Thursday, May 16, 2013
#1 Cochran’s former used car lot is being reconstructed as a public parking lot, to be owned by Dormont Borough.
A new parking lot is taking shape on West Liberty Avenue, across from the Cochran Nissan dealership, and soon that lot will belong to Dormont Borough. #1 Cochran Automotive Group is overseeing the reconstruction of the parking lot in preparation for an upcoming land swap, a key first step of the West Liberty Avenue Reconstruction project. The land swap will give the borough ownership of the former used car lot, and will give #1 Cochran ownership of the triangle lot at the corner of West Liberty Avenue and McFarland Road. Dormont borough manager Jeff Naftal said the land swap will occur when construction on the new parking lot is complete, and the lot is ready for public use. The new parking lot will have a kiosk-style pay system rather …
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Dormont Council on Monday approved several new hires to borough positions.
Dormont Borough Council on Monday made several new hires to positions within the borough. Some employees will be working only through the summer, and others were hired as fulltime borough employees: Follow Dormont-Brookline Patch on Facebook and Twitter. For more news, sign up for our email Newsletter.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The five containers buried under the Dormont Pool parking lot used to be septic tanks, and all are being repaired.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Erin Faulk
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Tuesday, March 19
The mystery of the five containers buried under the Dormont Pool parking lot has been solved. The containers were once septic tanks, although borough manager Jeff Naftal said they don’t appear to have been in use for more than 75 years. “We know what they are,” Naftal said. “We’re certain they were septic tanks, but we don’t know what they served.” The Allegheny County Public Works Department sent the borough plans that cleared up the issue, Naftal said. The plans, dated 1937, were for work being done on Banksville Road, but clearly showed three septic tanks at what is now the pool parking lot. The plans also included instructions for a contractor to remove the lids of those tanks and fill them. “Of course, not only did we find five tanks …
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Construction crews have found a total of four concrete containers under the Dormont Pool parking lot since the first collapsed last week.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Erin Faulk
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Tuesday, March 12
Four concrete boxes were found at the site of the collapse in the Dormont Pool parking lot, and officials now have a better idea of what the structures might have been used for. Borough manager Jeff Naftal said the concrete containers appear to be a water management system which would have allowed storm water to enter a concrete channel, then overflow into the first structure, and into the others as needed. The boxes likely managed water coming from the street, but Naftal said that detail is still unclear. A crew from Niando construction collapsed and partially filled two boxes over the weekend, and began excavating the third and fourth on Monday. "We are hopeful that four is the end, but won’t know until we dig that one out whether there …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
As crews worked to clear a collapse in the Dormont Pool parking lot, a pipe was found leading into the concrete box buried underground. It is still not clear why the box is there, or what it is.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Erin Faulk
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Wednesday, March 6
The concrete box buried under the Dormont Pool parking lot was definitely not used for burning Christmas trees, borough manager Jeff Naftal said Monday. The bomb shelter scenario also is unlikely. But Dormont officials are getting closer to discovering what the now-collapsed box might actually have been used for. During Monday’s Dormont Council meeting, Naftal said he was hopeful crews would find pipes leading to or from the container, and on Tuesday, that hope was fulfilled. At least one pipe was found in the wall of the box, but Council President Bill McCartney, who was at the scene on Tuesday, said it’s still not clear where the pipe leads. The pipe could indicate that the box might have been some sort of overflow container, and …
Friday, March 1, 2013
The hole appears to be caused by the collapse of an underground concrete box that the borough has no records for.
A massive “sinkhole” has opened in the Dormont Pool parking lot, and what it revealed has borough officials baffled. The ground fell in Wednesday, when the roof of a concrete box buried under the parking lot collapsed—and the borough has no record, no design plans, no indication of such a container ever being buried there. Borough manager Jeff Naftal said that with no records showing why the box is there, officials don’t know much about what it was used for, or if other containers exist. “The box is ridiculously large,” Naftal said. “It’s 20 feet wide, 50 feet long, 10 feet deep and it’s buried 7 feet underground. “We had no idea it was there. It doesn’t show on any maps.” Naftal said that this is not a true sinkhole because it did not …
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Input from residents will be increasingly important as the year-long process continues, local officials said.
Dormont Borough officials last week began the process of developing a comprehensive plan for the borough, a project that hasn’t been completed since 1995. “This is day three,” said Scott Page, in an interview with Dormont-Brookline Patch on Thursday. “This is about as early in the process as it gets. This is the fact-finding stage, where we get to know Dormont, collect available data and put together our own.” Page is an urban designer and planner, and founding principal of Philadelphia-based Interface Studio. The company has done work in the Pittsburgh and Chicago areas, and will be leading Dormont’s comprehensive plan process. Page and his team were camped out in Dormont Municipal Center for much of last week, interviewing staff, council…
Thursday, February 7, 2013
A roundup of notes from the Feb. 4 council meeting.
Below is a list of agenda items that were approved at the Feb. 4 Dormont Council meeting: **Correction: The cost savings on the Kronos system will be $15,000 per year, not $50,000 as originally reported. Continue to follow Dormont-Brookline Patch for updates about grant projects and more discussed at Monday's meeting. Follow Dormont-Brookline Patch on Facebook and Twitter. For more news, sign up for our email Newsletter.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
The foundation rejected the borough’s counter offer.
Pitcher Park Foundation has requested a $40,000 reimbursement from Dormont Borough for costs the group incurred before the Pitcher Park Skate Park proposal was rejected. At Monday’s Dormont Council meeting, council President Bill McCartney said Pitcher Park Foundation contacted the borough in December requesting the reimbursement. The matter was discussed in executive sessions in January and February. “Many of us on council thought maybe it was the right thing to do to reimburse them for some of the work they had done that benefited the borough, particularly on the tennis courts,” McCartney said. “But that was not unanimous.” After reviewing the request with borough manager Jeff Naftal to determine what could be reimbursed, the borough …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Details here for how to apply.
Dormont Council is seeking to fill a vacant seat on the Planning Commission, and the borough is accepting applications now. The Planning Commission members are responsible for reviewing new development plans and changes in the Borough Code, and will be heavily involved in the upcoming process of creating a comprehensive plan for the borough. Interested applicants should submit a letter of interest, including how you would benefit the Planning Commission and why you want to be on the Planning Commission no later than Jan. 23. Letters can be dropped off at Borough Hall, 1444 Hillsdale Avenue, Dormont, 15216 or mailed to this address or sent by e-mail to borough manager Jeff Naftal at jnaftal@boro.dormont.pa.us. For more information, see the …
Erin Faulk
10:43 am on Thursday, May 16, 2013
Joseph, Yes - most of what you're talking about here is part of the long-term plan for this project. This particular land swap is one of the first steps of the long-term plans. If you click the "West Liberty Avenue reconstruction project" link within the second paragraph of this article, it will take you to a previous article I wrote that explains the entire reconstruction plan in more detail. … more ›