White Oak remembers Gergely, moves forward with recreation committee

Council hopes to give final approval to the new committee in February.

To begin White Oak Borough Council’s meeting Monday evening, Councilwoman Lorree Scharritter held a moment of silence for state Rep. Matthew Gergely.

Gergely, a Democrat from McKeesport, died Sunday at 45. He secured the 35th District seat in a special election in 2023 and was reelected to his first full term in November.

Majority Leader Matt Bradford revealed in early January that Gergely had been hospitalized after a “medical emergency over the holidays.” Details regarding the emergency were not made public.

“I would like to have a moment of silence for a very good friend of mine and our state representative, Matthew Gergely, who unfortunately passed away yesterday,” Scharritter said.

Council also passed a motion to advertise the Recreation Council Committee Ordinance before Feb. 10. They hope to pass the ordinance at their February meeting.

Solicitor Ashley Puchalski explained last week that while the borough currently has a recreation board that makes final voting decisions, it is not modifying the current recreation board, but rather appealing that board and creating a new committee that will go through council members who serve as chairs of recreation.

There have been past discussions about scrapping the current recreation board because purchases were being made without the borough’s knowledge. There were also concerns from others about having a more formal board that advises council rather than making final decisions.

Changes were proposed to the ordinance at last week’s meeting, and Puchalski stated that all changes were implemented. The board is currently working to see who will fill the positions.

A recreation committee meeting was held Monday to discuss more possible changes, according to Puchalski, which include keeping it to three members instead of three to seven to keep it more flexible.

“The feedback that was received and what was discussed was that possibly modifying the committee from a recreation advisory committee to the recreation committee to make it more simple,” she added. “Instead of having three officers, the thought was to change it to having one chair person as a liaison for council and council recreation committee to make it less formal and less in person to omit confusion.”

While the recreation committee is being figured out, many members of council recognized the job their public works department did this past weekend dealing with the weather.

“I think our roads have been really good. Just over the weekend, our guys worked 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Sunday they were at 9:30 a.m. to about 11:30 p.m., and then went home and got called out this morning about 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. and then worked their normal shift,” borough manager John Palyo said. “They are putting in a lot of hours. We had five guys over the weekend.”

Frigid temperatures are currently the primary concern throughout the region, with a cold weather warning in place through 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Palyo added that trash collection in the borough will remain the same despite the cold.

Councilman George Pambacas said the borough’s public works hours exceeded normal numbers due to the snow this past weekend. Mayor Ina Jean Marton said public works did a great job.

“Considering the sporadic snow showers throughout the borough, the snow didn’t hit the entire borough all at once,” Pambacas said.

“It happened at various locations, which makes it tough on them and all in all, I think they did a great job.”

All motions passed Monday, including:

• To have State Sen. Nick Pisciottano, D-West Mifflin, to go into a partnership with the borough by providing a satellite office operating in the borough building from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month.

• Installing a new $949.70 Barrier Protection security system at White Oak pool.

• Purchasing a new $7,100 hot water pressure washer to replace the old unit that was purchased in 1985.

Upcoming events include:

• White Oak Police Department will participate in “Stop the Bleed” training class Jan. 27 at the borough building. The department will also have a crime prevention meeting at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 29 to help residents identify scams and other criminal activity.

• White Oak Athletic Association’s Youth Basketball Cash Bash will be 7-11 p.m. Feb. 8.

• The spring craft show is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 22. Contact Karen at 412-965-7909 for more details.

• A “Galentines” brunch will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 13 at White Oak Veterinary Clinic.