To my fellow citizens:

    On June 23, we were honored to host a project meeting sponsored under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. There were Mayors and other officials from 12 countries in attendance including Afghanistan, Ghana, Hong Kong, Iraq, Japan, Lithuania, Namibia, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Venezuela. They were accompanied by two language officers.

    Their objectives for the project were to introduce the U.S. federalist system, examine the separation of power in U.S. government, and outline how local government function in the U.S. in collaboration with state and federal entities; to examine the role and responsibility of local government officials in responding to constituencies and service local communities; and to observe how private individuals, community organizations and businesses interact with local governments to set priorities and provide services.

    The meeting was very interesting to say the least, as most participants spoke accented English. The three-hour session ou.ty consisted of mostly a question and answer session about how the Borough interacts with county,state and federal governments.

    On July 6, after nearly four months of construction, the newly built Grove Rd. Bridge opened. This happened after 25 years of dealing with PennDot over whose responsibility it was to fund the project. As it became clear that PennDot was not going to participate, and with the development of the ENX property, we sought funding from other sources. We obtained $425,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development and $180,000 from the County Department of Economic Development. The Borough supplied the balance from our capital fund. The project cost was $940,000. The new bridge, coupled with the PennDot upgrade to Rt. 88, has made a vast improvement to the Grove Rd. intersection.

    Mike Lovely, grandson of Bob and Beverly Larario of Kerry Hill Dr., has made the all-district academic all-American team. The senior defensive lineman (Pittsburgh, PA/Keystone Oaks) of the Robert Morris University football team was named to the ESPN The Magazine District II University Division Football Academic All-American team by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Mr. Lovely carries a 3.90 cumulative grade point average as an actuarial science major.

    Thank you,

    Mayor Donald Baumgarten To my fellow citizens,

You may have read or heard criticisms of our decision to switch the borough's emergency dispatching service from South Hills Regional Dispatch Center to the Allegheny County dispatch center. These criticisms were primarily concerning response times and the ability to communicate with other police and EMS departments. There are those who say we are putting money savings ahead of public health, safety and welfare.

These are the facts: Castle Shannon will save nearly $100,000 annually. There has been no increase in response times since January 1, 2005 when the police began to be dispatched by the county, and since February 8, 2005 when Medical Rescue Team South began to be dispatched by the county; and finally, the ability to communicate with other public safety entities has not been a problem.

I do not want to be redundant because there are other articles in the newsletter concerning the 911 system, so please refer to them for additional comments.

*****

Spring is finally upon us and it's time to remind our residents to keep our community clean to protect property values. One unsightly property has a tendency to ruin an entire neighborhood. Most people in Castle Shannon keep their homes and businesses litter-free. There are always a few, however, who don't seem to care about their properties or their neighbors.

The police department and the codes enforcement officer will aggressively issue warnings, and, if necessary, write citations to those who allow weeds, trash, building materials, junk cars, or other types of eyesores to accumulate.

Thank you,


Mayor Donald Baumgarten