As Pittsburgh crews struggle to plow and salt roads after a massive snowstorm, officials Thursday announced the PNC Foundation will give the city $2 million to buy new snow removal equipment.
The foundation’s contribution will fund 15 new vehicles this year for the city’s Department of Public Works.
“Last weekend’s storm was a powerful reminder of how essential it is for our city to be prepared for severe winter weather,” said William S. Demchak, chairman and CEO of PNC. “Pittsburgh deserves strong, reliable snow removal capabilities that keep our neighborhoods safe and our economy moving.”
Lou Cestello, PNC’s regional president for Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania, told TribLive that the Pittsburgh-headquartered bank recognized that snowstorms — like the one that struck Sunday — can hurt the local economy, keeping customers from reaching local shops, restaurants or hotels.
“We’re leaning in and doing what we can for our hometown,” Cestello said.
About a foot of snow pummeled the region Sunday. Temperatures since then have not crept above freezing.
The city has reported dozens of snowplows breaking down while responding, though most of them have since returned to service.
Mayor Corey O’Connor issued an emergency declaration to allow him to quickly call on outside contractors to help clear the streets and haul away snow, though some roads remained in bad shape days later.
On Wednesday, O’Connor announced a $10 million gift from UPMC to purchase nine new ambulances and a rescue truck this year. The mayor said he anticipates purchasing a similar number of new EMS vehicles next year, too.
The UPMC gift will allow the city to shift funds around. Instead of using taxpayer dollars to buy ambulances, the money can be spent on about 35 more plows, O’Connor said.
UPMC President and CEO Leslie Davis was not available Friday for an interview to discuss the health network’s contribution, a spokesperson told TribLive.
Unique approach
City officials for years have said Pittsburgh’s aging vehicle fleet is in dire need of upgrades.
O’Connor said he hopes the new plows will arrive this summer and be in rotation for next winter. He plans to have more Department of Public Works employees trained to drive the plows before the next snowy season, too.
“Our DPW (Department of Public Works) crews work hard and around the clock after snow events and, thanks to our local partnerships like this, will now have over 50 new pieces of reliable equipment,” O’Connor said in a statement Thursday. “This kind of investment from PNC shows that we’re all in this together and invested in the safety of our crews and our communities.”
The city has long struggled to elicit financial support from nonprofit and private-sector partners, though many officials have pushed for tax-exempt nonprofits to commit to paying at least a portion of what they would otherwise contribute in taxes.
O’Connor on Friday told reporters that conversations about longer-term payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTs, are ongoing. The $10 million gift from UPMC was a one-time contribution.
“We’re still working on a long-term agreement with all of them,” O’Connor said, adding that he had initiated conversations with all of the city’s major nonprofits — including its universities — before taking office. The mayor said he was “pretty optimistic” the city could strike a deal with its biggest charitable organizations.
“It’s a dialogue,” O’Connor said. “Obviously we want as much as we can, but we understand they have boards and things they have to answer to.”
Highmark is “actively engaged with the new mayor and his administration on how we can collaborate and collectively address the community’s health needs,” spokesman Dan Laurent said in a statement.
O’Connor said he’s taking a unique approach by asking for specific necessities — like plows and ambulances — rather than urging nonprofits to chip in money to the general fund.
That way, he said, they can specify that their cash will support expenses that fit into their missions, like a health care system funding ambulances that will take patients to their hospitals.
‘Easy decision’
O’Connor said he received a call earlier in the week from UPMC officials offering $10 million for ambulances. He later got a similar call from PNC.
“They said, ‘If we give you $2 million, how many plows does that get you?” O’Connor said.
According to Cestello, Demchak and O’Connor spoke directly about PNC’s willingness to fund plows.
PNC leadership and members of the PNC Foundation’s board, Cestello said, felt it was an “easy decision to make to help where we can.”
Cestello said PNC believes ensuring Pittsburgh is a safe, vibrant community where people want to live is essential for the bank’s success.
That’s why PNC offered to help buy plows — and why the bank has also supported projects like the Second Avenue Commons homeless shelter and a Downtown public safety center.
“You need the whole picture that makes Pittsburgh great if you want to have a great PNC here,” Cestello said.
’Great head start’
O’Connor said new ambulances and plows will improve essential city services and support city employees who are often dealing with vehicle issues.
“It’s a morale boost for our workers to say, ‘We didn’t forget about you. We want to invest in you,’” O’Connor said.
Acting Public Works Director John McClory said workers have grown frustrated this week when they’re forced to sit in the maintenance garage waiting on plow repairs. Some have had to retrace their routes because a truck has broken down halfway through it or a salt spreader has stopped working.
“It’s adding to an already stressful job,” McClory said.
The mayor acknowledged even the $12 million infusion from UPMC and PNC won’t be enough to fully update the entire fleet. But he said it’s a “great head start.”
“It’s a huge undertaking,” O’Connor said. “It’s not going to happen overnight.”
