Sewickley Herald

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Herald
The Sewickley Valley's Home-News Weekly
Vol. XXVII.   No. 16.
Among the .men who give time and
thought and energy to the affairs of tho
Sewickley Valley boroughs, the improvement and beautification of their
physical aspects, the economic management of their finances, Andrew O.
Pearee, who last week became president
of tlio Edgeworth borough .council, is
outstanding. Mr. Pearee, who for tho
past twenty years has beon in the engineering department of the Pennsylvania railroad system's offices in Pittsburgh, finds his greatest and almost
only outside interest in the affairs of
Edgeworth borough, and any Edge-
worth councilman, or anyone familiar
with that body's work in the past fifteen years, .will tell you that ho has
throughout been ono of tho leaders in
all tho constant betterment which has
boon brought about during that time.
Thoy will all tell you that his constant,
tireless study of all questions affecting
tho borough and its noeds, his thorough
knowlcdgo and insistence on forward-
looking policies and accurate, up-to-
dato business mothods, havo throughout
been a .controlling f Oreo in all that has
been done and is being plannod for tho
future, Whatever problem arises,
j'Andjf" is usually found to have stud"
icd it out, getting all facts needed to
SEWICKLEY, PA., FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1930
Price 5 Cents.
Ufa* Served   £6gewortl) Well
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ANDREW 0. PEARCE
The New President of Edgeworth Borough Council
SSI
'arrive at a decision, and has at least
one sensible suggestion as to how to
meet it.
Mr. Pearee was born in Leet Township, out the Little Sewickley Creek
road, in a portion now part of Edge-
worth borough; he is a grandson of
George Pearee, who was one of the
early settlers here. Ho received his
education in the Edgeworth public
school and the Sowickley high school,
and has been with tho railroad ever
since.
Mr. Pearee was elected to council in
1914 in a political upheaval as one of
the United Party, Other couneilmen
elected on the same ticket were Thomas
Patterson, Charles Harrison, Lawrence
Woods, E, E. Brooks and Alvan L.
Davis, Thoy wore pledged to put tho
borough on a business like basis. Thoy
favored tho omploymont of a central
head in whom council's authority would
bo Vested and who would be responsible
to council for his actions, in addition
to finding somo placd to house all tho
activities and records of tho borough,
Edgeworth was the first borough in
tho stato to hiro a borough manager and
their first manager was a civil engineer, E. A. Bock from Peru, Indiana.
During' bis term, tho principal streets
of the borough were paved, sidewalks
were laid and the borough building was
erected. Beaver road was only a water
bound macadam, suitable for horses, but
very unsatisfactory for automobiles,
and the lowest bid .council received for
re-building it was nearly $90,000. However, Mr. Beck made tho recommendation, council sold bonds for $15,000, and
he built tho present road, which is still
in good shape.
Both ho and W. M, Cotton, the second borough manager, served jointly
with Sewickley during tho War years.
Mr. Cotton was a specialist in municipal engineering and was especially valuable to Edgoworth in perfecting tho
organization of the borough forces.
Robert Lloyd, the third borough manager, left to go to Midland to tako
earo ofttho Crucible Steel Company's
work, Tho present borough manager,
H. E, Burkholdor, came to Edgeworth
in 1922; ho is a graduato of Ponn State.
The borough manager system has
been justified in Edgoworth, Mr,
Pearco says, for the town has many
needed improvements, at a lower cost
than is possible under tho wasteful
committee system, Council instead of
having to attend to all tho small details,  merely  directs   the  policy   and
backs up their manager, supporting him
without petty politics and without friction.
Mr. Pearee has beon chairman of the
finance and budget committee since he
took offico and during his tenure, most
of the permanent improvements were
made in Edgeworth, before the high
Costs of tlie war time period and since
then have been paying out $10,000 a
year towards the reduction of their
bonded indebtedness. With the borough building and fire equipment bonds
paid off, and the sewer bonds due to
be retired in 1935, the borough will
only havo part of the Leet Township
indebtedness and $1,000 a year general
improvement fund bonds to pay. At
one time, taxes in tho borough were
down to 7 mills, from tho high level of
11 when Mr. Pearee and his colleagues
took office, and only tho high costs and
the largo improvement program forced
them up again.
Under Mr. Pearee *s direction, tho finance committee drew up a budget, tho
first one to bo used by a borough in
Pennsylvania, and •were commended by
the State for tho forward stop.
Since 1914 not ono nogativo vote has
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