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Commissioners identify five priority projects for Mt. Lebanon

By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 3 min read
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Mt. Lebanon commissioners have identified five priority projects to tackle this year, the most visible of which features improvements to Washington Road and its central business district.

During the commissioners’ March 26 discussion session, consultant John Trant, president of Strategic Solutions LLC of Mt. Lebanon, presented a report detailing the projects and the process of determining their ultimate selection.

Others in the top five are reviewing staffing for the building inspection department, enhancing the public information office, implementing recommendations of a study addressing Beverly Road parking, and a variety of “operational initiatives” in the function of municipal government.

Commissioners reached a consensus during a March 9 retreat, with Trant facilitating.

“We got through the top four and stalled, not in a bad way,” he said. “The commission was clear in the goal of just picking five, to focus municipal resources efficiently and to make the process worthwhile so that it was clear and focused.”

The “operational initiatives” project, he explained, actually represents an amalgamation of some other suggested undertakings. Initiatives include conducting a municipal salary survey and making improvements in organization information for commissioners’ review, “in a way that is informed by internal and external trends,” Trant said.

All municipal departments and boards, along with the commission, contributed to an initial list of more than 50 projects for consideration as priorities. That later was narrowed to 28, with many of those still under prime consideration, including a technology assessment for the municipality, roof replacement for Mt. Lebanon’s public library and recreation center, and developing an effective means of recycling glass.

“They bubbled to the top in terms of important next projects after these five,” Trant explained. “There might be some overlap with beginning those toward the end of implementing the top five, but we didn’t want to lose those from the discussion.”

Among the priority projects, Washington Road has received a boost with the awarding of a $750,000 grant for a comprehensive streetscape improvement plan.

“These valuable dollars will be used to implement needed capital improvements in Mt. Lebanon’s central business district. This support is critical to actualizing a project that shall provide a safe district through new sidewalks and updated street lighting,” commercial districts manager Eric Milliron said in a release issued by the public information office.

The grant, from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Multimodal Transportation Fund, will be combined with two previous awards, of $200,000 and $91,500, from the state’s Gaming Economic Development Fund.

An expense for Mt. Lebanon not covered by grants is for repairs to its nine-decade-old municipal building, as addressed at the commission’s discussion session.

Municipal engineer Dan Deiseroth, president of Gateway Engineers, outlined the need for masonry restoration to prevent water from seeping into the building, as has been the case from the Washington Road side. He provided a cost estimate of between $35,000 and $65,000.

“The work would involve cutting out all the exposed masonry joints to a minimum of three-quarter-inch depth, and then repointing with new mortar and replacement of any cracked bricks,” he told commissioners.

The municipal building has undergone façade restoration on all four sides in recent years, with the front along Washington Road shored up three years ago.

“The work that was done in 2016 was not work that was wasted or will be duplicated as a part of this,” Deiseroth said about the masonry project.

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