Sewickley Herald

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The Sewickley
Herald
QUAUTY AUDITING .
T
MAW OF mECWTY
Wednesday, December 26, 1990
14 Gateway Press Newspapers SUBUR8AN PITTSBURGH'S LARGEST CIRCULATION
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Ready for New Year's
KAREN WALSH, owner, of Sewickley’s Festive Occasions store, is all ready to see in 1991. The Broad Street shop, which opened in 1990, specializes in party supplies — balloons, noiscmakers, confetti, napkins, banners, and all kinds of novelties. To find out what’s happening in the area on New-Year’s Eve, see page 12 — as in midnight! — in today’s Herald, the last edition of the year.	(Photo by Mike May)
Sewickley sets mill reduction in 1991 budget
By Jerry Pelley
Staff writer
Sewickley Council will decide Friday whether to adopt the proposed 1991 budget, which would decrease the tax rate from 34 to 32 mills.
However, more money will pass through the borough treasury in 1991: $164,470 more than in 1990.
A year ago council approved a budget of $2,136,950 and increased the mill-rate to 34 ' mills from the 1989 rate of 32.5 mills. Of that roughly $2.1 million taken in last year, $180,170 of it was left unspent.
The difference leaves the borough with $180,170’already in the coffers and $2,121,250 left" to be raised.
The majority of that income
— $1,272,750 worth by the borough’s calculations. The largest amount of tax money is expected to come from real- ' estate'taxes ($881,000), which include $25,000 not yet collected from 1990.
One expense the borough will not incur this year is the bill for removal of garbage. The borough’s new contract for waste removal, which takes effect in February, puts the responsibility for payment in the hands of individual property owners.
Last year the borough paid* roughly $140,000 for waste removal. The relief of that obligation is what allowed council to drop the individual property taxpayer’s burden by 2 mills in 1991.
The occupational privilege tax, at $10 per employee per year, is expected to draw in an additional $340,000 in 1991. Business privilege taxes are expected to generate another $80,000 in revenue.
Administration of Sewickley Borough in 1991 will cost taxpayers $444,911, close to one-quarter of Which will go to paying the salaries of borough
Sewickley Police Department will take a $610,329 bite out of the budget in the coming year.
draws anger in Edgeworth
Sewickley stretch also affected; row of big oaks needs to be felled
By Nicole E.Peffer and Jerry Pelley
Staff writers
A PennDOT plan to widen the Sewickley and Edgeworth stretch of Ohio River Boulevard already has sparked a fight in Edgeworth.
Although the residents might have a tough fight ahead of them, they’ve won the first round.
After nearly two hours of discussion, and appeals last week, they persuaded Edgeworth Council to oppose die pun.
Residents and council members met with PennDOT officials in early December to discuss widening Route 65 from Burger King to Edgeworth Lane to allow a center turning lane.
PennDOT designed the plan to improve safety and reduce the number of traffic accidents on the road. Statistics show that since the installation of traffic lights, the number of accidents already has been reduced to seven per year from the previous figure of 12.
Rear-end collisions,.
however, have increased in frequency, PennDOT feels that having a center turning lane cotild reduce the number of accidents by 50 percent,
Residents, though, argue that the fifth lane would increase. borough traffic by allowing left turns' onto residential streets.
CouAcilman William Logsdon said that if the plan for a center lane is changed, PennDOT might install a cement barrier, wreaking havoc with emergency vehicles.
Councilman Scott Wendt said liability could be incurred if the borough blocks the safety measures,
Residents suggested that PennDOT be persuaded to shift their emphasis toward the Sewickley Bridge, where they claim the real safety problem exists. They also pleaded for council to oppose the plan altogether.
A center turning lane has been planned for Sewickley as well.
Dick Skrinjar, public information officer for PennDOT, said that a single left-turn lane would be installed at Ohio River Boulevard and Walnut
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READY FOR the buzzsaw? These oaks on Ohio River Boulevard would be felled if plans for the widening of Route 65 go through.
Street. Skrinjar said the lane Will be at the south-facing entrance to the intersection for motorists attempting to enter Sewickley via Walnut Street. The purpose of the new lane, he said, is to relieve traffic congestion at the crossing.
The new lane will require the widening of the river side of the boulevard by about 12 feet. The extent of the project is expected to run from River Avenue to White Street. Stan-ding in the path of the improve-
meht is a row of tall oak trees that might have to be cut down,
Sewickley Council discussed the matter at the December meeting, but no action was taken other than the decision to review, the situation, PennDOT has no legal requirement Of Sewickley Borough’s approval for the project, In a letter to the borough, the transportation department simply asked for an opinion,
Edgeworth Council’s street
committee recommended that left turns should not be restricted to one residential street, which would bear the brunt of the incoming traffic, and that the borough should enforce all traffic laws and consider hiring additional policemen,
A recommendation regarding the plan had not been reached by the street committee because they had little time to formulate one, according to chairman William Logsdon.
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