News Around the Neighborhood

GTECH Resilience Generation Initiative

Nov 15, 2016 |

Resilience Generation

Technical Assistance and Direct Financial Support for Projects Improving Community Health

Now through June 2019, GTECH will offer a range of custom interventions in partnership with 24 individual communities in the effort to increase resilience of vulnerable communities. If your organization works with residents to build community health and resilience, you could apply for awards ranging from $5-30K of direct and indirect resources.

Applications due December 2nd

More information and applications available at: [ebor_button style=”nephritis” url=”http://gtechstrategies.org/regen”] Resilience Generation [/ebor_button]

Letter from the President – November 2016

Nov 4, 2016 |

In a happy coincidence, Allegheny West elections and US elections fall on the same day. (I guess if we’d really been coordinating I would have managed to have the AWCC officer elections on the state ballot.) Consider the following exhortations about your civic duty:

  • “this is one of the clearest avenues to influence policies”
  • “don’t complain if you don’t vote”
  • “yada yada”

Apply to both elections equally:

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU VOTE!

(Assuming you’ve properly registered and our paid your membership dues of course!)

As an added bonus we will all have a good incentive to be efficient in our decision making at the meeting so we can go home and wait for the West Coast to hurry up and finish counting.

Catherine Serventi
President, AWCC

AWCC Membership Meeting Agenda – November 8, 2016

Nov 4, 2016 | ,

Calvary United Methodist Church, 971 Beech Ave
Tuesday, November 8th at 7:30 pm

  • Visitors: Erin Tobin, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
  • Minutes
  • Treasurer’s Report
  • Tree and Scholarship for Stella “Yia Yia”
  • Vote on Bylaws
  • Elections!
  • Ways and Means: Christmas Tour
    • Volunteer Signups
    • Two More Houses
    • Five Year Plan with Calvary
  • Housing and Planning
    • Film Guidelines
    • Western Avenue
    • Light of Life
    • Buhl Grant Meeting
  • Green Space: Parklet
  • Membership Events
    • 50th Anniversary: Alleys, Axles and Ales Report
    • Mixers
    • History Project Update
  • Property: 806 Western Avenue Improvements
  • Friends
  • Committee Q&A

Above and Beyond

Nov 4, 2016 |

A big “Happy Halloween!” from the neighborhood. Thanks to Kevin for making all the arrangements to close Beech to traffic so the munchkins (and Elsas, and Ironmen, and Batmans – see examples of the cuteness in the print edition) were safe! Extra special thanks to the Delta Foundation for sponsoring a police officer at the intersection at Beech and Galveston. Also the peanut butter crackers that Councilwoman Harris’s office dropped off for the festivities were much appreciated by all (especially those of us who were planning to have Halloween candy for dinner).

Proposed Amendment to the AWCC Constitution and Bylaws

Nov 4, 2016 | ,

Below please find the proposed amendment to the AWCC Constitution and Bylaws from the July 12, 2016 AWCC meeting.

First paragraph of Duties of Officers should be changed to read (changes highlighted in bold):

“The President shall preside at all meetings of the Council and Executive Committee, and shall be ex-officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee. He The President may appoint special committees, and shall perform all other duties usually pertaining to the office. The President along with the Treasurer shall prepare an annual budget for presentation at the June meeting for the fiscal year beginning in July. The budget will be voted on at the July membership meeting.”

Implementation: According to Article XII Bylaws, the amendment may be adopted upon presentation in writing of the proposed change at one regular meeting, and the publication in the Allegheny West Gazette, and a ⅔ vote concurring at the next regular meeting (November 8, 2016 at 7:30 pm).

Street Cleaning & Office Hours

Nov 4, 2016 |

Street Cleaning Reminder: This month’s street cleaning is on Tuesday, November 8th and Monday, November 14th.

Fall Office Hours: AWCC office hours for the fall are Monday & Friday, 12:00–3:00 pm and Tuesday & Thursday, 9:00 am–12:00 pm. Changes to Office Hours are posted to the online calendar.

AWCC Board Nominations and Voting

Nov 4, 2016 | ,

Board members will be voted on in November. To vote for board members, or any other issue at a council meeting, members are required to be “in good standing”. Per the Allegheny West Civic Council bylaws, a member in good standing is a person or organization who has paid dues for the year and belongs either as an individual or group. The slate will be proposed at the October general membership meeting at which time additional nominations may be made from the floor. If you intend to vote please make sure you’re in good standing and have paid your dues. If you’re unsure feel free to send an e-mail to membership@alleghenywest.org.

The nominating committee is proposing the following slate of officers for 2017.

President: John DeSantis
Ways and Means Committee: Vacant
Vice President: Ann Gilligan
Membership Committee: Scott Mosser
Treasurer: Dan Adam
Communications Committee: Sara Sweeney
Recording Secretary: Michael Shealey
Housing and Planning Committee: Timothy Zinn
Sergeant-at-Arms: Fran Barbush
Friends of Allegheny West: Trish Burton
Property Committee: Elaine Stone
Ex Officio, Past President: Cathy Serventi

2016 Old Allegheny Victorian Christmas House Tour: Our 35th Year

Nov 4, 2016 | ,

The 2016 tour will be on Friday, December 9th from 5:00-8:00 pm and Saturday, December 10th from 10:00 am-8:00 pm. Tickets for the tour are $30 until November 30th; $35 after that date. Train museum tickets are $12; $15 after November 30th.

Volunteer Opportunities & Info

Postcard Mailing: The annual labeling of the Tour postcards is set for Monday, November 7th at 7:00 pm at Calvary. Please join us! We’ll have pizza and snacks and, with your help, we will be able to quickly put address labels on the 8,000 mailers that we send to potential tour visitors.

Ticket Sales: Tickets are available online and we have sold blocks of tours to a few groups. Expect tickets to sell at a brisk pace once our mailers are delivered.

Holiday Gift Shop: The shop will again be in the lower level of Calvary Church, so guests can shop before as well as after the Tour.

For more information about the Shop, please contact Martin Fuess.

Train Museum: The popular Toy Train Museum will, once again, be open at Holmes Hall. Visitors can visit before their tour or after they finish the tour of Holmes Hall. Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door. DVDs of the train exhibit will again be for sale for $15, and a limited number of the fine train books are available for $100.

Street Decorating: We will be decorating the streets on Saturday, December 3rd, starting at 9:00 am. Volunteers will be bundling greens to create the lamppost swags in the Serventi/Wilson garage on Dounton Way. This is an easy and fun way to get into the holiday spirit – and we can finish the job quickly with about 20 volunteers.

Clean Up: Please take some time to pick up litter and leaves in front of your house the morning of each tour day (Friday and Saturday). If each of us fills just one bag, our streets will be clean!

We need your help!

There are many opportunities to volunteer. During the tour, be a greeter at Calvary, a tour guide, a house sitter for a homeowner on tour, a conductor at the train museum or be ready to help with salting or shoveling if we get snow that weekend. Or help with the volunteer party or set up the luminaria.

Contact Carrie Doyle at cadpgh@gmail.com or (412) 337-6020 – or come to our next meeting on November 9th @ 7:00 pm – and she’ll get you to the coordinator of that activity.

Fall Yard Waste Curbside Collection

Nov 4, 2016 |

The Department of Public Works (DPW) Bureau of Environmental Services will be collecting yard debris from all residents in a special curbside collection on Saturday, November 12, 2016.

The following yard waste resources will be accepted during collection: leaves, branches (4 inch diameter or less), brush and grass. Bagged debris should be in paper bags weighing less than 35 pounds. Bundled debris should be bound with fiber twine or natural rope. Branch lengths should not exceed five feet.

Residents should place yard debris at curbside locations and recycling/refuse pick up spots before 6:00 am on November 12th.

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