Happy Autumn!
Listen to Greta Thunberg's wise words at the recent United Nations Climate Summit and then get busy acting locally in Monroeville, PA in early October by contacting your councilperson to let him or her know your thoughts about two critical issues:
1) We must be sure Monroeville does NOT sell the Municipal pool property. This property is specifically for recreational use in perpetuity according to documents we've seen.
2) We must be sure Monroeville council votes to put in place a protective of the citizens oil and gas ordinance at the November, 2019 meeting after being advertised in October, 2019.
Locally, what is going on here in Monroeville, PA and how can you be involved? Read the articles recently published with links below. Both articles were published by Trib Total Media in September, 2019 in The Times Express by Dillon Carr.
Actions for Citizens:
Please contact your councilperson and let him or her to vote to take the pool sale off of the table. If you do not live in Monroeville, please call Mayor Nick Gresock and Municipal Manager Tim Little to let them know selling the pool property is not ok.
https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/monroeville-pool-up-for-sale-making-way-for-turnpike-commission-purchase/
Please call your councilperson and ask him or her to be sure the proposed oil and gas ordinance is advertised this coming month. Then ask that this updated protective of the citizens ordinance be voted in at the November, 2019 council meeting.
https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/monroeville-residents-propose-oil-and-gas-ordinance/
We must fill the council chamber on both Thursday, October 3 at 7:00 pm for Citizen's Night and Tuesday, October 8 at 7:00 pm, for the next council meeting. Please mark your calendars, and plan to speak up about two critically important issues:
Council plans to vote to sell the Monroeville Municipal pool property on Tuesday, October 8, 2019 unless citizens rise up to say NO WAY! Council has been claiming that the turnpike commission has asked for that property to use to widen the turnpike. We were told at a council meeting not too long ago by one of the councilpersons that the property would be taken by eminent domain. This simply is not true. We have not seen any documentation that states this. Some of the pool members found out that the turnpike does not plan to widen that portion of the road until nine years from now. We also have learned that:
1) The property on the other side of the turnpike from the pool is also owned by the Municipality of Monroeville. We have asked why there has not been discussion about the turnpike using that property to widen the road and to leave the pool property alone.
2) The property the municipal pool sits on was condemned in 1974 and given to the Municipality of Monroeville. This 10 + acre property was to be used only for recreational purposes according to the condemnation documentation. It is therefore illegal to sell this property and to use it for any purpose other than recreation.
3) What is the hurry by council to sell this pool property? We have been asking for four months who owns the gas and oil rights underneath that property. No complete answer has been provided yet. Mr. Wratcher, the municipal attorney for the Municipality of Monroeville was formerly employed by APEX, a gas extraction company that is working in this area in the fracking industry. Is this a conflict of interest? Why is it that Mr. Wratcher is not able to figure out an answer to this question of who owns these mineral rights in a timely fashion especially as a former gas industry employee?
4) Could it be that the municipality owns the gas rights under this property? Could it be that the gas industry is eyeing these gas rights for fracking infrastructure or for other types of gas lines? We know that a fracking well pad is proposed for 0.4 mile from this site just into Penn Township, Westmoreland County right next to both the pool and the Heritage bike and Walking Trail. This is unacceptable. If it is true about the gas rights being owned by the municipality of Monroeville, we need to be sure that those rights are never used for fracking infrastructure such as pipelines and /or compressor stations, or any other fracked gas or other extractive industry infrastructure. Why? This property is for the use of Monroeville citizens for recreational use. Gas infrastructure does not belong underneath. In addition, this infrastructure does not belong near schools, homes, religious institutions, or businesses in our town.
Think Globally and Act Locally: Get involved in local Monroeville politics for a clean air and water and just future for all,
With gratitude,
David Mintz, Lois Drumheller, Madeline Havrilla, and Elisa Beck for Sustainable Monroeville
Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!
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