Sewickley Herald

              A Tradition Since 1903
Sewickley Herald Star
Serving Aleppo, Bell Acres, Edgeworth, Glenfield, Haysville, Leet, Leetsdale, Osborne, Sewickley, Sewickley Heights, Sewickley Hills
50 cents
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Volume 100, Issue 33
The year wosl803 and Lewis & dark embarked on their journey west via the Ohio. River towns will join in the commemoration. See Page 11.
150TH
You con remember Sewiddey's Semicentennial celebration for years to come by making a purchase of these specially items. See Page 10.
SPORTS
A number of 2003 area high school graduates have decided to continue
over the nation. Pago 23.
Local News................-3
Opinion...................*®
Tempo.....................11
Church..................  IS
Obituaries................1©
People......
Sports......	...•*........23
LINDA AND Butch Kucan, sister and brother, have transformed the small acreage behind their home into a grand, but restful, assemblage of natural wonders.	Photos by O.S. Dreeland
Duo designs backyard retreat
By Dona S. Dreeland__________________________
Editor_______________________________________
“This is Eden for me,” says Butch Kucan, one-half of the brother-sister partnership that created a backyard sanctuary on Elm Street, a little distance from the traffic on Big Sewickley Creek Road.
Eden it is with summer annuals and perennials; trees, ferns and bushes; patches of vegetables and herbs; bamboo and grapevines; and tufts of grasses from around the world. It is a place where even beautiful weeds are allowed to grow.
Their large pond is alive with shining koi, and woodsy creatures are welcome to visit whenever they choose While the mocking bird chatters, bees lunch on wisteria nectar.
It is a place of rest for Butch and Linda, who set about their work six years ago, etching out clusters of plantings. A little spot here, a little grouping there, and their landscape seems larg-
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RICIOM
Masonic Village exempt status up for debate
By Rachel Weaver____________
■Staff writer ______________
Quaker Valley School District is questioning the status of Masonic Village as tax exempt by appealing the Allegheny County’s Office of Property Assessment ruling.
When Masonic Homes acquired the property from Valley Care, the county immediately put it on the tax rolls.
Representatives from the home were then required to fill out forms and explain why they should be eligible for exemption.
Meanwhile, additional work in the property raised its assessment value by $9,202,400.
John Sheline, QV business manager, says the timing of the property’s last reassessment and the timing of the additional work are causing the discrepancy.
After the county made the home exempt, the school district filed the appeal to find out if the complex may be partially taxable.
“Portions that similar property in other communities have are taxable," says Sheline.
With the additional work, Masonic Village owed the township $44,337 and the school district $141,210, both which remain unpaid.
Township taxes for 2002-2003 total $53,196. The bill comes due in September. District taxes total $179,727.
Masonic Village officials also are protesting the $12,632 in taxes they paid in 2002 when the property was assessed at $2,943,000 because they paid approximately $18,000 in lieu of taxes.
John Murphy, chief executive of Masonic Homes of the R.W. Grand Lodge F. & A.M. of Pennsylvania, which runs the -------- Continued	on Fngt S