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Proposed Mt. Lebanon amendment draws flak

By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 3 min read
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A proposed amendment to Mt. Lebanon’s solid waste ordinance continues to draw resistance with regard to changing the way trash is collected from apartments and condominiums.

During a public hearing addressing the topic at the Mt. Lebanon Commission’s Oct. 23 meeting, three opponents of the measure took the opportunity to express their concerns.

“This is, frankly, discriminatory for a class of people who choose to live in multi-family residences, who are now going to have to go out on their own and get refuse collection, because the municipality has decided to kick them out of the municipal system,” James Eichenlaub, executive director of the Apartment Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh, told commissioners.

Under the amended ordinance, the municipality would continue to provide collection for multi-unit residential structures with three or fewer units. Those with more would be categorized with Mt. Lebanon’s other commercial properties, putting the responsibility for collection on property owners.

Charles Shane said such a measure would cause logistical problems at a Maybrick Avenue apartment building he co-owns that has no space for a suitably sized trash receptacle.

“There’s a multi-unit across the street from us, also, and we’re going to have constant garbage trucks on the street,” he predicted. “There are going to be cans five days a week on the street. You know how unsightly it is when your neighbors leave their can out for a day or two. But that’s going to be constant, all throughout Mt. Lebanon, because there are going to be various days on the pickup.”

Also referencing lack of sufficient space was Dave Pirain of PPM Realty, who is on the Apartment Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh board. Pirain’s company has five properties in Mt. Lebanon.

“These buildings that we have that can’t take a dumpster, where you’re paying an excessive amount because they now have a guy who’s got to get out of the truck and take their cans, the monthly cost for us, I don’t want to say it’s triple, but it’s darn close,” he told commissioners.

David Brumfield, commission president, spoke about the impetus behind the proposed amendment.

“An audit of our list of properties showed that, based on our existing internal definitions, things that should have been defined as commercial were listed as residential,” he said, explaining that four units in a residential structure represents the threshold.

He agreed that the change would result in savings for the municipal refuse collection contract, a new one of which will be awarded for the start of 2019.

“We are in the process of pulling together bid specifications to submit to SHACOG,” municipal manager Keith McGill said about the South Hills Area Council of Governments, a consortium that provides joint purchasing opportunities for members.

“The municipality will have the option of doing it by per-unit or by per-ton, along with some other factors that are specific to all of the communities, but then some that are unique to Mt. Lebanon,” he continued. “So that’s kind of the genesis for the timing of the ordinance.”

If the commission approves the amendment, affected property owners will have until Jan. 1, 2019, to contract with a refuse and recycling collector and begin pickups.

The commission, which held two public meetings in July to address the issue, plans another public hearing before voting on the amendment.

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