Forest Hills Officials Voice Concern Over Watershed

Forest Hills Borough Council Wednesday discussed concerns over a watershed problem that has affected residents on Fillmore and Cherry Valley roads in the past. 

Vice President Bill Tomasic, who ran the meeting in lieu of President Frank Porco, said the borough is in the dark concerning Churchill’s compliance with an Environmental Protection Agency consent decree for watershed. 

The decree requires municipalities to conduct dye testing to determine where run-off water is flowing. A lack of communication between boroughs has some officials worrying that watershed from , located in Churchill on Greensburg Pike, could have affected Forest Hills residents.

In Churchill, officials negotiated with Woodland Hills High School to have the school conduct its own testing this year, according to Forest Hills Borough Engineer Dave Gilliland. 

“In a recent discussion with Woodland Hills, they indicated that they will have the dye testing done by the end of this week,” Gilliland said. “[But] they didn’t give any indication that they had done it prior to this.”

Tomasic said that when Forest Hills residents on Fillmore and Cherry Valley roads experienced basement flooding in the past, Churchill officials said they had complied with the EPA regulations.

“I shouldn’t say we know for sure, but we have some reason to believe that at least the high school hasn’t been dye tested,” Tomasic said. “It’s sort of erroneous in what was stated to us, that they were compliant back in 2009.”

Gilliland said a meeting is scheduled for the first week of March with Gateway Engineers, Inc., the borough’s former engineering firm, to discuss whether or not it has documented evidence of prior testing from Churchill. Gateway currently serves as Churchill’s engineering firm.

While Council Member Devon Wood said the borough has had good relationships with both Gateway and Churchill in the past, she also voiced confusion over the situation.

“I’m also puzzled why we have to wait until a March meeting to have what could be a simple solution,” Wood said, adding that a phone call could clear the air.

At the meeting, officials also discussed a property maintenance problem on Braddock Road. 

While the borough issued a citation to a property owner there for an excess of rubbish and garbage, in addition to problems with high grass and weeds, Magisterial District Judge Thomas P. Caulfield dismissed the case when it reached his office.

The dismissal jeopardizes the borough’s ability to enforce its codes, said Solicitor Steve Korbel, at times joking about Caulfield noting that no animals or rodents were present on the property.

“So, if the magistrate wants us to show him a picture of an animal on the piles of rubbish, I recommended to [code enforcement officer] Ron [Willard] that we do so once the weather starts to break,” Korbel said. “And then we’ll go and see what happens.”

Caulfield, who spoke at the meeting, said the resident — a World War II veteran who is in his eighties and recovering from cancer treatment — should receive help from the community rather than face fines and court hearings.

“I didn’t feel that levying fines of $600 per day until the nuisance was abated was probably the most effective thing for a gentleman who I presume is living on a very fixed income,” Caulfield said. “I stand by that decision.”

Mayor Marty O’Malley said he thinks he may be able to find help for the gentleman, but said the property has been a problem for several years, likely before the man fell into ill health.

In other news, council pushed back discussion on a until next month’s meeting. Wood said the issue didn’t surface in committee meetings this month, and a that takes effect in 2012 may influence whether or not the borough goes ahead with the study.