White Oak residents appeal to council for alley paving
Residents Barb Harvey and Kathy Peterson addressed White Oak Borough Council Monday to discuss paving the alleyways behind their separate households.
Harvey and Peterson said they spoke to council members about a year ago, but no work was done on the alleyways behind Monongahela Boulevard and Foster Road.
“Nothing has been done yet about it,” Harvey said. “I did see some borough workers come up and down the street. I have asked a few times and they said eventually. If they can’t get to it, I would just rather know about it then just say they are going to be there when they can get a chance.”
Peterson agreed, saying her alley has trucks come through it all the time, destroying the road, and nothing has been done.
George Pambacas, the council member who deals with public works, addressed the ladies’ concerns.
“Although I encourage our residents if they see our street department out, ask them questions,” Pambacas said. “But let me qualify you, they are knowledgeable about the exact task they are doing, but not so much as what our planning is and what’s in the future. And we were aware of those alleys. We’re going to get to them. That’s the best I can say right now.”
Charles Davis also addressed the women, stating that the borough is planning on looking into the alleys.
Delinquent garbage fees
Solicitor Ashley Puchalski provided an update on the collection of unpaid sanitation fees.
“Our office has been hard at work collecting our delinquent garbage accounts,” Puchalski said. “We’ve been pretty successful, and since our latest round of letters went out the first week of July, we’ve collected over $22,000 in delinquent account payments. We also have folks rapidly signing up for payment plans, and we have had some folks that have paid in full.
“We are going to press forward in the next coming weeks and we previously had council’s approval to ramp up collection efforts — particularly on our 15 highest most delinquent accounts. If anyone does want to get signed up on a payment plan or talk about different payment options, please contact our office. We’d be happy to help you.”
A motion made by Puchalski was approved authorizing her to proceed with condemning 1139 California Ave. after numerous property maintenance and structural code violations.
Council approved refunding certain property owners for real estate taxes, two motions for the police department’s new server through Shiloh Service, Inc. for a $12,405 battery backup and a Windows server license for $1,590 as well as the purchase of a new lawn mower for $14,527 to replace the borough’s 17-year-old mower.
Announcements at the meeting included:
• Regular hours at White Oak Pool will continue through Aug. 28, but it will be closed all next week. The pool will reopen for the weekend of Aug. 24-25 and its final weekend for Labor Day, Aug. 31 to Sept 2.
• White Oak’s 2024 Hero Run/Walk 5K is set for 9 a.m. Saturday at Heritage Hills Park. Registration and event information can be found at the borough’s website or Facebook page.
• The borough’s second annual Oktoberfest Celebration will be held Oct. 5 at the White Oak Athletic Association gymnasium. Adult tickets are $30, child tickets (12 and under) are $15, and they’re available at the municipal building.
• Fall baseball and softball will be starting in the beginning of September for the White Oak Athletic Association. Fall basketball sign ups will take place in late September.
