Artificial turf coming to Village Green Park in Bethel Park
The main athletic field at Village Green Park in Bethel Park will have artificial turf later this year.
Bethel Park Council agreed March 12 to spend more than $900,000 on improvements to the field. The project is part of the municipality’s recreation plan to improve many of the parks over the next several years.
“This is the first of several improvements and hopefully we can get this one done this year,” board President Tim Moury said.
The work will take place over the summer and the field should be finished by fall. Custom Contracting will grade the area, install the necessary drainage and build a walking trail around the athletic field. That company will be paid $451,225. AstroTurf will then install the artificial turf for $491,680.
The project will also include a smaller natural grass field.
Those who use the main field have complained about the conditions for several years. During inclement weather, the field becomes quite muddy. Municipal planners determined that artificial turf would be more durable and better suited to withstand the high level of activity on the field. The field will be used for soccer, lacrosse, football and other sports.
Bethel Park will use local tax money for most of the project cost. The municipality also received a $39,000 grant from the U.S. Soccer Foundation and it applied for an additional grant through Allegheny County.
Municipal Manager Shawn Arbaugh said another possible project at Village Green Park involves the renovation of the restrooms. He expects to open bids on that project in the next few months. Next year, improvements to Millennium Park will be considered. Future plans also include installing a splash pad at the small baseball field on Park Avenue.
Council also awarded a contract for a walking trail bridge repair at Simmons Park. Lone Pine Construction will repair the bridge for $17,345.
In another development concerning the parks, council agreed to allow alcoholic beverages to be served on a limited basis. Alcohol was forbidden in the parks, but council passed an ordinance to allow alcoholic beverages for municipality-sponsored events with prior approval from council. The new law will allow a local microbrewery to sell beer as part of Bethel Park’s Fourth of July celebration, Arbaugh said.
The idea will be revisited after the event and if the selling of alcoholic beverages causes too many problems, council may make the parks alcohol free again.
Council also awarded several other contracts for projects over the summer:
The bridge on Church Road will be repaired by Thornbury Inc. of West Sunbury for $89,015. The bridge will need to be closed and traffic detoured this summer while the construction company replaces the decking.
The storm sewer and sanitary sewer systems will be repaired in various locations throughout Bethel Park. Plavchak Construction of Clairton will be paid $75,085 for the storm sewer repairs; Roto Rooter of Pittsburgh will be paid $127,525 for the sanitary sewer repairs; and Insight Pipe Contracting of Harmony will be paid $258,972 to repair the lining of the sanitary and storm sewers.
Council also awarded the contract for the road program to repave various roads in Bethel Park. A. Folino Construction of Oakmont will be paid $1,638,485. The 2018 road program is a bit lower cost than in previous years, but Shawn Arbaugh said the cost for paving materials is very competitive, so the municipality should be able to resurface plenty of roads in the municipality.
Councilman James McLean explained about potential changes to the home rule charter that would affect the citizens’ initiative portion of the charter. Voters may decide through ballot questions on changes to what is essentially Bethel Park’s constitution at the Nov. 6 general election.
The home rule charter includes a process in which a group of citizens can challenge an ordinance by circulating a petition and asking voters to decide on the ordinance on the next election ballot. However, the Home Rule Study Commission, which studied the charter for over a year, saw potential problems with that process if the municipality’s tax levy or budget is challenged. Under the current charter, the municipality might not be able to collect taxes at all until the challenge process is completed. That may effectively shut down the government.
The commission recommended that ordinances concerning fiscal matters be exempted from the citizens’ initiative and referendum process, but McLean said the council will likely try a less restrictive solution. He said he would prefer changes to the home rule charter that will allow citizen challenges to tax increases but still allow the municipality to collect taxes under the previous tax rate.
“We don’t want to alter citizen involvement,” McLean said. “This is the most narrow of the solutions.”
Council directed its solicitor to draft a referendum, which may be placed on the November ballot.