Sewickley Herald

              Hdardanell publication
Sewickley
Herald
Suburban Pittsburgh's Largest Audited Paid Newspapers
Twenty Cents
Wednesday/ November 30,1977
Voi. 78 No. 48
Valley Eco-Action in need of new station
Valley Eco-Action / Grip Recycling has been asked to remove its recycling operation from its present location in the Quaker Village Shopping Center following the next recycle date, Saturday, December 3,1977. At the present time, the Eco-Action Board has no definite alternative site and states that locating an accessible place that can handle the traffic will be difficult, if not impossible. The property now being used in the Quaker Village Shopping Center is owned and operated by J.J. Gumberg and Co.,,
Citizen blasts
on
Quaker Valley School Directors are. skating on thin ice when they allow a local hockey team the use of the school’s name, Leetsdale resident Charles H. Krane told the November 23 meeting of the board.
(At the October meeting the board, to a request from area parents, approved the use of the school’s name by a team skating out of the Sewickley Ice Rink and the formation of a hockey dub within the school. At that time, Administrator Dr. Leroy L. Kite explained that QV had no financial obligation to the team nor would there be a scheduling of intramural competitions.)
However, Krane sees the situation from a different angle,” As a taxpayer, I am disturbed about hockey. You have planted a seed of future expense. The WPIAL has failed to recognize hockey as a school sport because of the cost. My biggest objection is using the school as a vehicle to collect money. Why should we get involved with helping the rink make money? I’m afraid we’ll be spending lots of money on hockey before long. A.lot of kids will be denied joining the hockey club because of the cost. It, the request, should have been tossed out and denied.”
Krane’s parting shot sent the board to the solicitor for the answer, “No one has asked if QV is liable should there be an accident at the rink to one of the players? ”
To President Dr. Michael M. Zahor-chak’s answer that only a lawyer would know, Krane said, “The QV School Board should know.”
The solicitor’s answer was promised at the next board meeting.
Big tennis powwow here
‘Middle States Tennis Association will hold its annual meeting and election of officers at the Edgeworth Club this year. The meeting is scheduled for Dec. 3 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Many prominent leaders in the tennis world will be in attendance for this annual conclave of the association which represents three million members.
James A. Melville, Mt. Lebanon, is the retiring president and it is in his honor that the annual meeting is being held m Western Pennsylvania. The Allegheny Mountain Assn, will be hosts at the meeting.
representing the WestPennRealty Co. Mr. Stanley Gumberg said that the recycling operation has caused increased litter in the shopping center.
With energy conservation a top priority nationally and resource recovery one of the most basic ways to conserve energy, the Eco-Action Board said it finds the Gumbert decision ill-timed and difficult to understand; The Board added that one of the important side effects of the local recycling effort is the educational opportunity it affords. “The recycling message is inherent in the operation itself, and it represents a strong influence on community buying habits, i.e., the use of returnable bottles vs. throwaways, the avoidance of overpackaging; buying in quantity: the GRIP motto sums it all up: Refuse, Reuse, and Recycle — Save money and resources,” the Eco Action board maintains.
Valley Eco Action has been operating its recycling center since 1971. In 1976, 26,000 lbs. of metal, 110,000 lbs. of glass, and 174,000 lbs. of paper were collected even though 1976 was not even a bumper year becauseof bridge closings and extreme weather. The volume of material has grown steadily over the past six years, and there are currently an estimated 300-400 regular monthly recyclers. The volume of material accepted at the Center is limited not by lack of community participation but by the trucking facilities available for hauling the metal, paper, and glass, according to Valley Eco Action. It is obviously a growing operation with potential for more growth, the recyclers maintain.
Recently, to learn the point of view of the shopping center tenants about the recycling operation, Valley Eco-Action volunteers presented questionnaires to 13 merchants. The questions and results were as follows:
Are you aware of the recycling operation held in the shopping center the first Saturday of each month?
Yes 13
As a merchant, do you feel that there is an effect on the number of customers in your store on the Saturdays recucling is held?
Yes 7 No 6
Estimate of $ increase in sales all seven agreed that sales increased on recycle days and three gave statistics.
Would you be willing to have us share this information with J.J. Gumberg and the Sewickley Herald?
Yes 13
What, if any, objections do you have to the recycling operation?
None 13
The Eco-Action Board said it questions the closing down of this public service operation to which Sewickley and other nearby communities have given such positive responses. In Allegheny arid surrounding counties, 24 GRIP recycling centers are operating in shopping centers, on school grounds, in municipal parking areas, and other public places, the board said. “A check with the GRIP office indicates no major complaints registered concerning the operation of any of these centers, said Mrs. Remsen Behrer, spokesman for the group. The Eco-Action Board is asking why the Quaker Village operation is the only one of 24 found objectionable. They also ask and what is the solution? The Board hopes to find an answer but needs community help. Suggestions about alternative sites and any other helpful ideas will be welcomed at 741*5198.
IT’S AN ORIGINAL. Charlotte Raab, center, of Sewickley Stained Glass, a retail shop at 507 Beaver St. shows off Hie tree she and her husband Chris have decorated for the Sewickley Board of Trade-Council of Garden Clubs’ Annual Christmas Tree Decorating Contest. Delighted with the entry is Mrs. Barbara Jackson, chairman of'the contest, and her daughter Kathy. According to Mrs. Jackson, over 50 area businesses are participating this year. If anybody was missed, don’t pout and feel left out, call Mrs. Jean Morrison of The Alley Cat at 741-8694 before December 5 and a tree will be delivered. The offer applies to business establishments only.
Sewickley okays
ambulance site
The Quaker Valley Ambulance Authority (QVAA) will build new quarters in Sewickley on a Site bordering Ohio River Boulevard, Walnut, Bank and Broad Streets according to council approval at the borough’s November 21 meeting.
Now housed in the former Pennsylvania Railroad passenger station on Chadwick, the Authority has been house hunting for more adequate and comfortable quarters for the past year.
With council’s go-ahead, construction of the estimated $20,000 building is expected to begin in early’78 according to information presented to council.
The Site was not a popular choice with Bank Street residents (west of Walnut) who voiced objections at a special October 17 meeting. One of their concerns is the ambulance will be a noisy neighbor as the driver hits the siren for entrance to the boulevard from Walnut. No sewer lines rules out the Broad Street side of the property as a location.
Council’s decision was not without dissension. Prior to the vote, councilman Robert B. Wood argued, "The majority of the residents do not want it there (with a Walnut entrance). When the ambulance gets to a traffic signal, the siren is used. Since I represent the people of that area, I’m against it. Put it on the Broad Street side.”
To this, Councilman W. George Edel
brought in the sewer problem and the safety factor of the ambulance entering the boulevard from Broad. It’s his opinion this would be too close to the Sewickley Bridge approach.
In answer to President Clinton L. Childs, Jr., a consensus of council voted down the Broad Street location.
Edel, a steadfast proponent that the ambulance should be based in Sewickley, moved that the property be teased to QVAAfor one dollar a year and should the Authority be dissolved the property and improvements would revert to the borough.
Wood voted against the motion and added, “So here we are supporting other boroughs and giving property away in spite of what people want.”
The only audience input was from resident Richard Guy, “The hospital is the proper place for the ambulance. The park should not be given away. This is not what the people want.”
School Board reorganization
The annual reorganization meeting of the Quaker Valley Borad of School Directors will be held Wednesday, December 7, 1977 at 8 p.m. in the district office, Chestnut Hoad, Edgeworth.