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New commission to add shade trees to Penn Hills sites | TribLIVE.com
Penn Hills Progress

New commission to add shade trees to Penn Hills sites

Dillon Carr
Dillon Carr
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Lillian DeDomenic | For The Tribune-Review
U-Pull-&-Pay is under construction at the former Eastgate retail center site at Frankstown Road and Robinson Boulevard. A new Penn Hills shade tree commission may help to plant trees near the new business, and will work on bringing trees to other sites across Penn Hills.
phpcouncil5062217
Lillian DeDomenic | For The Tribune-Review
U-Pull-&-Pay is under construction at the former Eastgate retail center site at Frankstown Road and Robinson Boulevard. A new Penn Hills shade tree commission may help to plant trees near the new business, and will work on bringing trees to other sites across Penn Hills.

Penn Hills has become the 10th Pittsburgh area community with a shade tree commission.

Council voted unanimously to create the commission, drawing applause from audience members.

“I'm very pleased with the support from the residents of Penn Hills and the positive support from mayor and council,” said Kathy Raborn, who approached council and Mayor Sara Kuhn with the idea on May 1.

Raborn, owner of Raborn Landscape Design LLC, was appointed to the commission and said she plans to firm up meeting locations and dates in coming weeks, along with job descriptions for four other members. The group will seek grants and other ways to pay for tree-related projects.

The ordinance grants the commission authority to procure funding for projects, develop a shade tree inventory and a resource file on species, and make suggestions for locations and planting. It will also recommend regulations to council and the planning department, provide resource information to municipal officials and plan educational programs.

Ccouncil and Kuhn will appoint five members to the commission. Two members will serve three-year terms, two others will serve two-year terms and one will serve a one-year term.

Raborn recruited other Penn Hills residents as commission volunteers. They include Sandy Feather, an instructor with the Penn State Extension; Bryan Dolney of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Katie Schuller from Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and Tori DeJohn, a mechanical engineer.

One of the commission's first projects could be planting trees along the soon-to-be constructed sidewalk on Frankstown Road near Hochberg Road. The commission also plans to assist the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association in planting trees across from the former Eastgate shopping center where U-Pull-&-Pay, a self-service auto salvage yard, is under construction.

In addition to Penn Hills, Verona, Oakmont, Wilkinsburg, Swissvale, Aspinwall, Forest Hills, the Blawnox/Etna/Sharpsburg area, Pittsburgh and Edgewood have established or approved shade tree commissions.

Also during Monday's council meeting:

• Council approved the demolition of three properties — one each in the 8000 block of Pershing Street, the 6000 block of Leechburg Road and 1000 block of Hamil Road. The cost is set at $25,400.

Dillon Carr is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-871-2325, dcarr@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dillonswriting.