The Penn Hills Code Enforcement Department may be getting a full-time position.
Municipal Manager Moe Rayan said at last week's council meeting that he has proposed the promotion of acting Code Enforcement Director John McCafferty to full-time code director in the 2014 municipal budget.
“As of Jan. 1, with the promotion as a part of the budget, there will be an open position to fill,” Rayan said.
Rayan and council members had begun a code-enforcement discussion last month with members of the Penn Hills Community Development Corporation's Housing Committee.
Committee chairperson Irene McLaughlin said the CDC would be “very much in support” of McCafferty's promotion.
The code-enforcement department has come under criticism in recent years with some residents complaining that code issues are not dealt with in a timely manner.
In October, council members said their hands were tied because of ongoing litigation by two code officers, Mary Lou Flinn and Joseph Probo.
They were fired in January 2012, accused of violating the municipal residency requirement for employees.
Flinn and Probo also filed a grievance with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board in February 2012; a ruling has not been announced, and state officials said budget cuts had created a large backlog of cases.
In other business
• Alcosan is preparing to raise sewer rates by 17 percent in 2014.
The raise is part of a four-year plan where rates will continue to increase through 2017, Rayan said.
Penn Hills has not raised sewer rates for several years.
• The municipality's Standard & Poor's rating was recently upgraded to AA-/Stable.
“That's pretty huge,” Rayan said, crediting department heads for keeping a close eye on their expenditures.
Standard & Poor's functions as a credit rating agency, issuing ratings for the debt of public and private corporations.
Rayan said the rating “helps us if we have to refinance some of our debts. We used to purchase insurance to get a lower interest rate. Now we're able to 1) get a low rate on our own, and 2) not have to purchase that additional insurance.”
• A group of residents would like the municipality to consider placing stop signs along Anthon, Guylyn and Charleston drives, due to drivers speeding through the area.
The group would need to submit a request and petition to the municipality's Traffic Safety Committee, which then would inspect the streets and make a recommendation.
Police have not issued any speeding tickets to drivers on the three streets in the past six months, but as a residential area, it is not the traditional location for police speed traps.
Patrick Varine is an editor for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7845 or pvarine@tribweb.com.
