Elaine,Maybe the questions to Mr. Bendel should be, "Why does the board with the largest budget ever recorded in Mt Lebanon history have gaps of over five months between meetings? If the board's needs are so essential, why the long vacation?"
Meeting minutes are posted after they are approved. Therefore, the postings have at least a one month delay. In the case of the SAB, they met on June 14, November 6 and January 15. The November 6 minutes were approved a few days ago at the January 15 meeting. They should be posted shortly.
The November minutes have been posted. Minutes of the November 6, 2014 Sports Advisory Board meeting
Mr. Franklin suggested that the policy be adjusted to reflect any changes to the field signage ordinance. He added that he doesn’t anticipate a great deal of interest from corporate sponsors.In April 2012, Lebo Fields' Dave Franklin had insisted that we must change the sign ordinance. Franklin on sign ordinance
Ideally, the municipality or the various sports associations will be permitted to sell tasteful sponsorship signage at the municipal fields (picture signs on the outfield fence at Dixon). These funds can then be applied to field maintenance and improvements. I think the first proposed amendment has a few problems, but we also need to encourage the commissioners to stay focused on getting the amendment right so that we can capitalize on this much needed source of additional revenue.
By the way, SAB, I guess this is "more ado about nothing."
Rep. Steve Israel Blasts Feds for Failing to Probe Synthetic Turf
A New York congressman is demanding the feds probe whether a type of synthetic turf used on thousands of kids' playing fields could cause health risks, saying that environmental officials have "whiffle-waffled" about the potential dangers.
Rep. Steve Israel of Long Island has sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency asking for a second look at the recycled material known as "tire crumb."...The EPA has said it does not have any plans to re-examine the risks.
"The EPA has just whiffle-waffled on this and they owe us a straight answer and they owe us that answer now," Israel said.
13 comments:
And what did my representative Dave Brumfield say when Dave Franklin made that totally erroneous and irresponsible comment? Absolutely nothing.
Nick M.
When can we expect the following headlines on this blog:
The Communtity Relations Board has not met or posted minutes since September 10, 2014!
The Econonmic Development Council has not met or posted minutes since October 31, 2014!
The Environmental Sustainability Board has not met or posted minutes since June 12, 2014! They haven't met since June to discuss or develop a position on turf? Really?
The Industrial Development Authority has not met or posted minutes since May 13, 2014!
The Parking Facilities Advisory Board has not met or posted minutes since June 26, 2014!
The Pension Investment Advisory Board has not met or posted minutes since August 26, 2014!
The Planning Board has not met or posted minutes since October 28, 2014!
The Parks Advisory Board has not met or posted minutes since November 5, 2014.
The Traffic Board has not met or posted minutes since October 31, 2014!
Why the venom directed at the SAB Elaine? As best I can tell, the only thing the SAB is guilty of is posting their November minutes a few days after the meeting at which they were approved.
Plus, unlike every other Board in Lebo, the SAB meetings have all been videotaped since the Board's inception in 2013. Every resident can watch every SAB meeting ever held from the comfort of their own home. Pretty convenient and transparent. When can we expect the same from the other Boards?
As soon as Feller gets his act together, 8:59 AM. Just about all the boards are supposed to be videotaped, but staff and Brumfield are stalling. I have been asking for email addresses for the boards for over a year now. All I am asking for is a municipal email such as SAB@mtlebanon.org or traffic@mtlebanon.org. All the boards are subject to Right To Knows, but since they are not on the municipal server, their emails cannot be retrieved. That is a problem.
I made a chart of all the boards' posted minutes and sent it to the commission. As usual, I only heard back from Kelly.
As far as "venom directed at the SAB," 8:59 AM, the SAB has the largest budget in the history of Mt. Lebanon. We can't get the icy patch of sidewalk that is on Washington Road by the Med Express corrected because there is no money in the budget. There are now homemade warning signs at both ends of the icy patches that are spilling on to Washington Road. But we got a million dollar turf project rammed through. We now have a super secret hunting board who is available for private hunts. Don't forget the super secret Turf Project Task Force, a subgroup of the SAB. Franklin had to have the sign ordinance changed and now he is saying that there really isn't a great deal of interest from corporate sponsors.So yeah, there is some venom toward the SAB. They are the only board who can make the commissioners jump over every demand.
Elaine
The boards are a longstanding method utilized by this method to accomplish two things:
1) give residents the impression that they can influence their community -- sometimes they do
and MORE IMPORTANTLY:
2) diffuse responsibility for decisions and effectiveness of municipality management
THINK ABOUT IT. If a decision is supported by a board, the municipality can divert attention away from their own functioning or role. This is a serious act of negligence that has been built into this municipal government and maintained over many decades.
It works for the municipal employees but it does not work for the residents. If it works, then why are so many people dissatisfied with Mt Lebanon and why is this community constantly in the newspapers highlighting some dysfunction?
It's time to change this dysfunctional government or same-old, same-old will go on in perpetuity.
Why do we accept this guys advice?
On Franklin's LeboFields blog on April 25th, 2012 he published:
""We need this stream of revenue and we have to get creative," resident David Franklin told commissioners. Franklin said Dick's Sporting Goods paid $2.2 million for the naming rights to Dick's Sporting Goods Sportsplex in Graham Park, located in Cranberry Township. "Something like that is tasteful and subdued.""
But according to Elaine's informative post...
"Minutes of the November 6, 2014 Sports Advisory Board meeting-- Mr. Franklin suggested that the policy be adjusted to reflect any changes to the field signage ordinance. He added that he doesn’t anticipate a great deal of interest from corporate sponsors."
Any marketing expert worth their salt, would've have explained to Mr. Franklin in 2012 that corporations base buying naming rights and ad signs on things like reach & frequency, number of impressions, etc. Essentially, they buy because there is something in it for them.
Ask anyone involved in the naming rights for Heinz Field, PNC Park or the Consol Center.
The fact that now in 2014, Franklin is admitting there probably isn't a Dick's-like corp. sponsoring appearing anytime soon, proves the above.
To image that our backwater little field on Cedar has anywhere near the visibilty of the Dick's Sportplex that sits parallel to the PA Turnpike is foolish.
But, there is a question that needs to be asked. If this "crown jewel" is such an asset that it will increase the value of our homes and attract young families why isn't Howard Hanna, Century 21 or one of the big name real estate firms buying in?
How about banks that make a profit on home loans?
They are- if you can believe our commissioners- the ones that'll make real and long-term money off this attraction.
Most home buyers on the other hand sell a home once or twice, realtors sell hundreds in a year.
Didn't Brumfield say that realtors could drive prospective home buyers past the field as a sales tool?
Cranberry expects and continues to experience substantial growth. It's the fastest growing area in PA.
Comparing their efforts/projects to a first ring suburb is misguided.
What are Cranberry taxes like? What is their millage in relation to Mt. Lebanon?
- Jason M.
I've noticed a huge, specific problem that needs to be addressed. The muni no longer has a treasurer to keep track of all the $$$. It had been decided at the Dec.,2013, meeting of the Home Rule Study Ad Hoc Committee decided and voted to add that role to that Mr. Feller's job responsibilities. What bothers me is this: where are the internal controls? Where are the checks and balances? And, if these exist, who are the other people providing oversight? This is not the standard of accounting and auditing principals. There should be no one from any of the sports associations, nor, any commissioners, coaches...involved in the finances of the muni? This is why everything stinks! For lack of a better word, it's incestous!
Here is the Cranberry Township tax comparison data, Jason:
http://www.twp.cranberry.pa.us/index.aspx?NID=1840
Beside the taxes Jason M, another key issue that seems to have escaped Mr. Franklin and backs up the comment made by 11:28.
"Travis Williams, chief operating officer for the Penguins, said at the time the decision to build on the 90-acre Sippel property instead of Cranberry Woodswas based on its visibility and accessibility to I-79 and Route 228. The Pens and UPMC in July signed a letter of intent with Sippel for the site.
“For us, it was visibility and accessibility of the site,” Williams said. “Those were really the two main drivers.”"
Notice "VISIBILITY and ACCESSIBILITY were the two main drivers."
Expecting a major donor for WCM fields was folly from the beginning. The SAB seems to be under the impression that donors would buy in because... well hell, they are the MTL advosory board. La De Da!
Also, read further to see what this facility is bringing to the community in latter phases. When we hear talk of building indoor sports facilities or putting a dome on the HS Rock Pile are there any office complexes, restaurants, and retail spaces included.
"Restaurants, Bike Paths and More
The UPMC Lemieux Sport Complex is expected to be built in the first of a five-phase plan.
The other phases of development include plans for five restaurants, a 100-room hotel, a small retail building and 875,000 square feet of office space.
Also shown are pedestrian and biking lanes, sidewalks, a heavily landscaped traffic roundabout and two water features, including a 10-foot waterfall that will cascade from an upper pond into a pond at a lower elevation.
A seating area with benches will be located near the water feature, said Jim Venture, of the PVE Sheffler LLC engineering firm."
http://patch.com/pennsylvania/cranberry/take-a-sneak-peak-at-new-plans-for-upmcpittsburgh-penguins-facility-in-cranberry
4:39 PM, I think you need to read this. Majority votes don't count.
The Home Rule Study Ad Hoc Committee made recommendations to the commission. The commissioners will decide what goes on the ballot and voters will decide. We had two on the ballot in November and both passed. One of the items on the ballot that passed, violated state law. You can read about that here. Brilliant MTL Commissioners and the Voters Violate State Law UPDATED
Our solicitor approved that.
Elaine
Why is it Scott Twp has signs at their fields (notice the "s" - that's plural, not a mistype), and Mt Lebanon could only sell 1 (one) sign?
Anyone care to answer?
and Dave (oh, sorry, I mean 8:59am), I thought you didn't read this blog?
You would think that the welcoming turf task force and SAB that represents the diverse recreational interests of the community would have these field signs in a competitive position at this point. I cannot imagine why regional business interests aren't lining up to take advantage of this wholesome advertising opportunity.
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