill. (After a cursory review, I suspect that some of the MTSLD safe walking routes are in question, even without the deer kill.) Chapter 447 creates guidelines for determining if a school student walking route along a public highway (I think that means all thru streets) is hazardous. Now, the section specifically defines hazardous as an unsafe condition caused by “POTENTIAL incompatibility between vehicles and school students.” My contention is that a kid may want to walk to school on the other side of the street (against crosswalk regs) or may be expected to walk or run into the street once s/he discovers that the walking route is adjacent to a public or private killing site, or may run into the street if s/he sees an arrow fly or encounters a dead or dying deer on the safe walking route. All of those scenarios subject students to traffic perils. 

A review/study of the safe walking routes WILL be conducted ONLY IF requested by the school district. Chapter 447 of the PA Code states that “if changes occur in the condition of a walking route that was previously inspected, a re-evaluation of the route may be requested (again, only by the school district).

Dr. Steinhauer needs to be convinced that he should immediately request that the appropriate PA engineering district conduct a safe walking route analysis or reanalysis of the potential for kid/vehicle dangers caused by private and public archery hunting grounds in Mt. Lebanon, for a deer kill that will occur during the daylight, at least five days a week, for a period of over four months. Dr. Steinhauer will be required to send a copy of his request for the study to the municipality.

September 17, 2015 6:31 PM From John Bendel at 6:05 PM: "Our public works department will be putting signs up tomorrow. First, in the public areas where hunting is permitted and then in the other parks where hunting is not."

From the Mt. Lebanon website: Deer Management Update (September 17, 2015)
At a public meeting on September 8, 2015, the Mt. Lebanon Commission authorized a Deer Management Program archery management program. For additional information please read our Frequently Asked Questions related to deer management. Also available for review is the notification sent to the School District regarding Deer Management.

September 18, 2015 5:18 PM Timmy has spoken.

From: Dr. Timothy Steinhauer <TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net>
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2015 4:11 PM
To:
Cc: 'Stephen Feller'

Dear 

The School District and Municipality share the same priority for student safety. I have discussed safe student travel to and from school with the Municipal Manager and Chief of Police. I was assured that hunters would adhere to the rules established by the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the hunters were aware of the safe-walking routes. In Mr. Feller’s letter he stated that no hunting would take place on school safe-walking routes. For your information, safe-walking routes are provided by the MLPD and are posted at http://www.mtlsd.org/parents/safewalkingroutes.asp  The precautions hunters will be taking while hunting on public property were noted in his letter.

All of the parents, principals, faculty, and staff were alerted to this upcoming event. In addition to the school’s role, parents always play an important part in directing his/her child to practice safe behavior when walking to and from school.

For questions about the specifics of the deer management program, you may contact the municipality’s Keith McGill at 412-343-3684, kmcgill@mtlebanon.org. For immediate safety concerns you should call 911.

Timothy J. Steinhauer, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Mt. Lebanon School District

412-344-2076

Update September 18, 2015 5:37 PM Further correspondence from an angry parent in response to Timmy's letter.

From:
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2015 4:19 PM
To: 'Dr. Timothy Steinhauer' <TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net>
Cc: 'sfeller@mtlebanon.org' <sfeller@mtlebanon.org>
Subject: RE: Deer Killing During School Hours

Tim---

It appears from your email that you and the muni do share the same view of student safety. That’s too bad for our school kids.

You may want to take a look at the Pa Code, Chapter 447. Hazardous Walking Routes. It is part of PA school law. I already know of certain streets where the archery hunt will directly conflict with the safe-walking routes. Steve Feller knows those streets, as well.

Angry parent

From: Angry parent
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2015 5:25 PM
To: 'Dr. Timothy Steinhauer' <TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net>
Cc: 'sfeller@mtlebanon.org' <sfeller@mtlebanon.org>
Subject: RE: Deer Killing During School Hours

One more thing, Tim. I realize the role that parents play in the kids’ safety. Obviously. I wouldn’t be making a big stink here if I didn’t.  Your statement below about the parents’ role in safety tells me that you do not have a grasp of a crucial issue. The municipality, with whom you share a safety bond, is unlawfully withholding the locations of the private properties on which our tax dollars are paying for the muni to kill deer with crossbows.

Perhaps you can tell me how I can direct my child to practice safe behavior when I do not know the locations at which he will be in heightened peril. I’m at a loss.

Thank you.

Angry parent

Shame on Timmy UPDATED

This email just came out from our overpaid superintendent, Dr. Timothy Steinhauer. He is so wrong. First, it isn't a cull, it is a hunt. Because it is a legal archery hunt, the Municipality did not have to get permission from the PA Game Commission. I'm told that parents are just sickened by this. They are worried about their children's safety. Timmy mentions nothing about safe walking routes.

From: "Dr. Timothy Steinhauer" < noreply@mtlsd.net>
Date: September 16, 2015 at 3:31:14 PM EDT
To: Mt. Lebanon Parents
Subject: Municipal Letter Concerning Deer Culling
Reply-To: "Dr. Timothy Steinhauer" < noreply@mtlsd.net>

Dear Mt. Lebanon Parents,

The Mt. Lebanon Municipality received permission from the Pennsylvania Game Commission to proceed with the deer cull. They have asked us to share the attached letter with you.

Sincerely,

Dr. Timothy Steinhauer
Superintendent of Schools

Letter from Municipality 

---

MTLSD DISCLAIMER: THIS TRANSMISSION IS INTENDED ONLY FOR THE USE OF THE ADDRESSEE AND MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS PRIVILEGED, CONFIDENTIAL, AND EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW. IF YOU ARE NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, OR THE EMPLOYEE OR AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR DELIVERING THE MESSAGE TO THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT ANY DISSEMINATION, RETENTION, DISTRIBUTION, OR COPYING OF THIS COMMUNICATION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY THE SENDER IMMEDIATELY.

I placed a third order, and already half of the order is reserved.  I am down to 15 yard signs. They are going quickly. Please remember to email the commissioners at commission@mtlebanon.org and copy the school district at schoolboard@mtlsd.net. Let them know that you have a "Not In My Yard" sign and are opposed to the archery plan. It starts this Saturday.

Update September 16, 2015 6:20 PM Also planned for this Saturday is Mt. Lebanon Public Safety Day which will be held in Bethel Park, at Bethel Park High School. What is wrong with this picture? [Hint: See above]

Public Safety Fun Day set for Sept. 19