-Started the Friends of Phillips Park (FOPP) group which consists of community members from different walks of life who use the park, and held the first meeting of the group. Throughout the past few years, Councilwoman Rudiak fought to get money in the capital budget for improvements to the park and the FOPP will be instrumental in planning on how the funds will be used. First up will be trail signage! The FOPP just went through a trail/path naming process and we hope to get new signage at each entrance of the park this fall.
-Met with several other City Council members as well as agents from various regional water authorities to discuss the ongoing issues at PWSA
-Organized a meeting with the Citiparks director and Caitlin and Paul from Brookline Teen Outreach to discuss how we can bring programming for teenagers to the newly remodeled and preserved Beechview Senior and Community Center once it reopens this summer. We are excited about this opportunity to get our youth off the streets and into something good!
-Attended the ribbon cutting for the Jardin de Unidad at 1538 Beechview Avenue (across from the Pittsburgh Parking Authority lot), where a trashy, weeded vacant lot was turned into community garden with a beautiful hand-painted tile mural by Pretty Up Beechview and Brashear's Latin American Student Union with some funding from TruGreen. About 70 neighbors go to know each other over tacos and pizza, celebrating the students for their hard work and enjoying the transformation of an ugly lot into a beautiful work of art. Check it out and enjoy a moment of solitude and nature there!
-Spoke about the importance of early childhood education at the Toddlerpalooza event hosted by the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers; the event was a celebration of Pittsburgh's youngest citizens, where every toddler got free five books and enjoyed a ton of fun activities! Look how cute we are with Reddy Freddy, getting kids ready for kindergarden:
https://twitter.com/AshleighDeemer/status/860899382350286849
-Appreciated the wonderful turnout (despite chilly, wet weather) at the Leadership Pittsburgh's LDI PopUp event at the Dairy District Pavilion in Carrick, celebrating the neighborhood and its residents with an amazing installation art piece featuring huge photos of neighbors (based on the photo projects of the French artist JR.) You can see the Councilwoman's Carrick pride here:
https://twitter.com/popuppittsburgh/status/860883742369427456
-We attended the Mt. Lebanon Commission meeting to again discuss the ongoing issues with the Castlegate project. The Commission agreed to our request to arrange a meeting with all parties, contractors, and the affected Brookline neighbors to resolve problem issues.
-We met with Economic Development South to discuss the old St. Basil's school in Carrick. The current owner has let the building deteriorate and continues to neglect it, and fines and threats of jail time aren't helping the building. The Department of Public Works can't keep up with the board-up requests because as soon as they secure the building, night falls and someone breaks in again. Due to the legal and financial landscape we have, the building will take years to get into responsible hands and we are committed to working toward resolution. See further details in the
article below...
We are happy to announce this year's Capital Budget Deliberative Forums have been scheduled for the month of June, see below for dates and locations.
We need South Pittsburgh to attend the Budget Hearing to make sure that next year's budget matches our South Pittsburgh priorities!
There are 6 areas to think about:
1. Engineering and Construction--bridges, traffic signals, sidewalks and ramps, steps, paving
2. Facility Improvement--pool/park/play area improvements, rec centers, senior centers, etc.
3. Neighborhood and Community Development--war memorials, public art, economic development, housing, property maintenance on city and URA-owned parcels
4. Public Safety--demolition of condemned buildings, taking care of unexpected landslides, etc...
5. Vehicles and Equipment--
6. Administration--Complying with ADA law, increasing citizen participation, senior community programs, employment programs/centers, etc.
The 2017 Capital Budget Deliberative Forums will be held:
-THURSDAY, JUNE 8 – Tree of Life Church, 1036 Brookline Blvd., Pittsburgh PA 15226 (6-8:30 PM)
-WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14 - Third Presbyterian Church, 5701 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15232 (6-8:30PM)
Both the Carrick and Beechview Farmer's Markets will open the third week of June. Stock up on local produce in Carrick beginning June 21 and Beechview beginning June 22. Mark your calendar today to add "buy local" on Wednesdays and Thursdays thru the fall!
South Pittsburgh Farmer's Markets:
-Wednesdays from 3pm to 7pm at the Carrick Dairy District Pavilion (1529 Brownsville Rd 15210)
-Thursdays from 4pm to 7pm at the Broadway Ave/Beechview Ave parking lot
Don't forget to bring your reusable bags to load up all your fresh, local produce!
Both the Carrick and Beechview markets will run through the 4th week of November (11/21 and 11/22, respectively).
June marks the official beginning of summer, and that means the pools and spray parks will be opening soon! Pool passes (or, "tags") are available for purchase. Call
412-323-7928 for information about where to purchase them.
Beginning on Tuesday, June 13, all spray parks will operate daily from 11 am - 8 pm (weather permitting) through mid-September and all pools will be open weekdays from 1pm to 7:45pm. Pools are open from 1pm to 5:45pm Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays.
Kids 15 years and younger who are City residents and members of a Rec Center can access pools free with their Rec Center Pass!
Prices for pool tags
City Residents:
-$60 for a family of 4; $10 for each additional family member
-$30 for adults (16 years+)
-$20 for seniors (Aged 60+)
-$15 for youth (Ages 3-15)
-Free for children age 2 and younger
-Free for disabled veterans, families of active duty military, and activated reservist/guard members with proper ID
-Residents who receive welfare benefits may be eligible for a 50% discount. A case printout and proper ID are required to receive the discount
Non-City Residents:
-$45 for adult or youth
Daily Admission—If you just want to swim for the day, you can pay the daily rate at any pool:
-$3 for children ages 3-15
-$5 for individuals 16 years and older
Pools in South Pittsburgh:
-Moore Park (Brookline)
-Phillips Park (Carrick)
Spray parks in South Pittsburgh:
-Beechview - Vanucci Playground, Orangewood Avenue and Westfield Street
-Beltzhoover - 329 East Warrington Avenue
Recently a neighbor called our office to report graffiti on the old St. Basil's school on Concordia. We entered the request to remove graffiti into 311, and we wanted to take a minute to explain what we're trying to do about the building.
Both the St. Basil's School and Berg Place on Brownsville Road in Carrick have been two of the most time-consuming projects that my office has worked on over the past few years. Both are examples of cases where the properties were sold to intransigent property owners who have no business managing projects of this scale and whose neglect is causing serious problems for our neighborhoods.
Time after time we have deployed our building inspectors and Department of Public Works to the St Basil's school to secure the building by boarding the doors and windows. It seems like every time that the building is boarded up, a new actor removes the boards. The owner has been fined multiple times by the district magistrate and has even been threatened with jail time for inaction. Due to robust private property laws, until we find a more long term solution to this problem, this will be a cycle that happens over and over again.
The only way that the city can take a property is if there are three years of back taxes, which finally happened this year. Typically this means that the property is eligible for treasurer's sale barring any other lien holder or mortgage holder objections. We have been working with Jordan Tax Service's lawyers to try to move this through, but we've had quite a few hurdles to get over. As it turns out, the owner owes money to quite a few people, including the bank that gave him his mortgage. To stop these entities from taking the property, the owner has filed for bankruptcy. Both the mortgage holder and Jordan's lawyers have filed petitions with the judge to allow us to continue to go after the money that is owed to us. We think that this looks promising, but it will still be some time until all of this is sorted out and it can be sold at either treasurer's sale or sheriff's sale with the hopes of getting it into the hands of a developer.
But here's the thing about that: we're concerned that this project may be too big for a developer to take on. A project like St. Basil's could easily take $15M to redevelop into something like apartments or senior living. There is also an issue with parking, as there is no dedicated parking lot for the site, so a parking lot would need to be constructed or any potential developer would need to apply for a variance and work with neighbors to not impact street parking. Financing for a project of this scale is really difficult, and with BOTH Berg Place and St. Basil's School needing complete renovations in the neighborhood, competition for project-enabling tax credits at the state level will be steep.
Nevertheless, we are still diligently pursuing getting this out of the hands of the current owner, and getting the parcel back into the hands of a responsible owner.
Water filters and lead tests are now available for residents of the City of Pittsburgh, including customers of Penn American Water. Priority for filters will be given to those with children under the age of 6 initially, but all City residents are eligible for filters.
To sign up for filters and tests, go to:
http://pittsburghpa.gov/safepgh2o/. Signing up takes about a minute, and when you do, you can opt to receive updates about the program and when your test kit and filter will be delivered!
The Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections is now holding monthly forums to answer common questions and help residents learn about the process. June's forum will feature Permitting Supervisor Dave Green to discuss decks and pools and the permit application and issuance process.
The June Forum will be held:
-Wednesday, 6/14 at 9am
-200 Ross Street 15219
June 14
June 28
July 12
July 26
August 9
September 13
October 11
All events will run from 5-7pm and for each session, volunteers will meet at the McKinley Park Activities Center (900 Delmont Avenue 15210).
The Heritage Players is a community theater group based in South Pittsburgh which holds performances at the Seton Center in Brookline. Check out their fall lineup!
Lost in Yonkers, September 8-10, 15-17
Into the Woods, November 3-5, 10-12
Season tickets are $25.00 per person. Good for one performance of each of the three 2017 Heritage Players main stage productions held at the Seton Center, 1900 Pioneer Avenue, 15226. For more information visit
www.bphp.org, email
heritag...@yahoo.com. Phone:
412-254-4633.
Tennis enthusiasts ages 16 to 80 + take to courts located throughout Pittsburgh to compete in the annual Bob O'Connor Summer Tennis Classic. The tournament honors the outstanding community spirit demonstrated by the late Mayor Bob O'Connor.
The men's and women's A open singles and A open doubles are USTA-sanctioned events. Visit The Mellon Park Tennis Center or
www.USTA.com to register.
Venues:
Schenley Oval
Highland Park
Moore Park
Arsenal Park
Mellon Park Tennis Center (during inclement weather)
Register:
Online at USTA.gov, Mail at Citiparks Tennis; 800 S. Braddock Avenue; Pittsburgh, PA 15221; or Walk-in at the Mellon Park Tennis Center; 6601 Fifth Avenue; Pittsburgh, PA via cash or check, payable to "Treasurer, City of Pittsburgh”
Fees:
$10 for first singles; $3 for each additional
$15 for first doubles team; $3 per person for each additional
Schedule:
Men's and Women's Open Singles
Saturday, June 10, 8am-4pm, Schenley Park Oval: ALL first matches.
Sunday, June 11, 8am-4pm, Schenley Park Oval: 2nd round matches and First Match Losers Consolation.
Monday to Friday, June 12-13-14-15-16, Site TBD, all remaining matches up to quarterfinals.
Saturday, June 17, 12pm, Highland Park: semifinals.
Sunday, June 18, 12pm Highland Park: finals.
Men's Open Doubles and Women's Open Doubles:
Saturday, June 10, Schenley Park Oval, 4pm-8pm - ALL 1st matches.
Sunday, June 11, Schenley Park Oval, 4pm-8pm - 2nd round matches and 1st Match Losers Consolation.
Monday to Friday June 12-13-14-15-16 - remaining matches up to quarterfinals.
Saturday June 17, Highland Park, time TBD: semifinals.
Sunday June 18, Highland Park, time TBD: finals
Thursday, 6/8 at 6pm – Capital Budget Forum #1, Tree of Life Church in Brookline
Tuesday, 6/13 at 7pm – Brookline Block Watch, 736 Brookline Boulevard
Wednesday, 6/14 at 6pm – Capital Budget Forum #2, 5701 Fifth Avenue 15232
Thursday, 6/15 at 5:30pm -- Beltzhoover Community Forum, 201 Chalfont Street
Tuesday, 6/27 at 7pm – Overbrook Community Council, 2410 Saw Mill Run Blvd
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