posted by Joe Polk at 9:21 AM /
Municipal Manager Stephen Feller has published his 2009 Manager's Recommended Budget which is now viewable on the official Mt. Lebanon web site. Some particular items of note:
Please take the time to review the proposed budget and voice your concerns to your respective commissioner. Make your voice heard regarding the direction of our community!
Link: www.mtlebanon.org/DocumentView.asp?DID=2695
- No reduction in fire or police personnel.
- 5 full time positions will be eliminated -- two police record clerks, one golf course maintenance position, one public works laborer and one recreation center assistant manager.
- Funding will be cut for the following community activities -- Summer Concert Series ($17,270), First Fridays ($16,190), Farmers Market ($4,130) and parades ($14,640), West Penn Tournament ($2,000) and other community special events ($4,320) for a total of $58,550. According to the budget, "Staff will need to work with volunteers, the business community and other to try to keep essential events solvent.
- The deer management program will be eliminated at a savings of $60,000.
- Discontinuation of alarm receiving and covering of non-emergency police phone calls. This will be done by the elimination of the two full time clerks mentioned above as well as the reduction of part time hours. Residents that have used the municipal alarm service will have 60 days to find a new private firm.
Please take the time to review the proposed budget and voice your concerns to your respective commissioner. Make your voice heard regarding the direction of our community!
Link: www.mtlebanon.org/DocumentView.asp?DID=2695
Labels: budget, layoffs, municipality, stephen feller
7 Comments:
Dear Commissioners (since most of you do not return my emails),
How can we maintain our competitive advantage of having a "strong sense of community" when we are cutting funding for some of the core community activities? If we're going to make cuts let's not make cuts to the things that make Mt Lebanon Mt Lebanon.
I was happy to see that they are no longer budgeting $100k for a strategic plan. We have plenty of volunteers on the boards and authorities who are willing to do that work for free.
With regards to throwing $400k at the golf course for improvements - if we're going to "invest" in improving the golf course why not invest in doing something to expand the municipal course so it is a real 18 hole course that actually makes the municipality money for a change. I guess what I am saying is that investing $400k in a 9 hole golf course is not going to make us any more competitive with BP, Peters, or USC. The Kosman property adjacent to the course on Castle Shannon blvd is going no where. I'm not sure who owns the property that surrounds the golf course but it might be worth looking into acquiring some land and creating a moderately priced 18 hole muni course.
Schultz, with all due respect, you've been asking for an 18 hole golf course for over a year now. First, the land does not exist for 9 more holes. Period.
And frankly, even it does exist, the cost of designing and building 9 more holes, particularly on the slopes that currently exist, would be astronomical. I'd venture that given the amount of dirt to be moved, we're talking at least $3-5 million for starters. I don't see any room for that in the current budget report. Further, that does not include the increased annual costs of maintenance.
Don't believe me? Read this piece from the USGA: http://www.usga.org/turf/articles/construction/general/building_maintenance.html
Look, the golf course serves it purpose amazingly well. It usually pays for itself and it is an asset that few - if any - local communities can boast about. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would argue that it should be bulldozed for housing development to increase the tax base, but as a golfer, I'm fine with it just the way it is. The course could be moderately more profitable if we could encourage the naysayers to allow beer and food to be served. Let's face it - we've about maxed out the revenue available from greens fees so we must identify new sources of revenue. That's an easy one.
As for cutting the funding for the events that make Mt. Lebanon Mt. Lebanon - I have this to say . . . In a perfect world, there would be dollars to fund every special community event. Unfortunately, that is not the world we live in. Events like the Summer Concert Series, First Fridays, the Farmers Market and parades can and should continue. I would hate to see these things fade away. However, my hope is that those of us who truly value Mt. Lebanon and "our strong sense of community" (which I believe is the majority), will step up and fill the gap. We have amazing resources in this town. If we can't find a way to fund and maintain these great events on our own, well then I guess we're not as neighborly and passionate about Lebo as we think we are.
First, the land does not exist for 9 more holes. Period.
I disagree with you on the land issue. Have you played the Mt Lebanon course? They aren't utilizing the amount of land that they currently have up there. In addition to the Kosman development site there is plenty of land available on the property surrounding the golf course.
A while ago I used Google Maps to draw what could be the expanded 18 hole Mt Lebanon Golf course. I just posted the before and after photos. See for yourself.
I'm not sure who owns that land on the edges of the golf course, and your point about the development costs are correct. It will be costly, but we'll never know until someone takes a look at it from a finaicial perspective. Should we invest another $400,000 into the 9 hole course or should we think bigger and look to creating an 18 course that has the potential to bring in more players and more money each year? I know the folks in Cranberry are happy with their muni. While we won't be able to do anything on that grand of scale I think we can do better than what we have in our immediate area.
If you think about it, there aren't many public golf course options for South Hills golfers. Lindenwood is down in the Peters Twp area. It is a nice course but is costs $50 to play a round. South Park is a great deal, but it is overcrowded and the lines to play there can be very long.
I'm with Dave on this. Mt. Lebanon has a lot of development needs and budget challenges, and expanding the golf course just can't be high on the priority list. Is the course a nice and distinctive municipal amenity? Absolutely. Is this something that municipal funds and management enery -- which are in short supply these days -- should be devoted to? No.
I've played the Mt. Lebanon course. It's a nice little course. If I want to play a bigger, fancier layout, there are plenty of inexpensive options around the region. If you want to make Mt. Lebanon's course a little bigger or fancier, go ahead: raise the fees and let golfers pay for their own fun. Or privatize the course and let the new owners expand and redesign it.
For now and for the next few years, Mt. Lebanon should keep its eyes on capital projects in the School District, and the Municipality should keep its eyes on taxable commercial development.
Mike - you're putting words in my mouth. I never said the golf course expansion should be "high on the priority list."
if we're going to "invest" in improving the golf course why not invest in doing something to expand the municipal course so it is a real 18 hole course that actually makes the municipality money for a change.
We are cutting funding for key community events while we are spending $400,000 on the golf course. If we're going to continue to spend money on the golf course then why not think big rather than spending the money these minor improvements that really don't give us any ROI.
Dave, also in a perfect world there would be hundreds of people with extra cash laying around and tons of extra time to fund and run these events on their own as "volunteers"-- Sadly, there aren't. The businesses on Washington Road DO provide funding for the events and other additional things like refreshments and decorations which make the events so much fun. We do "step up" as much as we all can--but we can only do so much. We are all running businesses too ya know! It makes no sense that they would cut these events out of the budget yet throw money at things like the golf course, pool, tennis courts and ice rink when these events bring just as many people together, help our housing market, bring business to our business district, and are just as (or more) important for supporting a sense of community and family.
Ona Owner, as the husband/son-in-law of a Washington Rd merchant, I certainly acknowledge and appreciate all that these folks do to support the parades, First Fridays, etc. My comment was not directed to you.
Instead, my hope is that we can enlist a few hundred other folks out of the 30,000+ in Lebo to volunteer and/or contribute to these events. My guess is that few (if any) of our residents understand the time and money commitments necessary to keep these events on the calendar. And even a smaller portion have ever been asked to pitch in.
I believe that if the residents of Lebo were asked to contribute $5, 10, 15, 25 whatever to help fund one or more of these events, not only would they continue but I also believe that we would discover a lot more volunteers. We're not talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars here. Perhaps through private efforts we can even make these events better.
My point is simply this - with a shrinking or stagnant tax base and rising costs - we as residents will eventually (uh, now) have to rise up and take ownership of theses events and other aspects of Lebo that we like so much. In some respects, this is already being done through the Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education and the Mt. Lebanon Community Foundation - two entities that are raising private funds for public schools and other public projects. However, I think that fundraising for events like the Farmers' Market, parades and First Fridays can and should be handled at a more widespread, grass roots level.
I refuse to accept the notion that the volunteers and the money are not there if no one has ever been asked. I think a full page spread in the MTL Magazine would go a long way in garnering much of the interest and financial support. Let's face it, if you don't read this Blog, you may not even be aware that these funds are being cut!!
I understand that each event will likely need its own champion and core group of supporters right out of the gate, and those who act first may be in the best position to succeed. Hopefully though, other interested residents will rally around their favorite event.
This needs to be done and it can be done.
Lastly, I think the golf course, ice rink and the other items that you mention are distinguishable from the special events. Specifically, those items are assets of the community - hard assets that require maintenance, infrastructure, personnel etc. If we've made the decision to have those things, we need to maintain them. Otherwise, they will lose money (or more money). I'm sure you want the Parking Authority to continue to maintain the parking garages on Washington Rd and the Public Works Department to continue to keep the sidewalks clean and safe. The ice rink, tennis courts, golf course and pool are no different.
I know I sound like a broken record, but we can't give up before we try. We shouldn't say "It can't be done." We need to say, "It must be done!"
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