Scott commissioners’ town hall attempts to answer residents’ concerns
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A Scott commissioners’ town hall meeting earlier this month saw questions ranging from an update on the township’s pool and splash pad project to money management and transparency.
Residents could submit questions online prior to the March 4 meeting and also ask questions during it.
The meeting came on the heels of a 54% property tax increase in this year’s municipal budget.
One resident asked, in relation to that increase, if the township was still sending commissioners, manager Denise Fitzgerald and police chief Matthew Podsiadly to the Allegheny League of Municipalities annual conference at Seven Springs Resort.
“This event serves as a learning and professional networking opportunity that has proven most valuable,” Fitzgerald said. “The Banner Community Program recognizes municipalities that distinguish themselves as model communities through a commitment to effective, efficient and accountable government principles through implementation of recognized best practices in providing services to their constituents.
“Scott Township has been a Banner Community for the past 10 years, and one of the requirements for a community to maintain this status is to have representation at this conference.”
Commissioners said they learn things from different classes and can network with officials from other municipalities at the conference.
The meeting also provided a cost summary of the township’s splash pad project. Asked why the engineering fee for the splash pad is 12%, Fitzgerald said that, generally, engineering costs somewhere between 10% and 20% of the total installed cost.
“Our normal engineering costs on projects in the township run at around 11%,” she said.
Another resident inquired about the township’s decision to hire a full-time IT director when his contract was good until December.
Fitzgerald explained that retired police officers, which the IT director is, receive health insurance until they are eligible for Medicare. Retiree medical costs are $36,024, she said. Employee health care costs are $25,175, resulting in a reduced healthcare cost of $10,849.
Deducting $3,379 for township taxes, short-term disability and unemployment gives a final cost savings of $7,470. The IT director also agreed to reduce his vacation time. Those savings aren’t included in the $7,470, Fitzgerald said.
“Given both scenarios are virtually the same except for saving the taxpayers money, it only makes sense to pick the scenario to saving taxpayer money,” she said.
Regarding road projects, Fitzgerald said that Hope Hollow Road is a county-owned road and construction there was not overseen by the township. Lindsay Road is a township road and was a phased project.
“Because of the length of the road and the fact that it is concrete, we will be replacing this road in phases. For this year’s road projects, we are pricing out the first phase which is from Greentree Road to Ursula. This will be a complete reconstruction, replacing the concrete with asphalt,” Fitzgerald said.
Other questions dealt with transparency.
Scott’s meetings coincide with Chartiers Valley School Board meetings. The township has no intention of changing its meeting dates, which have remained the second and fourth Tuesday of the month since March 1916, but Commission Chairwoman Stacey Altman said she did reach out to the school board to see if they would consider changing their meeting dates.
According to Fitzgerald, Scott has received 27 Right-to-Know requests since mid-December. In total, the township spent 102.5 hours responding to those requests, Fitzgerald said, which cost $6,740, not including solicitor’s fees.
Some residents said that if the township were more transparent, people wouldn’t have to file the records requests. Commissioners told residents to reach out to the board representative in their ward directly with concerns and questions.