Aug 24, 2016 3 min read

Regarding the story in The Almanac for the week of Aug. 10-16 about hillside repairs on the Bethel Park High School campus proving costly, I think it should be made clear just what hillside is being discussed here.

When they built the new high school, there was a huge pile of dirt left after the demolition and site prep of the old campus high school. Gee! What to do with all that dirt?

I previously read somewhere that it would have been too costly to truck it all out, so someone had the bright idea to pile it up like a pyramid with the top cut off and make a ball field on top. Looks like a novel idea from the road going through the high school property. But when the backside of this “hill” is seen from Sherwood Road, it quickly becomes apparent that this “hill” is a monument to stupidity.

The first thing that occurred to me when I saw what was being done was that this “hill” probably was not going to stay where it was piled up. It’s all loose dirt that has “slipped” down into the woods between the high school property and the backyards of the people across the street from me.

On this part of the street, we have a front-row seat to the landslide. It apparently has taken a few trees and has caused some blockage to the small creek that flows along the base of the hillside. So on top of the “fix” for the “hill,” some sort of remediation will have to be done there, as well. We, the taxpayers, have already spent $26,000 on a temporary fix and apparently, close to another $1 million will be spent on the “hill.”

Board member Ron Werkmeister wants to know if the work to “fix” the “hill” will be guaranteed, or if we will have to deal with it again in a few years. I’m not an engineer, but I believe the short answer to that – barring a huge, expensive retaining wall – is yes, Ron, we’ll probably have to deal with it again.

I think at the next school board meeting , the people responsible for this “hill” should stand up and take a bow as the taxpayers of Bethel Park begin, just begin, to pay for this monument to stupidity. I think the field should be named Perennial Field, because it’s a gift to the taxpayers from the school board and their engineers that is going to keep on giving.

Tom Kerin

Bethel Park