Presenting the Youth Sports Alliance Proposal Continued

I don't know how else to do this, so I am starting a new post, which is a continuation of the previous post, Presenting the Youth Sports Alliance Proposal. After 177 comments, it has gotten to be a little time consuming scrolling down to the end of the comments. Please read the final comments, including the thoughtful and respectful comment from Brooks Broadhurst. I am not snipping the thread, just asking you to post your comments on this one. I don't want to lose the momentum, but scrolling through 177 comments is a bit much. Thanks for your patience and cooperation.

Denied!

Want to know who had over $800,000 in unpaid parking tickets? So do I. I filed a Right To Know and received this letter in my mailbox today. Outstanding Parking Tickets RTK Among other things, the Drivers Privacy Protection Act was one reason my Right To Know request was denied.

The parking amnesty program resulted in payment on 111 tickets for an income of $1300.

I am learning quickly that the unreasonable, the uncooperative, and those who are above the law are the ones who seem to be ahead here in Mt. Lebanon.

Presenting the Youth Sports Alliance Proposal UPDATED 2x

Tonight, the YSA presented their exciting proposal to the Commission during their Discussion Session.  Jordan Halter, representing Lacrosse (MLLA), made the presentation. 2012 YSA Field Project Analysis & Recommendation
Updated: cleaned up version of YSA proposal with bid exclusions stripped 

To turf and light Wildcat and Middle Fields without stands, lining of fields, parking improvements and maintenance, is $1,125,000.  This is the exciting part.  YSA will buy the stands for $10,000 and contribute $190,000 towards the lighting. 

Missing from the field analysis is the "Rock Pile," which will be back in two years.

My question is why is Aqua Club in YSA?  Nothing was mentioned about the pool and yet they contribute to YSA. Nothing was mentioned about YSA paying their debts to the School District.  Nothing was mentioned about the terms of the $200,000 donation.

Update June 28, 2012 4:19 PM  Clarification from Susan Morgans, PIO

The problem begins with all of us.

This letter to the editor comes from reader and frequent commenter, Charlotte Stephenson.

Elaine,

Since I originally composed this letter to the editor a few days ago, there have been numerous comments posted that may make this seem a bit redundant. Nonetheless, I am willing to post it anyway. Here is goes:

We really do have a problem in Mt. Lebanon and the problem begins with all of us. It’s true that we should feel angry and upset over the way our elected officials choose to spend our money without demonstrating an understanding of the impact of their decisions.

Money for turf may satisfy some families here, but the cost will impair others because the money will come from the taxpayers and the ongoing cost of this project does not appear to be fully understood. How can we be paying for turf when we don’t have enough money for our entire road repair or other infrastructure needs? The uncollected sum of $800,000.00 in parking violations among other chunks of dough that have fallen through the cracks according to Dave Egler demonstrate completely irresponsible fiscal management by someone and yet we do not really know much loss there has been or exactly how it happened. We have seen that the decision to overspend on a high school renovation project has already cost more to the taxpayers due to a recent change order and a fundraising feasibility study and at the same time we are cutting service to our students. Oh, and did or didn’t the YSA live up to their end of the bargain? The school district claims they have, but the IRS tell us differently. So if the payments weren’t made, who has been paying for all of the field maintenance? You know who has! How about the perpetual audits, we all know that a change in players from time to time is a good idea, but why hasn’t that happened?

What about the basic Sunshine Law? When I became frustrated for not getting information about the School District’s decision to conduct a feasibility study relative to the donor as we were promised by Board President Josephine Posti, I eventually filed a RTK. I am including the documentation here, but what is disturbing to me is the obviously blatant effort being made to keep our residents out of the loop as the directors and administration conduct business that we pay for.  Go ahead and read it, see what you think.

The situations discussed on this blog are concerning and frustrating, but venting our frustrations is not going to make any difference because anyone who has approached these authorities with their logical concerns has seen first hand that the sitting elected majorities (not everyone) are entrenched, inflexible and frankly incapable of changing their minds on these and other highly controversial issues. It’s politics at best, or worst around here depending on where one sits in the fiscally conservative department. So, what can we do?

If people really want to make a difference, it’s time to start recruiting potential candidates for the next election cycle for the open Commissioner and School Board seats. (Make sure they understand that a sitting official will stop at nothing to impair their campaign including authoring a slanderous letter under a fictitious name for illegal distribution throughout the community). Form an election committee and start soliciting donations NOW. Finally, keep a list of the egregious actions we continue to observe of those who will be running next time. The only way anything will change will be when new and motivated candidates who really want to serve the community and not their own agendas are sworn into office. Be sure to add some time in to motivate voters to actually go to the polls!

This community is learning the hard way why being an informed active voter makes a difference. If anyone can appeal to the Commissioners as to why spending a huge amount of money for artificial turf is irresponsible, good luck. It's about special interest politics plain and simple. The decisions the School Board made to spend too much on the high school, among other items and those that the Commissioners are making on turf will have far-reaching impact for a long time to come. These people may feel they are serving the next generation, but what they are really doing is ensuring that the next generation won't be able to afford to live here, one poor financial decision at a time. Everyone should be careful what he or she wishes for!

Finally, where have our other local representatives and senators been? Quite honestly, Elvis has left our building. How many times have any of them reached out to those of you who have made your concerns known? When I was featured as “A Newsmaker You Should Know” regarding the petition effort, I received a note and copy of the article from Matt Smith, but he never offered to talk further and see what he could do to help. Tim Murphy’s office has been an impenetrable fortress. They always ask for my donation and vote when the time comes, but there is obviously little interest in trying to deal with our local situation. Sure, local votes and local money matters, but beyond that these issues appear too hot to handle. It’s time for change all the way around, so who is willing to get started? We must remember, if we always do what we always did we'll always get what we always got!

-Charlotte Stephenson

Is the School Board President accusing County of mismanaging property assessments?

Josephine Posti updated her blog the other day with this post, Property Appeal Information. Posti writes:

The Board did decide, however, to send representatives to all commercial and residential appeal hearings, so that the appeal results would only be based upon valid evidence.

Is Posti accusing the County of basing appeal decisions on "invalid" information? According to her, is the County incompetent? Does she know that evidence other than "VALID evidence" is being considered?

Posti takes a shot at the Commission:

We need to better understand the Municipality's position on helping to pay for the current practice that the District has been fully funding on its own for six years.

Josephine continues about Commissioner Fraasch's ward:

How would homeowners in the other wards feel if they knew that a large number of homeowners in one ward are appealing their assessments and the Municipality and District aren't sending representation? 

Sounds like she is pitting one ward against another. Class warfare? The majority of Commissioner Fraasch's ward falls in the range as identified on Blog-Lebo and in James Fraasch's letter to Judge Wettick here.

Finally, Josephine's parting words:

I'm looking forward to hearing more discussion from the Commission on this issue as well as the issue of whether they would like to re-implement their practice of appealing recently sold residential properties that sell for substantially higher than their last assessment.

Nice try, Josephine. In a Commission meeting, Dave Brumfield said that you were going after the under assessed properties next year. It is rumored that you have no intention of doing that.  Which is it, are you or aren't you?

From a long silent voice

Elaine, Would you please consider publishing my email (below) to you? Good luck and from the silent majority, thank you.
Hello Elaine,

It’s been a while. I would like to thank you and the others who have sacrificed so much of their time, experience and insight to inform our community about so many of the problems in Mt Lebanon. One thing that is very clear is that our community has a number of very serious matters that need to be corrected by competent leadership and qualified management.

Something else that has become very clear is that the battle has now come to you. Have you noticed that “the other website” stopped posting comments? Have you also noticed that actors from all of the factions in the community are chiming-in on the colorful commentary on your site? The simple truth is that they all fear you Elaine. They know that you and the others who are contributing to your cause have the means to end the madness and permanently change the direction of Mt. Lebanon. If they didn’t believe that you have this power in your hands then they wouldn’t be here, they wouldn’t be listening and they wouldn’t be trying to define the rules of the game – their game, that they want you to play.

Please don’t play their game Elaine. Instead, focus your energy on developing new leadership for the community. Form a leadership that has the vision and the strength to appoint qualified management who will translate your vision into a meaningful strategy that will restore the founding values that made Mt Lebanon great for so many years.

You’ve communicated the burning platform and established a sense of urgency. You’ve energized the silent majority who share your values. Please plan, organize and get out the vote. Both parties have fragmented leadership and very little infrastructure. Nobody may have told you that you hold the destiny of the community in your hands Elaine, but I just did.

God bless you and from the silent majority, thank you.

Sincerely,

John David Kendrick

They have a lot of nerve!* UPDATED 2x

On Lebo Fields blog,

Field Proposal To Be Presented on June 25

The Mt. Lebanon Commissioners previously requested that the youth sports groups develop a proposal/plan for adding synthetic turf to one of our existing field spaces. Since that time, members of the youth sports groups have met with representatives from various turf companies, lighting companies, field space consultants, the municipal staff and the Commissioners. The plan will be presented on Monday June 25 @ 6:15PM during the Commission Discussion Session in the Commission Chambers. Please come and listen to this exciting proposal.

Here is the official agenda to Monday's Commission Discussion Session. 

My week has been consumed with YSA related activity.  Blogging, doing research on artificial turf vs. natural grass, filing Right To Knows over their contributions [or lack of], going to meetings, meeting with Commissioners, and writing emails are just some of the things I have been doing.

So now, the organization that owes over $140,000 to the School District is going to make an "exciting proposal" to the Commissioners. Unbelievable.

*Both the Commission and the YSA

Update June 22, 2012 4:45 PM I realize that the YSA says that this blog doesn't know what we are talking about, but as a mother and grandmother, I cannot sit and watch this happen.  As a taxpayer, I cannot sit and watch this happen.  What does it take to get the public involved?

From a reader:

The public should be aware of these issues before the turf presentation Monday.

From San Francisco parks & Rec Dept.

https://sites.google.com/site/sfparks/hpf

New York City (February 10, 2009)

        First Deputy Parks Commissioner Liam Kavanagh said that “The controversial material made from recycled tires will no longer be used in synthetic-turf fields for parks and schools." The officials said they stopped using it because it could pose a health risk.”. Officials said yesterday, "New York City will replace the crumb in all city fields."

New York City (February 3, 2009)

      US District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan ruled that “toys containing a plastic-softening chemical [phthalate] linked to infertility and testicular cancer in men must be removed.” Artificial turf has been found to contain phthalates.

San Jose: CA (January 22, 2009)

      The San Jose Unified School district voted no to tire waste synthetic turf on environmental and health grounds.

   

Connecticut (January 2009)

      Connecticut State Representative Kim Fawcett will seek a moratorium on the installation of new synthetic turf fields until "such time as an honest assessment of its risk can be had."

New Jersey

      University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey set forth the findings of a scientific investigation into absorption of lead form artificial turf infill crumb rubber granules into gastric fluids. “[A] new study by researchers at the UMDNJ-School of Public Health finds that when children or athletes ingest the tiny rubber granules in synthetic turf, it is likely that a significant portion of the lead in the granules will be absorbed by their bodies' gastric fluids,”.

  

Dallas, Texas

       Fields in two well-known high school stadiums, including the one made famous by the book and movie "Friday Night Lights," were announced to have lead levels far exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency's standard for soil, according to independent tests.

Update June 23, 2012 4:30 PM The following links are from a RTK request filed several years ago 

concerning artificial turf for the high school, turfing Mellon and Wildcat fields, swimming pool issues,  and building an indoor sports facilities. 

Attachment 1
Attachment 2

Attachment 3

You're invited!

Reader and frequent commenter, Richard Gideon will be pointing out the differences between a flag that complies with code and one that most of us commonly see during a free lecture at 2 p.m. Sunday at historic Old St. Luke's Church. 

Expert: Many U.S. flags don't comply with code

June 21, 2012 5:02 am
By Carole Gilbert Brown

While most Americans know how to properly pledge allegiance to their country's flag, it's likely many don't realize that the flag they're saluting probably isn't fabricated to correct specifications.

Richard Gideon, 64, a Greene County native who lives in Mt. Lebanon and is a vexillologist, said the majority of correctly made flags flown today are only found in the military.

"When you see a code flag up against a commercial flag, you get a completely different feeling," he said.

He'll point out the differences between a flag that complies with code and one that most of us commonly see during a free lecture at 2 p.m. Sunday in historic Old St. Luke's Church in the Woodville section of Scott.

He plans to give a 15-20 minute lecture followed by a question-and-answer period.

Commercial flags will have the proper appearance in terms of pattern and design, they often lack the right aspect ratio, or correct proportional relationship between width and height, he said. The flag's length should be 1.9 times its width.

A stickler for detail and a history lover who became interested in vexillology -- the study of flags -- while researching his family's genealogy, Mr. Gideon's lecture is timely: 100 years ago this month that President William Howard Taft signed Executive Order 1556, which set uniform specifications and a pattern for the U.S. flag.

"That was the first time in history that the U.S. flag got some specifications," Mr. Gideon said, adding that the nation's rapid growth from 13 to 50 states was starting to make the flag "look like a bed sheet."

Although Taft amended his June 12, 1912, executive order four months later to explain his reasons for the first order, the next and last executive orders involving the flag occurred when Alaska and Hawaii joined the union in 1959 and 1960 during President Dwight D. Eisenhower's term. But, there have never been any penalties placed into the Flag Code, which is why Mr. Gideon believes differently proportioned flags are flying today.

When questions arose about proportion during the Eisenhower Administration, the president indicated that he was more concerned with "the spirit of the law" than strict adherence to specifications.

Although he understands why no one wants to penalize demonstrations of patriotism, Mr. Gideon believes correctly proportioned flags should be displayed at least in some specific places.

"I think public and government buildings ought to fly code flags," he said.

A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Mr. Gideon started reproducing historic flags in 1994 as a hobby, but turned it into a business, Richard R. Gideon Flags, a year later.

He has authored 37 articles about flags and collaborated on flag books. Information: www.gideonflags.com.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-west/expert-many-us-flags-dont-comply-with-code-641346/

Another hole in Jan's story - Updated 2x - 990's added - Trib's correction

None of this is adding up.  June 7 Trib article:

The forms show that the YSA paid the district $10,000 in 2010, $3,597 in 2008 and $26,000 in 2005 -- about $50,000 short of what it owed. But district Finance Manager Jan Klein said the forms don't reflect that YSA members did $4,000 worth of work in 2005 to the fields.[YSA Payments from 1998-present from today's RTK request] Then-school Superintendent George Wilson John Allison* dismissed the amount owed in 2008 because of the group's insufficient funds; [John Allison was hired in June 2007 and left in the summer of 2009.] and the organization paid the $20,000 balance for 2010 last year. [No payments are shown for 2011.] 

"The payments weren't always made on exactly the dates in the agreements... but our records are very clear," Klein said. "We've confirmed every one of the payments in their records, and we're completely in agreement."[I don't think so.]

          YSA 990-2008 Line 28 shows $3597 contributed towards agreement
          YSA 990-2009 Line 28 shows $30,000 contributed towards agreement
          YSA 990-2010 Line 28 shows $10,000 contributed towards agreement 

For 2011, which hasn't shown up yet in the online IRS records, the YSA paid $10,000, and will soon write a check for the other $20,000, Klein said. [Sorry, but that is not what is being shown on the RTK I received today.] The payment for 2012 will depend on renegotiation of the agreement. In all, the only outstanding payment is $20,000 for last year, Klein said. [I calculate over $100,000 according to the RTK.] 

For the record, I never did see the statements from Jan Klein that Chip Dalesandro was referring to in the post, I had a visitor today...  How could George Wilson dismiss the amount owed when he wasn't even the superintendent? Who dismissed it? The School Board at that time? Or was it Jan Klein?

I think this needs to be investigated, Folks. Nothing is adding up.

*The article now reads, "John Allison."

Can't even title this due to my recent development of Tourette's

I am trying very hard not to interject any profanity for this post. My RTK was just granted.  Here is a copy of the email.

Cc: Dr. Timothy Steinhauer TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net, Thomas Peterson TPeterson@tuckerlaw.com, Jan Klein JKlein@mtlsd.net

Gillen response 2012-30 

Dear Mrs. Gillen,

Thank you for writing to the Mt. Lebanon School District with your request for information pursuant to the Pennsylvania Right-To-Know law.

On June 18, 2012, we received your request for a copy of the YSA payments made by date for years 1998-present which Dr. Steinhauer presented to the school board directors at the June 11, 2012 school board meeting.

Attached is a response to your request.

Please acknowledge receipt of this email.

Sincerely,

Jeanine Szalinski
Administrative Assistant/Open Records Officer
Superintendent's Office
Mt. Lebanon School District
7 Horsman Drive
Pittsburgh PA  15228
412.344.2077

YSA Payments from 1998-present

Have fun with this one, guys! Don't miss the response. No document was presented to the Board at the June 11 meeting. I want to thank Mrs. Szalinski for providing the information I requested.

Who cares about the poll? UPDATED

I sent this letter to the commissioners this evening.

Commissioners,
On my Lebo Citizens blog, I have extended the deadline for the latest poll about artificial turf. I mentioned Dave Franklin's blog hoping to give the community the opportunity to learn more about Dave Brumfield's plan. As of today, your project has the support of 25% of the voters. 61% of the voters do not want any artificial turf. 13% would rather have other fields improved instead of Wildcat and Middle fields.
I would like to include two articles about turf.
http://www.westcoastturf.com/pdfs/real3.pdf Check page 4 for the costs and requirements of Franklin's maintenance-free artificial turf.
http://www.redhenturf.com/pdfs/TheTruthAboutArtificialTurf.pdf The case for staying with grass is overwhelming.
Elaine Gillen

I got this nice response from Dave Brumfield.

Thank you for your input. I have seen those articles and they do represent one perspective. As to the poll, it is a shame that such a minuscule portion of our community participated.
Thanks again for your efforts.
Dave

This thoughtful response was from John Bendel:

Elaine,  

Thanks for the articles. I read both of them. I have seen similar ones plus others that have different conclusions. The second article was particularly interesting. The one thing that isn't considered in these articles is the use-ability of synthetic turf fields vs. grass fields. For example, installing synthetic turf will increase the use-ability of these fields, i.e. more games and practices. This would be especially true for wildcat and middle. The current use of these fields is predominately for baseball. Using synthetic turf will continue to allow for baseball plus it would accommodate full a full size soccer, lacrosse and football fields. This is not possible with the dirt and grass surface at wildcat and middle. The size of the same surface field (all synthetic turf) would permit more than one team to practice simultaneously, which isn't practical under the current configuration. So when considering cost, grass vs. synthetic turf, in my view, use-ability is a more appropriate way to measure cost-benefit vs. simply using annual cost. 

As you may know, some of our sports teams are renting fields in other communities because fields are not available in Mt. Lebanon. That has motivated me to explore options to meet the needs of our players and families. Because we have limited options to create new full sized fields, I believe we should enhance the condition of our current fields like we have started to do with the drainage improvements at Bird field. Similar improvements can be made at Brafferton. Likewise, I view the use of synthetic turf at wildcat and middle as a field enhancement and a viable option that should be seriously considered. Finding a site large enough for a full size field is difficult in our built community and would likely cost at least as much to develop as turfing wildcat and middle. Even the second bullet on page 16 of the "red hen turf" article that you sent concludes that synthetic turf should be considered if a school (community) doesn't have land near it to expand and the field will be used for multiple sporting events all year round. I think Mt. Lebanon meets that criteria. 

The red hen turf article contains a good set of questions that we need to address. In addition, we need to better understand the maintenance of synthetic turf. Finally, the sources of funds to complete the project need to be discussed. 

Thanks again for forwarding the articles.

John

And from my commissioner, Kristen Linfante's reply:

Elaine,
Thanks for forwarding the articles and alerting us about your poll. I was not aware of the poll, and you did not mention the number of people who participated in the poll, but based on Mr. Brumfield's email, I imagine it was, unfortunately, a very small number.

Both articles make interesting points, however, I second Mr. Bendel's comments and observations which he so eloquently stated in his email. I too believe that turfing Middle and Wildcat would dramatically improve the usability of those fields - especially since they would become a single multi-purpose facility that could accomodate all field sports. My goal is to find a solution that can accomodate the largest group of people/players. Just as I am willing to support a skate park to serve our skating community, I would like to be able to serve the needs of as many sports groups as possible with a field solution. In my mind, turfing Middle and Wildcat would do just that. It would be very difficult for me to single out any one sports group and say that they deserve more field time and space than others. By developing a multi-use turfed field, we can address the needs of virtually every group involved in field sports. We could not accomplish this anywhere else in Mt. Lebanon due to space limitations. While I and my family are not particularly interested or involved in sports in Mt. Lebanon, I still recognize that sports and outdoor recreation in general are valued by a good number of adults and children in the community, whether it is skating, or baseball, or lacrosse, or football, or any of a number of activities. This is a fact that I am not willing to ignore.

Thanks again for sending the articles.
Kristen Linfante
Commissioner, Ward 3

Looks like a done deal, so I am closing the poll, even though I previously extended it. I wanted to be fair after letting people know about Dave Franklin's blog, Lebo Fields. They really don't care what we think. Dave Franklin, you win.

Update June 20, 2012 12:55 PM The following is a very long email, which is too long to post as a comment.

Bendel's Email
Permission to share.

It's been interesting watching the machinations surrounding the artificial turf issue.  I understand there is room for difference of opinion, but what I don't understand is when somebody is convinced of something that is logically not possible and I especially do not trust commissioners that refuse to do their homework.

Mr. Bendel states:
"Using synthetic turf will continue to allow for baseball plus it would accommodate full a full size soccer, lacrosse and football fields"

Wait, how in the world is this possible unless you are expanding the footprint of the field.  But these fields are surrounded by fences, a hill and a street.  I don't see how there could be any expansion to allow for these other field sports. Indeed, if the field is big enough after turf to house these sports, then they should be able to use the field today in the same manner. On this point it appears that Mr. Bendel has been sold a line of goods from the snakeoil salesmen in Mt. Lebanon.  Maybe Mr. Bendel thinks the dirt infields will also be turfed? If so, then the main purpose of the fields (baseball fields as he points out earlier) changes from baseball to all-purpose and the baseball experience gets degraded because of the change.  If they do change to all turf, who would be responsible for raising and lowering the pitching mound?  I know, small potatoes right?.

Mr. Bendel states:
"Even the second bullet on page 16 of the "red hen turf" article that you sent concludes that synthetic turf should be considered if a school (community) doesn't have land near it to expand"

Did Mr. Bendel not read the proposal put forth by Commissioners Fraasch and Kluck?  There is space to expand.  There could be a field where public works is currently letting all their equipment sit idle (forcing public works to clean up their act and stop using land not dedicated for their purposes). There could be a full sized field at Robb Hollow.  Each of these solutions would cost less than turfing Wildcat and Middle.   Since the staff and others have said that we have a field SPACE issue and not a field CONDITION issue, adding a new grass field would make sense.  Adding two or three hours a day of practice time by turfing does NOT give the same benefit as adding 10-14 hours of practice time that a completely new field would allow.  I am sorry, but being able to practice on turf in the occasional rain shower does not provide the level of convenience needed to justify such an extravagant expense. Do your homework, Mr. Bendel.  Read the proposals by other people besides your 1st ward athletic supporter in chief! Decide for yourself which proposal makes economic sense!

Mr. Bendel then states:
"...we need to better understand the maintenance of synthetic turf"

This is a lie as the rest of his email response already indicates that he has decided on artificial turf.  But, the statement is true.  The Commissioners all need to know the answers to the following questions before they move forward with artificial turf:

1. Who will maintain the artificial turf? Will it be a current employee that will attend the classes and training to properly maintain the field or will they have to have a new Full Time position dedicated to this? What is the cost of this?
2. What does the municipality need to maintain the turf? What money needs to be put in the budget annually for the cleaning (to combat MRSA)? What money needs to be budgeted for equipment to clean and maintain the field (heavy duty vacuums are needed for proper maintenance and warranty protection)?
3.  How will the municipality budget for the turf replacement in 7 years? Will they increase taxes to pre-pay the replacement? Or will they simply try to find the hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace the turf when the time comes leaving it to future commissioners to decide?
4.  What is the 10 year cost of turf (including replacement) versus the 10 year cost of maintaining a grass field?

My guess on this last point is the following:

Turf:
$1,100,000 installation
$400,000 replacement in year 8
$25,000 maintenance equipment (we definitely don't have this)
$200,000 annual maintenance (cleaning supplies, vacuuming, 1 ft employee w/benefits) (10 years is $2,000,000)((see: http://www.piedmont.k12.ca.us/forms/turf/mondoturf/Mondoturf_Maintenance.pdf)

$3,525,000 total 10 year cost

Natural Grass:
$0 installation
$0 replacement in year 8
$25,000 maintenance equipment (assuming we don't have it already)
$50,000 annual maintenance (this would INCREASE our current budget for Middle/Wildcat fields so that we can properly maintain it with better draining/fertilization/etc)

$525,000 total 10 year cost.

Cost difference over 10 years of $3,000,000 (not including interest on a likely loan for the turf)

Maintenance for artificial turf will not be less than that of grass. In fact, in all likelihood, it will be more.  Most professionals recommend you have someone on staff that is properly trained in artificial turf maintenance if you are going to install the stuff.  That person does not exist on our current staff and would have to be trained or hired.  Otherwise, most turf companies can include in their bid an annual maintenance amount so that the company will properly maintain the field and therefore maintain the warranty. As part of the turf bid, I would recommend that the commissioners include this cost just for comparisons sake.

Until and unless the staff at the municipality can put forth a comprehensive analysis (better than the back of napkin stuff above) then nobody should be voting on anything.  To my knowledge, none of this has been done.  This is why it is so disappointing to see commissioners like Bendel jump on the turf bandwagon when they have no idea what the costs are.  What if staff put together the calculation and showed that turf was $10,000,000 more expensive over 10 years due to increased maintenance and liability? I don't think that would make a single of the pro-turf commissioners even blink an eye.  This is why this topic isn't about what is right for the community, Elaine.  This topic is one of commissioners paying back their friends for helping to get them elected. And we all thought Quid Pro Quo was something left to the US Congress! Local elections matter, folks! Someone should do a RTK for any and all emails related to artificial turf for both the commission and school board.

You won't know who I am, but I will be actively campaigning against any of the commissioners that do not do their homework on this and vote blindly for artificial turf.  In the end, turf is a WANT, not a need. In times of budget contraction, how in the world can anyone justify this additional burden on taxpayers?


Citizen_A

No contract for appeals!!!!!

David Huston filed a Right To Know on June 14, 2012 asking for the most recent version of the contract with Diversified Municipal Services. This is the company hired to represent the School District during the OVER assessed appeal hearings as reported in this post Wouldn't this be a cheaper way to go for everyone? UPDATED David's RTK was granted today. Right to Know response To summarize, there is no contract!

Let's go back to last night's school board meeting.  David Huston asked our solicitor about the appeal process. Link to podcast Listen to the tail end of the meeting. It is in the Questions or Comments from Residents portion of the meeting.

In an email to Tom Peterson, David wrote this:

Mr. Peterson,
  According to the P-G, attached,  "Shortly afterward, (March 2006) the school board decided to hire the firm Diversified Municipal Services to represent the school board at appeal hearings."

My RTK request revealed there is no agreement with DMS.

How can the District use their services without any written agreement?

David was able to locate the meeting minutes that included the agreement.

From the 18-SEP-2006 meeting minutes:

It was moved by Garson and seconded by Rose that the Superintendent [Wilson] is authorized to retain representatives for representation of the District at residential tax appeal hearings before the Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review.

ROLL CALL For: Campbell, Garson, Remely, Rose, Silhol, Walton, Rodella

Abstained: Posti

Against: None

MOTION UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED

Posti and Remely were the only current directors on the board at the time. Wilson was two superintendents ago. Posti abstained because she was in the process of appealing her own assessment. Does this authorization extend six years, two boards and two supers later? At Monday's meeting, Peterson referenced the authorization of 2006.

Other Districts, such as West Jefferson, hire DMS on retainer at $1000 a month. Their agreements are online. Ours is $100-$150 a case because we have more appeals. There is no written agreement for ours.
I want to know if there have been any recent appeal hearings in which DMS was not present. Any feedback from readers?
Listening to Elaine Cappucci's report, she really took a shot at the commissioners for not sharing the expense of the appeals. Rumor has it that Josephine Posti has no plans to go after the underassessments. Of course not.

Let's hear it for Directors Ostergaard and Goldman!

Last night, the school board directors voted and approved raises for head custodians, administrative assistants, supervisors, specialists, custodial/maintenance employees and administrators (3%). June 18, 2012 School Board Meeting Agenda  Scott Goldman explained why he was going to vote no. Dale Ostergaard also explained why he was voting no. Watch the meeting or listen to the podcast and hear Josephine Posti publicly scold Dale for his reasons. Larry Lebowitz also chimed in and supported Josephine. We knew it was going to go that way since Josephine included in her monthly report how Dr. Steinhauer deserved his raise. Here is the best part. Scott Goldman asked Tom Peterson if the vote was 9-0 against the raises, would the staff still get the raises.  Peterson said, "Yes." Then Goldman asked why even vote if it is guaranteed. Peterson said that's the way it's always been done.
It's on the podcast.
Remember what USC's superintendent did? Is Steinhauer in this for the money? Evidently.

The never ending story about YSA contributions

Last week, I had sent the following email to the school board.

From: egillen476@aol.com [egillen476@aol.com]

Sent: Saturday, June 16, 2012 10:12 AM 

To: School Board Email list 

Subject: YSA payment schedule 

School board directors, 

Would one of you be so kind as to share a copy of the YSA payment schedule which Dr. Steinhauer passed out to you at last Monday's meeting? Since Mrs. Szalinski is working on so many other RTK's that are coming her way, perhaps you can lighten her workload a tad and share this information with me informally. 

Elaine Gillen

From:  Josephine C. Posti <JPosti@mtlsd.net>

Date:  Mon, Jun 18, 2012 1:43 pm

Mrs. Gillen,
In accordance with Commonwealth law, please send in a Right to Know request and 
Mrs. Szalinski will process your request.


For the Board,

Josephine Posti
President
Mt. Lebanon School Board
412.667.1479
http://jposti.blogspot.com/

Mission: To provide the best education possible for each and every student


________________________________
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.

So it looks like I have to file another Right To Know. 

While I am on the subject of RTKs and the YSA, a RTK was granted today with these results.
RTK George Wilson/YSA

So that puts a hole in the story that Jan Klein told the Trib.

12 Year Old Girl Outdoes The YSA

A former Mt. Lebanon resident sent me this link from the Chartiers Valley Patch. http://chartiersvalley.patch.com/articles/softball-player-working-to-get-lights-for-field The resident wrote:

Thought it was interesting that a 12 year old has a plan and proposal to have lights installed on a local field with no cost to taxpayers, while the Lebo YSA, full of adults, can't get a plan together, and expects taxpayers to pay for everything.

I attended the meeting, she will apply for a grant through Duquesne Light.
You should see the field she wants to light. In the last 3 years the STAA (Scott Township AA) has taken it from a beat up field with only wooden benches and totally transformed it.
Dugouts, scoreboard, regraded it, bathrooms, etc. All at very little cost, if any to the taxpayers. Lots of fundraisers, donations and blood, sweat and tears. A group of dads worked 10-12 hours a week for a year to complete it.

The Patch article includes pictures of the field. There is resistance from local residents over the lighting.