OFFICIAL NOTICE CITY OF CLAIRTON ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
At their Regular Scheduled Council meetings held by the Clairton City Council the following Ordinances were adopted:

ORDINANCE NO. 1869

AN ORDINANCE FIXING THE REGULAR AND WORKSHOP MEET­INGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR 2013.

ORDINANCE NO. 1868

AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 1865 BY FIXING AND ESTABLISHING THE REAL ESTATE TAX RATE FOR 2013 AND IM­POSING DISCOUNTS, PENALTIES AND INTEREST THEREON.

ORDINANCE NO. 1867

AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR SALARIES AND WAGES OF EM­PLOYEES OF THE CITY OF CLAIRTON FOR THE PERIOD BEGIN­NING JANUARY 1, 2013 AND THEREAFTER.

ORDINANCE NO. 1866

AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING A BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BE­GINNING JANUARY 1, 2013 AND ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2013, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF CLAIRTON.

ORDINANCE NO. 1865

AN ORDINANCE FIXING AND ESTABLISHING THE REAL ESTATE TAX RATE FOR 2013 AND IMPOSING DISCOUNTS, PENALTIES AND IN­TEREST THEREON.

ORDINANCE NO. 1864

AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR REVISED SALARIES AND WAGES OF VARIOUS EMPLOYEES COMMENCING WITH THE PAY PERIOD BEGINNING OCTOBER 16, 2012 AND THEREAFTER.

ORDINANCE NO. 1863

AN ORDINANCE RELATIVE TO THE PROCUREMENT OF PROFES­SIONAL SERVICES FOR THE MUNICIPAL PENSION PLANS PUR­SUANT TO ACT 44 OF 2009, THE MUNICIPAL PENSION PLAN FUNDING STANDARD AND RECOVERY LAW.

ORDINANCE NO. 1862

AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING 72 P.S., SECTION 5511.19 FOR THE COLLECTION OF TAX ON REAL PROPERTY OUT OF RENT PAY­MENTS BY TENANT(S) WITHIN THE CITY OF CLAIRTON.

ORDINANCE NO. 1861

APPROVING THE ASSESSMENT OF HOLDING CELL FEES WITHIN THE CITY OF CLAIRTON The full and complete text of the above Ordinances may be examined at the Office of the City Manager, Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Clairton Municipal Building.

Howard J. Bednar City Manager 548/2106(1/28/2013)

BY MICHAEL DIVITTORIO

Increased patrols and more community policing by Clairton officers made a signifi­cant impact in dealing with crime in the city last year.

Clairton police’s year-end call logs recently were released, showing an emphasis on out­reach and being proactive.

Total calls for 2012 were 10,739, an increase of 1,525 calls from 2011, according to police documents.

There were 2,185 business/house checks last year, an increase of 642. Community oriented policing efforts totaled 334 cases, up by 157, and extra patrols increased from 439 to 997.

“I believe because there was a lower crimi­nal rate throughout the summer, specifically dealing with juveniles, that led (us) to be able to do dif ferent community oriented policing calls,” police Chief Rob Hoffman said. “(It was) as simple as being able to get into the stores more often.”

Mayor Rich Lattanzi said he knows officers are doing everything in their power to make the streets safe for residents, and the depart­ment incorporated multiple programs last year to boost positive relationships with the public.

“I see them being more oriented as police officers interacting with the citizens of Clairton,” Lattanzi said.

In March and April, Clairton community police officer Jeff Nolte organized the Clairton City Public Safety Academy. It provided a weekly opportunity for residents and others to learn more about the police and fire depart­ments, as well as to tour the Allegheny County Jail and Allegheny County 911 Center.

The mayor said police are doing a “bona fide job” in dealing with drug activity, keeping violent crimes to a minimum, and “taking the nonsense out of the streets.”

“We’re not going to sit back and allow some­one to take over our town,” Lattanzi said.

Last year there were 17 reported drug deal­ings, down by 14 from 2011. Drug offenses were 63, up by 43 from 2011. Burglaries totaled 123, a decrease of 19. Assaults totaled 65, down by 16. Animal complaints numbered 183, down by 49. Criminal mischiefs totaled 144, an increase of 24. Juvenile complaints totaled 169, up by 30, and loud noise complaints totaled 37, down by 30. Criminal mischief calls numbered 144, up by 24. Curfew complaints totaled five, a decrease of 14. Thefts numbered 243, an increase of 42.

Police arrested 583 adults, down by five, and 162 juveniles, down by 38. Officers issued 1,114 citations in 2012, an increase of 91.

“My opinion on the year is the first three quarters of the year remained the same,” Hoff­man said. “There was a feeling of less type of crimes that would suspect that you’re going to have violent crimes.”

No homicides occurred last year; 2011 saw a single fatality. However, attempted homicides went up from one to four last year.

School details were listed at 75 in 2012, an increase of 58.

“There were safety precautions made to benefit the students and staff,” Clairton City School District spokesperson Alexis Trubiani said. “They were outside to assist with dismiss­als. Any extra help is always welcome; any collaboration between the city and school’s always appreciated.”

Hoffman said officers were involved in after­school programs. The department has heard no negative feedback about those efforts.

Reports also show little to no change in other calls such as 911 hang-ups, disturbed persons, fireworks complaints, hazards, Protection From Abuse order violations, prostitution, public drunkenness, sex offenses, terroristic threats and shots fired.

Clairton police have eight full-time and 15 part-time officers, the same number as in 2011 and 2012.

“We’re looking to maintain our objective and to maintain our code of ethics and our objec­tives that we’ve always maintained,” Hoffman said. “We’re hoping for another year with even less violence and being able to work with the community to keep them safe. That’s what we’re here for.”

Michael DiVittorio is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-664-9161, ext. 1965 or [email protected].

BY MICHAEL DIVITTORIO

Clairton City School Dis­trict officials are preparing to reconfigure grade levels for next school year to better align their curriculum for standardized testing.

School directors unani­mously approved at Wednes­day night’s meeting autho­rizing the administration to look into starting the process of redesignating sixth grade from the elementary level to the high school level.

“The elementary school’s still aligned to the (Penn­sylvania System of School Assessment), but they have star ted to align secondary schools to what they call a Common Core (state stan­dards),” superintendent Wayde Killmeyer said. “It’s a nationwide system of school curriculum align­ment. For those purposes, PDE aligns g rade six with the high school. We’ve con­sidered grade six part of our elementary school.

“If we reconfigure, all it’s going to do in name is put the sixth grade under the high school umbrella so that it’s on the same curriculum alignment as the rest of the high school. (There will be) no structural changes. Nobody’s going to move any classrooms. It’s almost strictly a paperwork thing.”

Killmeyer said reconfigur­ing was not mandated.

“The elementary school’s aligned their curriculum to the PSSAs,” Killmeyer said. “The state is moving away from PSSAs to the Keystone Exams. The Common Core is part of that move ... We could leave it the way it is, but then that would make things more difficult for the elementary principal, for the elementary teachers because we try to keep the same curriculum (kindergarten) through sixth (grade). Now sixth grade is going to have to be in a differ­ent alignment. We’re hoping to get that started for next school year.”

The school district recon­figured grade levels about five years ago when there was an elementary school with kindergarten through fifth grades, a separate mid­dle school with sixth, seventh and eighth grades, and a high school with ninth through 12th grades. It reconfigured to its current alignment of kindergarten through sixth grade in elementary, and seventh through 12th at the middle/high school level.

School directors were recognized at Wednesday night’s meeting as part of School Board Recognition Month.

District spokesperson Alexis Trubiani said stu­dents and staff throughout the district worked on dif­ferent projects to show their appreciation for the board.

Senior and student coun­cil representative Iyannah Grant presented school directors with gifts on behalf of her group.

Current board members are president Richard Liv­ingston, vice president Pau­lette Bradford, and school directors Robert Harrigan, Gloria James, Barbara Rob­erts, Gloria Ruffing, Roger Tachoir, Sue Wessel and Jen­nifer Williams. Livingston announced pay for substitute teachers was increased from $75 per day to $90 for the first 20 days and $105 per day after that for the remainder of the school year.

He said the pay was increased so the district would have more competitive wages for substitutes.

Michael DiVittorio is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-664-9161, ext. 1965, or [email protected].

By Michael DiVittorio

Published: Thursday, January 24, 2013, 4:46 a.m.
Updated 8 hours ago

A developer of a proposed Save-A-Lot store in Clairton has not decided what to do with the property since backing out of the project last week.

Sierra Development LLC submitted a letter to the city, signed by Sierra’s managing principal Jeff Smith and principal Gil Berry, stating it “introspectively and thoroughly vacillated over our decision before concluding that we should not move forward with the grocery store.”

Howard Slaughter, a consultant for Sierra Development, spoke with company officials on Tuesday.

“Sierra is not in any discussions with another grocery store at this point and is presently undecided as to future options for this parcel,” Slaughter said. “However, the property is currently listed for sale, but Sierra is keeping its options open.”

The proposed Save-A-Lot was to be on the site of the former Blair Heights housing development along Maple Avenue, near Route 837 and U.S. Steel’s Clairton plant. It’s in Ward 2, which is Councilman Richard Ford’s ward.

“I’m really upset about it,” Ford said. “I wish (Sierra) would have wanted to continue on. We did not do all that we could have done to bring in a grocery store. We could have been more cooperative with the developer. The thing is we were supposed to bring in a grocery store for our citizens.”

Sierra Development, through its Cityplace Center LLC subsidiary, bought the 6.03-acre land for $100,000 from the Allegheny County Housing Authority in 2011.

The plan was to develop a 15,500-square-foot grocery store with 65 parking spaces.

Slaughter said Sierra hired The Barry L. Stein Co. to list the property for sale.

Company owner Barry Stein said his real estate agency was hired by Sierra within the last 10 days. A market study is being done, and there is no confirmed price for the lot, Stein said. The property is expected to be posted on the company’s website by the end of the week.

“If Sierra has it up for sale anybody can buy it and do whatever they want to do,” Ford said.

Sierra’s letter also highlights some financial commitments the company sought for the project, including $80,000 for geotechnical work, a $1 million loan through First Commonwealth Bank, $471,000 for new equipment, a $250,000 loan from the Redevelopment Authority of Duquesne and a $625,000 operational grant.

The operational grant had a provision that Sierra open the grocery store by February 2014.

Clairton officials prepared a letter for residents in response to Sierra’s decision. A copy of that letter — which highlights some of its financial contributions including $740,000 in Allegheny County Community Development Block Grant and state Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund monies — is available at the finance office.

Mayor Rich Lattanzi said Friday evening the city’s contribution would have been about $1.5 million with the grants, street improvements and a $600,000 tax abatement package. “We felt we couldn’t go any further than that,” he said.

Ford disagrees. “We had a great opportunity here, and this council really didn’t work as much as they made it sound like they worked. The (grant) money was being directed through the city. That’s not Clairton’s money and that cannot be counted as Clairton contributing to that (project) ... There were ways we could have helped ourselves. It’s a sad scenario. We got to go further.”

Residents at several council meetings last year urged councilors to find a way to get a grocery store into the city.

Slaughter told residents and city officials on Jan. 8 of this year there was about a $460,000 shortfall on the project. Residents and business owners at that meeting urged council not to give Sierra that money.

Lattanzi said the city was not going to fill the financial gap for the company.

The city was in negotiations last year with Paramount Development Corp. for a Bottom Dollar grocery store along St. Clair Avenue. Paramount would have had to acquire some properties and possibly a few lots along Waddell Avenue to build the store.

The city went with Sierra’s proposal and stopped negotiations with Paramount because Sierra had already acquired its property.

Michael DiVittorio is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-664-9161, ext. 1965, or [email protected].

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Parent/Community Advisory Council
TITLE I Meeting
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
6:30 p.m.
(please use Elementary Entrance)
 
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of
Dr. Martin Luther King’s
I Have a Dream Speech
with special guest
Gregory Gibson Kenney
 
Every child attending will receive a free book for his or her home library!
Families will receive information to assist their students
with reading comprehension.

Please R.S.V.P. by Thursday, January 17, 2013 using the attached form.

By Michael DiVittorio

Published: Friday, January 11, 2013, 4:06 a.m.
Updated 14 hours ago

A developer of a proposed Save-A-Lot grocery store in Clairton is requesting the city fill in a $460,000 financial gap in the project.

Howard Slaughter, a consultant for Sierra Development, told residents and city officials about the shortfall earlier this week.

“We have certain dollars in place. We have to leverage those dollars,” Slaughter said at Tuesday‘s council meeting. “We‘re about ($460,000-$500,000) away from where we need to go on this development. That‘s pretty much where we are, unless we can fill the gap, Sierra will not be able to move forward because that will be difficult to do.”

The Save-A-Lot is projected to be located on the former Blair Heights housing development along Maple Avenue, not far from Route 837 and the U.S. Steel Clairton coke plant.

Sierra Development, through its Cityplace Center LLC subsidiary, bought the 6.03-acre land for $100,000 from the Allegheny County Housing Authority in 2011.

The plan is to develop a 15,500-square-foot grocery with 65 parking spaces.

City officials have yet to say if they would grant Sierra‘s request.

“This is probably the biggest project that we‘ve worked on as council members in the city of Clairton, trying to make something happen for our city,” Councilman Richard Ford said.

“I do see that it‘s very possible (to have a grocery store),” Mayor Rich Lattanzi said.

Resident Joe Julian said he‘s opposed to the city giving any money to Sierra, noting that when he started his business, “we didn‘t get a dime from this city.”

“We should not have to pay for a grocery store,” Julian said. “I‘ve been eating without a grocery store for the last 10 years, and I don‘t think we should pay a dime of our tax money for any business to come here.”

Council voted to approve development and site control agreements between the city and Sierra Development LLC in September.

The agreements were needed to be in place prior to submitting applications for Allegheny County Community Development Block Grant and state Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund grant requests.

The city is seeking $490,000 in CDBG funds and $250,000 in CTIF monies on behalf of Sierra.

Slaughter lauded city officials for their efforts in trying to bring a grocery store to Clairton.

Councilman John Lattanzi said he hasn‘t seen enough from Sierra to have the city assist the project any further.

“I‘m against it unless they can show me they got enough money to finance this project,” Lattanzi said. “Show me the money. That‘s my story. I‘ve been telling them I wanted to see financial reports, and they never provided.”

Lattanzi also said he spoke with city solicitor J. Deron Gabriel, who informed officials the money requested cannot be a direct loan to an individual or company.

Slaughter said Sierra‘s financial commitment to the store, including cash equity, total roughly $2.5 million.

“That is the maximum that the organization can put into a grocery store,” Slaughter said.

Sierra‘ applying for a $250,000 loan through the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Duquesne. Sierra also committed $471,000 toward purchasing equipment, and seeks a $1 million loan through First Commonwealth Bank.

Slaughter said Sierra received a commitment for $625,000 in an operational grant, but the store would have to open by February 2014 to get those funds.

Slaughter declined to say where that money is coming from.

Ford said he expects the city to receive a letter from Sierra by Friday showing all the financial commitments the company received.

“We need $460,000 to fill all the gaps for the money we feel we need to make it happen,” Ford said. “I pray that the city will commit to it because it is for our city. If the county don‘t see we have our end of the commitment, they‘re not going to commit to us.”

Michael DiVittorio is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-664-9161, ext. 1965, or [email protected].



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