No "Best Blogger" category this year

I can't believe a year has gone by since I asked Lebo Citizens Readers to vote for Best Blogger in Pittsburgh Magazine's Best of the 'Burgh.

There isn't a Best Blogger category for 2019.  It was an honor that I was nominated last year. Here is a link to vote for all your favorites, if they are listed.

Vote Now Pittsburgh Magazine's 2019 Best of the Burgh Readers Poll

Opinion Piece | Proposed sewer ordinance is unfair to owners in Mt. Lebanon

Proposed sewer or­di­nance is un­fair to own­ers in Mt. Lebanon

Mt. Lebanon property owners need to be aware of a pending sanitary sewer ordinance that will force us into large expenditures for no beneficial reason. The ordinance, currently being considered by our commissioners, would require, before a simple plumbing permit or the sale of any property is approved, a video camera inspection of the home’s sanitary sewer by a certified NASSCO (National Association of Sewer Service Contractors) contractor.

The property owner would be forced to proceed with any repairs/​replacement dictated by the inspection. The stated purpose of this ordinance is to prevent groundwater infiltration from seeping through cracks or root penetrations into the sanitary sewers. The following key points must be noted:

• There is no law, consent order or legal mandate requiring this ordinance.

• No scientific data has been presented that proves groundwater is seeping into residential sewer laterals through cracks.

• The vast majority of Mt. Lebanon homes are older and have terra cotta clay drain piping that is subject to cracks and root penetrations at joints, making these homes almost certain to fail any inspection.

• This ordinance could cost each property owner $10,000 to $20,000, or more, for every plumbing permit or property sale.

Make no mistake, this is a big deal. If 75 percent of Mt. Lebanon’s 11,000 homes require $10,000 to $20,000 each in replacements, this ordinance will have cost property owners $80 million to $120 million for repairs for which there is currently no state or federal mandate and which have not been shown to have any beneficial effect whatsoever.

Property owners should e-mail the commission at commission@mtlebanon.org and express their dissatisfaction. Even more important, they should attend the commission’s upcoming meetings at 8 p.m. on March 12 and March 26 in the municipal building. Speak out against this massive overreach by our elected officials.

Paul Grandy
Mt. Lebanon
This letter was also signed by Richard Bartkowski, Robert Beynon, Charles Blumenschein, Templeton Smith, Charlotte Stephenson, Thomas Stevenson and Brad Templeton.

Who's running?

Just putting it out there...

If candidates running for School Board or Commission would like to have bios published here on lebocitizens.blogspot.com, send it to me at EGillen476@aol.com. I can post jpg or png files directly onto the blog. If you have a Word document, I can copy and paste it to the blog. If you have a pdf file, I will have to link it to a Google Doc.

No guns for Cooper

I just finished reading Mt. Lebanon school board member takes stance against guns. Bill Cooper, (yes, Buddy J., he is a registered Democrat) was the only school board director who voted against the new weapons policy, which prohibits weapons and guns on campus, with a few exceptions. If you get a chance to read the article, be sure to read the comments, as well.

Fawn Lebowitz, (related to Larry?) left a snarky comment about eliminating starter pistols, spray paint guns, and hot glue guns. Don't forget staple guns, Fawn.

I wonder how Bill Cooper feels about Timmy warning parents about keeping their kids on sidewalks while Tony DeNicola's crew is out there shooting high powered weapons to kill those ferocious deer.

Remember the Walk on Washington Road? That was widely supported by parents and students.

Where is the consistency?

2018-2019 Final Archery Report. Another sham

Another sham. The 2018-2019 Final Archery Report has been published. (Saved in Google Docs). Mt. Lebanon paid $8,000 to have 30 deer "harvested." That comes to $266.67 per deer killed by volunteers. And as one might expect, "SWMS recommends that the municipality continue to include archery hunting as part of the deer management program."

The good news is that sixteen deer were donated to feed people, at a cost of $4,266.72. That would buy quite a bit of meat from Shop 'N Save. The flip side is that volunteers -either hunters or property owners got to keep 14 "harvested" deer. Doesn't sound like there are any donors in this equation.

A Month of Goodbyes

You have all probably heard that Susan Fleming Morgans, the Public Information Officer, is retiring on March 8. Susan's legacy includes being transparent enough and dismissing almost 400 Not In My Yard Signs (See Latest Right To Know- shaking my head UPDATED 2x), Susan reminding Andrew McNitt that "The purpose of this meeting it [sic] NOT to discuss the potential harmful effects of artificial turf..." , when she attacked The Almanac's tweet and proceeded to call my blog a disreputable local blog filled with a litany of libelous slurs, (See More lies from "the disreputable local blog"), and let us not forget to market, to market, to buy a … the most offensive article Susan ever wrote. She later apologized. To read more about Susan Morgans's contributions as public information officer, search this blog. For all of her followers, Susan Morgans gave a plug for her website,  www.susanflemingmorgans.com in her final column. You can read about her retiring cleaning lady. Of course.

I have not renewed the webhosting fee of $214.80 for my website, lebocitizens.com. I am done spending money on this community. I do want to thank those who sponsored me in the past. I will never forget.

I am so over Mt. Lebanon. There is life in Florida. There are no state income taxes, parking meters, or garages that charge to park. Recycling, including glass, is once a week. Garbage collection is TWICE a week. Yard waste is every Wednesday. Property taxes are VERY low. Gasoline is cheap. They don't worry about scary deer. They coexist with bears, alligators, and snakes. There are no overpaid, snobbish public information officers. Another thing that I am over is the Ward 4 Commissioner.  He continues to be a menace on the roads. But you elected him! No goodbyes from that dude.

Hitchhiker Brewing Files Cross Claim

Hitchhiker Brewing Files Cross Claim on Lawsuit

Cross Claim Here

Holy Cross Farmers Market

www.facebook.com/holycrossfarmersmarket

Welcome to our page! Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church is best known for our Greek Food Festival every June and Fall Festival in October. We are extremely excited to now be adding our new Summer Farmers Market to the South Hills community! So, please give us a follow here and on our Instagram page to follow along in our new adventure. Vendor recruitment has begun! If you are a vendor looking to participate, please head to our website to contact us
👉🏼www.holycrossfarmersmarket.com

Got lead?

The Allegheny County Health Department has released a report concerning elevated blood lead levels in children.

Check out Page 9 of this report.

Page 1 shows blood lead levels by municipality and neighborhood.

It is kind of difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the darker blue areas by overlaying the maps. But considering the number of houses built before 1950, with most houses built before 1980 in Mt. Lebanon, it might be worth further investigation.

Jan is gone and there is no fake budget

Do a search for fake budgets here, and you will understand. We have also had fake-fake budgets in the past. Jan Klein would come up with a fake budget so that the school district could file for Act 1 Exceptions. That would allow the school board to raise taxes above the index. This means the district will not be able to raise taxes by more than the 2.3 percent index — or 0.56 mills — for 2019-20. The most taxes could go up for the next school year would be by $56 per $100,000 of assessed value.

Coincidently, our superintendent didn't get whopping increases as he had in the past, our finance director retired, new auditors have been contracted to audit the books, the Audit and Finance Committee was reinstated, and no more Century of Excellence Capital Campaign.

School taxes could go up in Mt. Lebanon, but only slightly

It's a Snow Day

New recycling options

I think the new recycling options suck. My street was littered with 2 liter bottles, milk cartons, and whatever else my neighbors had in their recycling cans. Through no fault of their own, the wind carried all their lightweight recyclables and trash cans everywhere. No more glass to add weight to the receptacles. Wind and the new program are not a good mix.

Here is the new pilot program as stated in this week's Administrative Report.

Personally, I can't be bothered to sort out my recyclables in four separate bins - three for Michael Brothers and one for Waste Management. I take my newspapers to the school, so that would be five bins altogether. Oh wait. I recycle my batteries at the Municipal Building and bulbs at Home Depot. What does that add up to...seven bins? No thanks. I am sorry to say this, but I am giving up on recycling glass and plastics.

Glass Recycling Survery*

Mt. Lebanon residents only, please tell the staff and commission what you think of two possible plans for recycling glass by taking a short survey at:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZCTN2CK

*Survery - a new word coined by our illustrious Public Information Office meaning a survey for recycling.

Hitchhiker Brewing Co. and Mt. Lebanon named as defendants UPDATED

Filed yesterday:

Hitchhiker Brewing Company and Mt. Lebanon

At the same time:

Pittsburgh-Area Brewery Among The Nation's Elite, Magazine Says

Thanks, Fake Lebo!

Thank you for keeping your word, Conor Lamb