June Edition

2022 Community Garden Pilot Program

Looking for a sunny and fenced space to grow your own vegetables?

The Franklin Park Environmental Advisory Council is sponsoring the Franklin Park Community Garden located at 2634 Big Sewickley Creek Road, Sewickley, PA 15143 across the road from Linbrook Park. Garden plots are available to Franklin Park residents only. For more information call 412-364-4115, Ext. 302 or email@franklinparkborough.us with Community Garden in the subject line. Signed applications will be accepted at the Franklin Park Borough office Monday - Friday between 8:00 am and 4:30 pm. Each plot is approximately 10' x 12' and the fee for leasing each plot is $60. The signed application must be accompanied by the plot fee. The community garden pilot area has a total of 10 plots available for lease for the 2022 season (June-October). The garden will be fenced and water is available.

2022 Franklin Park Community Scholarship Recipients

The following 10 students were chosen to receive a $1,000 Franklin Park Community Scholarship this year.

Ariella Avigad
Lydia Cwalina
Jackie DiGiacomo
Cole Dorn
Emily Gierczynski
Megan Quinlan
Briona Rice
Sarah Sharar
Hannah Shin
Abhinav Yarlagadda

Roadside Litter Pick-up

On Saturday, April 30, 14 volunteers assembled at the Baierl Family YMCA on Nicholson Road at 8:00 AM and proceeded to walk both sides of Nicholson Road from the YMCA to Concordia of Franklin Park to pick up roadside trash. The group picked up 32 bags of trash, 1 bag of recycling, and various car parts. The event was coordinated by the Franklin Park Environmental Advisory Council. Traffic control was provided by Franklin Park Officers Tyler Jamison and Amanda Fedunok. Supplies were provided by PennDOT and the Borough. Based on the success of this event, the EAC is looking at scheduling future litter pick-up events along other roads throughout the Borough. If you would like to volunteer for a future event, please send an email to email@franklinparkborough.us with Litter Gitter in the subject line.

Franklin Park/Ohio Township Joint Comprehensive Plan

On May 11, the Governor’s Office announced that the Franklin Park-Ohio Township joint comprehensive plan update project was awarded $49,500 in Municipal Assistance Program funding. You can read the announcement at the following link: https://www.governor.pa.gov/newsroom/gov-wolf-235500-in-new-funding-to-assist-local-governments-in-eight-counties-with-zoning-and-comprehensive-plans/.

The deadline for you to submit your completed Franklin Park/Ohio Township Joint Comprehensive Plan Survey is May 31. You can pick up a physical copy of the survey at the Borough building or complete the survey on line at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FranklinParkBoroughOhioTownshipPlan

The Comprehensive Plan Public Kick-Off Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 7 at 7:00 PM at the Activity Center in Blueberry Hill Park. All are invited to attend and provide input.

MS4Program Update

On May 9, the Borough received formal approval from the PA Department of Environmental Protection for its revised Pollution Reduction Plan. Municipalities in Pennsylvania are required, under direction of the federal Environmental Protection Agency through the PA DEP, to take action to remove a set amount of sediment and pollutants from streams and waterways through the implementation of Best Management Practices. The Borough Stormwater Engineer, Civil and Environmental Consultants, performed calculations on a number of potential projects. The final projects submitted to PA DEP for approval include:

Stream bank repair and restoration along approximately 2,100 linear feet of stream located along Montgomery Road. This stream is an unnamed tributary to Bear Run in the Lowries Run Watershed
Stream bank repair and restoration along approximately 2,200 linear feet of stream located between Wedgewood Drive and Pioneer Drive in the Fish Run Watershed (which flows into Pine Creek).
Detention pond retrofit of Matterhorn Detention Pond #1, located between Matterhorn Road and Wexford Run Road in the Pine Creek Watershed.
Detention pond retrofit of Ramblewood Detention Pond #1, located between Dogwood Drive and Barrington Drive in the Pine Creek Watershed.

These projects are expected to remove a total of 245,770 pounds of sediment per year (the goal set by PA DEP is 242,838 pounds per year) from our waterways, and the expected cost will be over $1,000,000. The Borough is in the process of working with CEC and the property owners affected to design the work to be done.

FRANKLIN PARK BOROUGH NAMED A

2022 BANNER COMMUNITY

The Franklin Park Borough has been recognized as a 2022 Banner Community by County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and the Allegheny League of Municipalities (ALOM). This marks the tenth year of the program which recognizes municipalities that show a commitment to professional development, prudent fiscal management, transparency, accountability, and proactive communications to engage community stakeholders. Franklin Park Borough is one of 80 organizations recognized this year.

In order to be eligible for consideration for the Banner Communities Program, the municipality’s elected and appointed officials must:

Participate in educational or training programs through ALOM, the Local Government Academy or the PA Department of Community & Economic Development or participate in a governing mentoring program
Be active members in good standing with ALOM and the county municipal associations, and have a representative attending at least a minimum of 50% of county association meetings
Be active members in good standing in a COG and attend COG meetings, participate in a COG cooperative purchasing program and participate in at least one shared municipal service
Conduct a Local Government Week activity by conducting a local activity promoting local government or communicating with the community about delivery of services
Conduct an effective Citizen Communication Program by offering a municipal newsletter or web-based communication effort, and participate in a class discussion on local government or conducting a shadowing program for junior or senior high school students
Promote and implement long term sustainable governing practices by earning certification through Sustainable Pittsburgh, managing employee pensions at funding levels of 90% or above, participating in the annual ALOM Wage and Salary Survey Program, and implementing goals of an up to date Municipal Comprehensive Plan