ARTISTS’ MARKET NEEDS YOU By now your calendar should have big yellow highlights on Saturday and Sunday, September 22 and 23, when the Mt. Lebanon Artists’ Market takes over the Academy Avenue lot. Enjoy dozens of vendors with art you won’t see anywhere else, plus food, music and entertainment, including live music from Pete Hewlett and Scott Anderson. From fiber to sculpture to fine jewelry, the market has earned a reputation for its quality and its fun character.
The festive event, presented by the Mt. Lebanon Partnership, is a signature event. And now, the Partnership needs YOU! It takes dozens of volunteers to make this event run as smoothly as it does. Sign up now at www.mtlebanonartistsmarket.com [1]. The Partnership also is looking for patrons to sponsor the event and help defray the cost. All the info is available on the website, or contact planners Steve and Wendy Denenberg at 412-341-1744 or info@mtlebanonartistsmarket.com [2].
GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY A new feature on OpenGov, Mt. Lebanon’s interactive municipal finance platform, allows municipal staff to craft stories about a variety of topics. Visit the Mt. Lebanon’s OpenGov [3] page, and then click on “stories” to learn about the bond issue that was passed to fund improvements to the ice center and to upgrade the public works complex, and to review Mt. Lebanon’s 2017 annual financial report.
CLASSY CARS Whether you like hot rods, cruisers or sedans, you’ll find something to love at the Mt. Lebanon Police Department Classic Car Show and Street Festival. The 23rd annual show is from noon to 4 on Sunday, July 8, on Washington Road. Enter your car or just enjoy the day on the avenue with your family. Admission is free but there is plenty of food, music and entertainment. The show supports Mt. Lebanon Police Department youth programs. For more details and entry information: www.mtlebanonpd.org [4].
SEEKING JUNIOR COMMISSIONERS The Commission is seeking two Mt. Lebanon students to serve as junior commissioners for the 2018-19 school year. Candidates must be rising juniors or seniors and will serve one semester. They will attend public meetings, report on student initiatives and get a close-up look at local government. Apply [5] by Thursday, July 12. Interviews will take place in late summer.
NEW LOOK FOR MCNEILLY? Mt. Lebanon has submitted an application to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) for a grant to install an access road, parking area and walking trails in McNeilly Park. The grant requests a state funding match of $210,030, half the cost of the estimated $420,060 project.
Mt. Lebanon acquired the 23-acre parcel of land on McNeilly Road, near the border of Baldwin Township, in 2004, with the intention of building athletic fields. The $1.8 million purchase was made with a $200,000 grant from the DCNR, with the stipulation that the land be used for recreation. High cost estimates stalled plans for building sports fields on the property, and the land has remained largely undeveloped, with the exception of a couple of walking trails.
The grant would provide for more trails, an access road and ADA-compliant parking spaces. The trail close to the western end of the park would be near Brookdale Assisted Living and Seton-LaSalle High School. “We want to attract potential users from different age groups,” says planner and assistant manager Ian McMeans.
The plans also call for a rain garden, which would handle any stormwater runoff that would be caused by the paving of the parking lot. The planned upgrade would be minimally intrusive, McMeans says, covering less than an acre of the park.
“This will leave the door open for doing something bigger later on,” he says.The DCNR will not announce the grant awards until late in the year, McMeans says, possibly as late as November.