CLEAR THE WALKWAYS Gazing from your window to the streets below, on a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow, you can ponder your solitude and the seasons of life and the stark frozen beauty that is winter. But then you gotta shovel the walk. Or someone does.

Following a snowfall of one inch or more, property owners have 24 hours to clear the public walkways they are responsible for.  This holds true for houses, apartments and even vacant buildings. Business owners must clear their sidewalks within four hours of accumulation between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays. In addition, in the 24-hour period after a snowfall of one inch or more, there is no on-street parking between 9 p.m. and 6am. to allow snowplows and ice trucks the room they need to clear streets.

If you have a neighbor who is sick, elderly or even one busy with a newborn baby, you might want to have your teenager pitch in and help.

We hate to talk about fines, but they exist, and you don’t want them. Violators of the ordinance can expect to pay anywhere from $5 to $1,000 based on how many offenses they have accrued (and each day you are in violation can count as a separate offense).

SPREADING THE WORD To those of us who work in the public information office, the worst thing we can hear from a resident starts with “I didn’t know…” You see, it is our job and our passion to make sure residents know everything they need to know to live happily here, from the cost of parking rates, to when the farmers market starts to when a new ordinance is being considered so you can weigh in with your commissioners. But with the busy schedules of today, it can be a challenge to get your attention. 

That’s why we give you information in many different ways: this magazine, our online edition at lebomag.com, our municipal website at www.mtlebanon.org, through LeboALERTs, the cable TV (though we sense it’s not the hotspot of viewing it once was) and social media.

Right now, you can catch us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram regularly. Important job postings go on LinkedIn, fun videos go on YouTube  and we’ve just started a Snapchat (mtlebomagazine). We have a Pinterest account, but frankly, every time we try to post on there, we get stuck in feelings of inadequacy as we try to make the egg carton garage wall shelf or the pinwheel rainbow Kermit the Frog cupcakes.

Bottom line: like and follow us on these outlets and you may find you get an important piece of info while you’d be otherwise bored: waiting for your kid at the orthodontist, waiting for your tires to be rotated, waiting for your flight to take off.  If we do so much waiting, we may as well keep up to date.

And we want to hear from you. Like, comment and share our posts. Snap back. Get talking. It’s a quick way for us to get to tomorrow together.

PAT FARE CHANGES Beginning January 1, Port Authority of Allegheny County will be making several changes. All riders, regardless of how far they are traveling, will pay $2.50 with a ConnectCard and $2.75 with cash.

There will be no more paper transfers. Transfers will be $1 with a ConnectCard, and riders who pay cash must purchase a second fare for $2.75.

Seniors age 65 and older who present a Pennsylvania Senior Citizen ID Card or a Medicare card at the time of fare payment are entitled to ride for free on the bus, light rail or Mon Incline at all times.

Application for the Pennsylvania Senior Citizen ID Card must be made in person at Port Authority’s Downtown Service Center at 534 Smithfield Street in Downtown Pittsburgh or at selected Senior Citizen Centers throughout Allegheny County. For the location nearest you, please call 412-442-2000 (TTY 412-231-7007) or view the list of locations (PDF). When applying, you must present one of the following as proof of age:

• Photo driver’s license
• Birth certificate
• Armed forces discharge or separation papers
• Baptismal certificate
• PACE ID card
• Passport or naturalization papers
• Pennsylvania ID Card
• A statement of age from the U.S. Social Security Administration

The Senior Citizen ID Card will be mailed directly to your home.

The Downtown free bus zone will be eliminated, but the free rail zone will remain.

The Port Authority will charge $1 for ConnectCards. 

PAT will offer a new $7 day pass good for unlimited rides within one day, and a Kids ConnectCard that entitles children between the ages of 6 and 11 to ride at half the cost of a regular fare.

CHRISTMAS TREES If you have a Christmas tree up, now is the time you have a decision to make: Do you take it down, or do you go for Christmas Until Easter/Memorial Day/July 4/Heck, Christmas All Year Round?

If you’re going the January route, Republic Services will pick up trees at curbside on Saturday, January 7, and Saturday, January 14. Place your tree at the curb the night before either collection date.  Because the trees are going straight into the chipper, they need to be stripped of all lights, tinsel and other decorations and cannot be in plastic bags.

You can also drop your tree off at the Public Works facility for recycling during this period.  An area will be designated with a sign for this purpose.

Finally, you can put your tree out with your trash for regular pickup.

DEER MANAGEMENT UPDATE Mt. Lebanon will conduct a deer management sharpshooting program again this year beginning February 1 and ending March 31. The sharpshooting program will take place on specified public and private property using trained and licensed volunteers. It is planned as a follow-up to the archery hunt, which will conclude January 28.

The main goal of the overall deer management program is to improve road safety and reduce the number of deer-vehicular collisions, which have continued to rise even with 215 deer culled last season.

The Commission voted 4-1 on November 28, with Commissioner Kelly Fraasch dissenting, to award the contract to White Buffalo Inc., the wildlife management firm that conducted last year’s program. White Buffalo is authorized to shoot up to 100 deer at a cost not exceeding $83,477 and must implement the same safety precautions taken last year.

There will be very few changes from last year’s program. For an overview of the history of local deer management click here.