Monroeville Times Express: year in review

It was another storied year for Monroeville.

So, as we look ahead to the start of a new decade, let’s take a moment to look back at some of the biggest, most meaningful stories of 2019.

The sale of Bel-Aire Pool

This story probably drew the most emotion from Monroeville residents, as many grew up with warm memories of the municipality’s only publically owned pool.

After 45 seasons, the pool will no longer be under the ownership of Monroeville residents. Rather, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will determine its future, which likely involves demolition to make room for an expanding highway. The PTC bought it for a little more than $1 million in October.

An attorney with expertise in municipal law, Alan Shuckrow, said Monroeville council’s hiring of an appraiser of the pool’s property should have been done in public and that the discussions about the sale that happened behind closed doors “should have been done in public.”

But, he said, the point is moot because it’s too late to do anything about it. For now, residents await to see how the proceeds from the pool’s sale will be used.

McGinnis Sisters building bought

Speaking of sales … the beloved locally owned grocery store that closed in 2018 after seven decades of business sold in April for $1.7 million. The new owners, Glimcher Group, are giving the building a face lift but remain mum on future plans.

More gunfire at the Monroeville Mall

The mall became the site for two additional shootings this year. In April, 14 shots were fired into a first-floor entrance at Macy’s. No one was injured and five men were eventually jailed. Then, in September, shots were fired just outside the Cinemark, a theater that is attached to the mall. No one was injured in that incident, either.

In 2015, three people were shot inside Macy’s at the mall as the result of a fight nearby.

A monumental anniversary

Speaking of the mall, it’s been there for 50 years.

If you missed the celebration held in May, you can see the mural dedicated to the mall just inside an entrance next to Party City. It includes photos of the mall during construction in 1968, the old ice skating rink that was located where the food court is now and “Dawn of the Dead” movie set photos.

July 21 rain storm

The storm was just as monumental. Officials said it rained over 4 inches in spots along Logans Ferry Road, where a woman feared losing her life when her car was nearly swallowed by an inundated creek.

“They need to do something before it kills someone,” said Caitlin Chatkin in a recent Tribune-Review story.

Monroeville officials are currently mulling over solutions that could cost up to $3 million to fix. In the meantime, residents along that road continue to suffer from flooding and face steep costs to repair them.

Car thievery

A rash of car thefts led police in Monroeville and surrounding communities to urge residents to “lock your doggone cars.”

Police believed the thefts were being committed by youths who allegedly stole cash and guns from unlocked vehicles. Five minors were arrested for the thefts in Monroeville, but police Chief Doug Cole said the effort was futile.

Juvenile detention centers are not detaining them because “if they haven’t done a violent crime against a person, juvenile detention doesn’t take you,” he said.

Under state law, police cannot detain minors for more than six hours.

Gateway School District

Let’s shift gears to the school district, which held the line on a property tax hike and celebrated a 12-3 football season that saw the Gators win a second WPIAL Class 5A title in three years.

One of the school district’s elementary schools, University Park, kicked off a food program that provides qualified students with a backpack to take home Friday full of breakfast and lunch for the weekend.

Another elementary, Cleveland Steward, got creative with its students playtime when a teacher obtained a grant for the Big Blue Blocks Set by Imagination Playground.

The school board also welcomed three new faces, as Paul Caliari, Scott Gallagher and Susan Delaney were sworn in as new school directors.

Speaking of the school board, the members were criticized for appointing a board member without public input when Jesse Kalkstein resigned.

Will they pay?

A large portion of the municipality’s newly imposed fee on storm water costs — known as the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System, or MS4, for short — comes from those assessed for the Monroeville Mall and Gateway School District.

Under the program, Monroeville property owners are assessed a fee based on how much impervious surface the property has. The program was estimated to generate $3.2 million in its first year to fund storm water related costs.

The mall’s bill amounted to over $200,000 a year, and the school district has been charged around $92,000.

Those entities have appealed their MS4 fees at the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, arguing the fees were assessed unfairly or, in the school district’s case, illegally. It remains to be seen how judges will rule.