posted by Joe Polk at 12:57 PM /
The following letter to the editor was submitted by John David Kendrick:
As many of us are aware, our municipality purchased land from Scott Township that was intended to become a new Mt Lebanon park. Unfortunately, for various reasons, our land appears to be unusable for the intended purpose; and potentially worthless.
Therefore, I would like to propose that the municipality consider either one or both of these options for site development:
Option 1. The municipality enter into a long term land lease with a cellular service provider who would install, maintain, and operate a cellular radio tower and base station. In exchange, Mt Lebanon would receive an initial lump sum payment and annual lease revenue.
Most Mt Lebanon residents would not be impacted by this tower, the facility could be operated without personnel on-site, and the community would gain a valuable revenue stream. This idea worked well for Upper St Clair.
Option 2. If Mt Lebanon owns the mineral rights and there is natural gas in the shale, we should lease part of the land for drilling.
The revenue would be spent in the following order:
1. Maintenance and repair of municipal streets and sidewalks as prioritized by DPW.
2. The reduction of long-term municipal debt.
3. Investment into activities and programs that would provide improved operational efficiencies in our municipal government to ensure sustainable high quality services with a minimal impact on our taxpayers.
I would like to hear any constructive criticism or suggestions relating to this idea.
Thank you,
John Kendrick
As many of us are aware, our municipality purchased land from Scott Township that was intended to become a new Mt Lebanon park. Unfortunately, for various reasons, our land appears to be unusable for the intended purpose; and potentially worthless.
Therefore, I would like to propose that the municipality consider either one or both of these options for site development:
Option 1. The municipality enter into a long term land lease with a cellular service provider who would install, maintain, and operate a cellular radio tower and base station. In exchange, Mt Lebanon would receive an initial lump sum payment and annual lease revenue.
Most Mt Lebanon residents would not be impacted by this tower, the facility could be operated without personnel on-site, and the community would gain a valuable revenue stream. This idea worked well for Upper St Clair.
Option 2. If Mt Lebanon owns the mineral rights and there is natural gas in the shale, we should lease part of the land for drilling.
The revenue would be spent in the following order:
1. Maintenance and repair of municipal streets and sidewalks as prioritized by DPW.
2. The reduction of long-term municipal debt.
3. Investment into activities and programs that would provide improved operational efficiencies in our municipal government to ensure sustainable high quality services with a minimal impact on our taxpayers.
I would like to hear any constructive criticism or suggestions relating to this idea.
Thank you,
John Kendrick
Labels: john kendrick, letter to the editor, municipality, scott park
27 Comments:
John,
I encourage you to formally present these ideas to the municipal Commissioners in person & in writing at a regularly scheduled Commission meeting in October.
Bill Lewis
Bill Lewis raises a good point. Whose ward would this be? That commissioner should look into the possibilities for your innovative ideas presented in your letter to the editor, John. Thanks for coming up with solutions to our problems.
Elaine Gillen
If I remember correctly, the parcel that John refers to is over near North Meadowcroft Avenue and McMonagle Avenue. If that's the case, that's the 1st Ward and is represented by Raja.
Joe, it is Raja's ward, but different park.
You are referring to Hale park in Dormont.
It's really Twin Hills park, located West of Twin Hills Drive, North of Shadowlawn Ave, East of Roessler Rd, and South of Cavendish Rd and Royal Oak Dr. David Huston
I asked Dan Miller to make some inquiries. Dan has been a great commissioner and passed my request to the Economic Development Commission.
It's really nice to have a representative like Dan that wants to work with the people who want to try to improve the community.
USC made a lot of money from their tower. If my thinking is correct we could really improve our infrastructure with the revenue with no taxpayer impact.
John, this is brings up the Z word. Zoning. It is still in Scott Township. I don't know what transpired, but it seems to me that this land purchase was not the wisest decision.
I do give you credit for trying to make lemonade out of lemons.
Elaine Gillen
Just a few points to consider. Twin Hills Park is already a popular passive park. It has miles of walking trails that are used regularly by many residents. The issue was that when it was initially purchased some 17 years ago it was intended to also host an athletic field. The commission at that time sought access from the bordering development was refused. It was decided that further development of the park would not be possible without that access.
Also prior comments are correct a communications tower would have to receive zoning approval from Scott township. Additionally, though an interesting idea to my knowledge there has not been any new towers placed in the area for quite a while, we may already be saturated.
Finally, we have consulted with our municipal engineer regarding Marcellus Shale and despite their extensive involvement elsewhere they do no see a parcel that would be suitable for drilling.
I am glad Dan is looking into it because we also make better decisiions when we are presented with more options.
John thanks for offering potential solutions, that is always appreciated.
Dave Brumfield
John,
You forgot about the option of storing nuclear waste. If we're going to risk our residents' (and Scott's residents') health in the name of generating revenue, then we should probably go for the most lucrative option, no?
As an aside, the fact that there are already seven comments and mine is the first to offer criticism of this proposals is the best evidence yet that this blog has devolved into an echo chamber for a few like minded individuals to praise each other and shout down dissent. Congratulations!
Chris Frenie
Hi Dave,
Thank you for your comments.
My understanding of Scott Township's zoning is that a communications tower is permissible under the code, but a building permit would be required to erect the tower.
Were you referring to the process that Mt.Lebanon would need to proceed with to obtain a building permit, or is there a specific code prohibiting communications towers as stand-alone or ancillary structures in Scott Township?
The other advantage of the communications tower is that the passive use of the nature trails can continue like it does in Upper St Clair.
Most cellular communications towers and base stations are located on leased premises. If a more suitable location that can consolidate operations, provide improved service quality, and lower overall costs is available then the existing leases would either be terminated or expire. So, I don't see an issue if the municipality becomes another market entrant.
However, if we continue to do nothing, then the land will remain essentially worthless and the opportunity to obtain a valuable revenue stream that can finance infrastructure and community services will pass.
I am disappointed that the tone of your letter sounds terminal. Has anyone tried to contact a cellular service provider to see if there is an interest in developing the site?
Hi Chris,
Honestly, I would be against storing nuclear waste in the park. So you can relax - we're on the same side of the nuclear waste storage issue.
Eventually reality needs to kick in, right? Assuming there's even a need for a cell tower in this location, the rent is probably capped at about $3,000/month (max) unless you can get the primary tenant to agree to have multiple carriers on the tower. That might increase the rent only slightly. So we're looking at about $40, maybe $50,000 a year. Nice? Sure - but hardly a sum that will resolve our street and sidewalk problems, let alone pay down our long term debt and then have some left over for “programs that would provide improved operational efficiencies”.
And please, we have too many people in this community who already believe that the high school is a ticking asbestos time bomb and that our district’s pesticides are harming our kindergartners. Do we honestly think that these same residents (and the folks in Scott Twp) are going to want a natural gas well in their backyard? The folks in Scott wouldn’t allow access for ball fields. Do you think they’re going to want heavy trucks and water carriers buzzing through the neighborhood at 6AM for a natural gas operation?
I'm not a tree hugger by any stretch, but I'm also not willing to label 24 acres of tax exempt wooded/green space in Mt. Lebanon as "worthless".
I see Mr. Franklin...
- and how exactly did we happen to come to acquire this property? For what use and for whose benefit was it intended?
I'd also like to know where your revenue projections are coming from. Which cellular service providers did you speak with?
The Commission fumbled the ball on the purchase of Twin Hills Park in Scott Township. After they purchased the property with bond money the Commissioners asked seller, Matthews, for access from Twin Hills; he said, no.
The athletic supporters walked away from their alleged financial support and the residents of Mt. Lebanon were the final victims of principal and interest payments on the bonds for the athletic field that was to be built there..
Maybe we could ask the developers of the property at intersection of Scott Road & Mt. Lebanon Boulevard if they'd like to install a cellphone tower on the property. God knows clearing out that acreage turned out well. Oh, wait...
It sounds like we're seeing a pattern with the Athletic Supporters and their "projects"...
Okay, I came back to the blog for a few days only to find that it's just more of the same. The land of Kendrick/Ewing make believe. Reality is irrelevant because youth athletics in Mt. Lebanon are officially the cause of cancer, the recession, increased unemployment and every other ill in our society.
Sorry Joe. I tried. I came back, but I have no interest in advancing the nonsensical rhetoric of malcontents. I don't mind adult conversation and debate, but this site has become the home of repetitive bashing by a few. Just take a count of who posts these days...
Believe me, I don't agree with those who say the site has become irrelevant. It's not. I still believe its a great place for news etc. about our community. However, the comment function has enabled a few to distort and mislead to the point of uselessness. I'll enjoy being a passive user of the site.
Cheers.....
John and John:
Okay guys...that horse is dead. You think the athletics community promised money and didn't deliver. They say they didn't. You say they did. They say they didn't. And round and round it goes.
We get it already. At this iteration of the back-and-forth, I think we can safely conclude that the two parties are unlikely to agree on the issue. Ever. So let's agree to be sensible about it and end this particular line of the discussion.
Let's focus our remaining energy on things that we can reasonably expect to move forward. All right?
Speaking of remaining energy, I taught a class last night at Boyce Middle School in Upper St. Clair. Their classroom lighting is to die for. I visited the classroom during the day and spoke with the teacher. I think it is the kind that we were supposed to get but now they have to cut. The lights gradually adjust based on available natural light. They are motion detecting, so I didn't have to worry about turning them off. I would like to suggest that the Master Design Team and the School Board take a walk through Boyce and Ft. Couch. I am not trying to be sarcastic (this time) but I think it would be beneficial to actually see a project in the works before making any decisions that affect us long term. Not a good segue, I know. Sorry.
Elaine Gillen
Well, absent any other suggestions I hope that the commissioners will examine the idea in greater detail. The most that we can do is make constructive suggestions and hope that they don't get murdered with a shotgun on arrival.
I would like to thank my Ward 5 Commissioner Dan Miller, who I feel is probably one of the greatest elected officials that our community has ever had, for considering this proposal and other proposals that I have made to him.
Dan Miller is an exemplary model of a leader that our elected school board members should try to follow.
I hope that my suggestion will be examined and that the municipal manager will direct his staff to investigate revenue possibilities by contacting telecommunications solutions service providers. I truly believe that we have the potential to transform this worthless asset into a very productive resource that can simultaneously help us to repair/replace our infrastructure while building value in our community for many years to come.
- John Kendrick
So Joe Polk wants us to forget $8.0-Million that Dan Remely noted in the Master Design Team meeting minutes.
Joe my high school is completing an $8.0-Million renovation of our Gym from volunteer gifts. Why is MLSD giving up the opportunity to get $8-Million for a field house?
That is 16 Sable Contracts we just gave away and put on the residents. Who is responsible for giving this money away?
John -- I have not asked anyone to forget what Dan Remeley said. What I am asking is that all of these comments directed towards Dave Franklin be directed to whomever promised this amount. It clearly wasn't Dave, since he clearly has stated that he personally never made the promise.
Find out who made such a promise and then call them to the carpet on it. Going around in circles against one particular person doesn't solve this issue at all.
Joe,
I think that you've confused two separate issues. Neither Mr. Ewing or I made any remarks on this thread that Mr. Franklin was responsible for an alleged $8MM contribution. In fact, neither of us said that Mr Franklin made an alleged contribution in connection with the intended use of this essentially useless park.
The simple fact is that there appears to be a pattern of project failures that are connected with alleged promises from the Athletic Supporters, and one of these project failures happened to leave our community with a big bill and essentially worthless land.
I am unaware of any initiative from the Athletic Supporters to raise the funds that might have been required to purchase a legal right-of-way from any contiguous land owners, and if I am correct that there was no effort on their part to raise the funds to purchase a right-of-way then that is unfortunate for everyone in our community since the intended purpose of the park was to accommodate a request from the Athletic Supporters. All of this being said, we now own land that can not be utilized for the intended use, so the purpose of this discussion was to illuminate a possible use for the property.
Thank you for not censoring our comments in this discussion and for permitting an open exchange of diverse opinions concerning the issues that face our community; like the question of whether our school directors walked away from an alleged $8MM contribution that was mentioned in the 9/21/2009 MtLSD MDT Meeting Minutes Bullet #4.
-John Kendrick
Our family was involved in both baseball and soccer at the time the purchase of the Twin Hills park was being considered. Due to the hilly terrain, both groups told the township that developing an athletic field would be very expensive to develop and would not be very practical. In addition, any field would probably be too small for use by anyone other than the very young athletes.
At the same time the soccer association was offered a donation of land along Gilkeson Road to develop into a field. The soccer association was willing to commit funds to develop the parcel. The local residents protested the project as causing too much traffic and it was never developed. There was also a proposal to purchase land along McNeilly Road, near Keystone Oaks High School for fields. I'm not sure why the township did not pursue that. The parcel eventually became the Devonshire Senior Residence.
During my children's time in soccer and baseball, the associations contributed money to the school district/township based on how many children were enrolled in each program. I do not know if this is continuing today.
Amen, let there be light!! FINALLY, another voice of fact. No lies, no BS! And from a name we've never seen before.
If I remember correctly, the residents are still protesting the tower in USC.
Maybe someone can find ways that won't continue to divide our community.
Brydie Ridge
I object to the premise that undeveloped land is worthless.
Some of you may not be aware, but the Municipality created the Land Use Committee to explore these type of suggestions. I believe Commissioner Miller is Chairing the committee. The goal, as I understand it, is to review every piece of land that is owned by the Municipality and any of its Authorities. It is then to determine if the land (Buildings included) should stay owned by the Municipality, should be sold, or should be used for something else. I am not sure if this park was included in their study, would have to ask Mr. Miller.
Post a Comment
<< Home