Signs, Signs, Signs and More (Sept. 6 Baldwin Township Meeting Notes)

Some Spooky Dates to Remember

Baldwin Township Board of Commissioners President Eileen Frisoli announced that the township's annual Halloween parade will take place on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 2 p.m. and will begin at the township's located next to .

Trick-or-treating hours, she said, will be on Monday, Oct. 31, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Follow the Signs to Garage Sale

Frisoli reminded meeting attendants on Tuesday night that the will take place this Saturday, Sept. 10, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Later this week, she and resident Gary Moeller will post signs around the township with arrows indicating the locations of streets with residents involved in the sale.

Watch Out for Road-Work Signs

Other signs that will be posted later this week include road-work signs pertaining to the township’s road improvement project with Peter J. Caruso & Sons, Inc., according to township engineer Glenn Jonnet.

Jonnet said that signs are expected to go up on Friday and will be posted no later than Saturday to give residents at least 48-hour notice of the streets to be milled or otherwise affected by road work that will begin on Monday.

Streets to be affected include Perri, Southview and Highridge drives, Jonnet said.

School Signs Need to Go Up

Commissioner John Paravati said that he recently received several resident complaints regarding the lack of school signs near the .

Currently, Paravati said that there are no school-crossing, reduced-speed-limit or other protective signs in place and that he is uncertain as to which party must obtain and post such signs.

Paravati said that he will look into the matter to find out whether that is the responsibility of the township, the school itself or the .

FEMA Meeting on Wednesday

Representatives from Federal Emergency Management Agency will meet with local government personnel on Wednesday to go over FEMA flood-zone maps, program coverage and requirements, and federal flood-insurance rate maps, and to answer any questions, Jonnet said.

As per his , Jonnet said that FEMA denied his request as it didn't have enough money available to fund the studies necessary for further flood-zone determination.

Maps of the flood zone and insurance rates will be posted on the township's website at a later point in time, and a municipal ordinance will have to pass to carry the FEMA program into effect, Jonnet said.

Area Municipalities Confer on Wet Weather

Jonnet said that he and township solicitor Tom McDermott recently attended a Congress of Neighboring Communities (CONNECT) meeting on wet weather, where it was decided that CONNECT would write a multi-jurisdictional letter to Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN) stating its intent to have ALCOSAN take over watershed interceptors and, possibly, further extended watershed operations.

Jonnet noted that there are 83 communities in the multi-jurisdictional district and that all of them will need to be in compliance in order to proceed with the effort.

ALCOSAN is requesting that all interested municipalities must sign off and submit a unified draft plan on feasibility by June or July 2012, Jonnet said.

Baldwin Township Commissioner Nick Pellegrino asked if said request meant that ALCOSAN wants municipalities to come up with their unified wet-weather plans before ALCOSAN does.

Jonnet replied affirmatively, noting that the request was counterintuitive since it is not practical to discuss feasibility before affordability and since the Environmental Protection Agency requires watersheds to submit their final plans before municipalities submit feasibility plans.

Area Governments Prepare for Winter Weather

Frisoli reported that South Hills Area Council of Governments, of which she is a member in representation of the township, accepted a bid for street salt at its most recent meeting.

She said that the winning bid came from Cargill at $55.83 per ton, which was significantly less than Morton's bid at $91 per ton.

SHACOG expected prices to skyrocket this year, Frisoli explained, so SHACOG representatives were very pleased with Cargo's bid as it did not deviate too far from last year's price of $51.40 per ton.

Want to Buy an Old Fire Truck?

Paravati noted that the Castle Shannon Volunteer Fire Department, which services Baldwin Township, is selling some of its old fire engines. Anyone interested in purchasing a fire engine should contact Castle Shannon fire Chief Bill Reffner at 412-298-7991.

Downey Wants to Buy New Ambulances

Because many ambulances keep breaking down and are deteriorating, Baldwin Township Commissioner Bob Downey said that the township may need to accelerate the purchase of new ambulances.

Downey said that he will let the board know where the financial situation sits sometime next month.

Board Budget and Meeting Dates to Be Published

Frisoli said that the board's 2012 budget and meeting dates will be publicized in the near future.