Blight remediation, school book policies, recreational improvements and police staffing are among issues and projects on the agendas of area communities in 2023. Tribune-Review reporters compiled the highlights of what’s ahead.

Westmoreland politics

Most key courthouse offices will be up for election this year.

Races for county commissioner, controller, sheriff, treasurer and register of wills are on tap.

All three commissioners — Republicans Sean Kertes and Doug Chew, along with Democrat Gina Cerilli Thrasher — are expected to run for reelection, although none has formally announced a bid.

Kertes and Chew, both first-time candidates, finished as the top two vote-getters in 2019 — a year that also saw incumbent Cerilli Thrasher reelected to a second term.

Other Republican incumbents — including Controller Jeffrey Balzer, Treasurer Jared Squires, Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton and Sheriff James Albert — also could seek a return to their offices.

Nearly half of registered voters in the county (49%) are Republicans, according to the most recent statistics published by the Pennsylvania Department of State.

— Rich Cholodofsky

Allegheny County Executive race

Incumbent Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald is term-limited and will leave office after 2023. He has served for nearly 12 years as the county’s top elected official and has become a mainstay in Pittsburgh politics. But the race for his replacement already is full of candidates, and the new executive could have much different priorities.

The Democratic primary has five candidates: Allegheny County Council member Liv Bennett, trial lawyer and former Allegheny County Councilman Dave Fawcett, state Rep. Sara Innamorato, Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb and former Congressional candidate Erin McClelland. On the Republican side, businessman and former governor candidate Jason Richey is rumored to run.

The business-friendly priorities of the Fitzgerald administration, particularly toward natural gas, could change with a new administration, especially if a more progressive Democrat were to win.

Expect debate about the Allegheny County Jail to be front and center during the Democratic primary, as several candidates have criticized how the jail is being run. Public transportation, property taxes and air quality also could be topics of lively debate.

— Ryan Deto

New Kensington bridge restrictions

Drivers will start seeing traffic restrictions on the New Kensington Bridge in the spring, when a two-year preservation project is scheduled to start.

The four-phase project on the C.L. Schmitt Bridge will include a new concrete overlay on the bridge deck, sidewalk coating, structural steel and concrete repairs, painting and replacement of the expansion dams and light poles, according to PennDOT.

Traffic interruptions are expected to include lane restrictions, a six-week closure of the 10th Street ramp and a truck detour. Dates are not yet available.

The bridge is expected to be closed to vehicles and pedestrians for six weeks in July 2024. A shuttle will be provided for pedestrians, according to PennDOT.

Work is not expected to end until the winter of 2024.

— Brian C. Rittmeyer

Murrysville area

Two sizable projects are potentially on the horizon in Murrysville. The first is the proposed Hermes well pad. If approved, it would be the second fracking gas drilling well operation in the municipality.

It is being proposed by Olympus Energy, which also owns the Titan well pad off Bollinger Road. The Hermes project ultimately would include eight wells on a parcel off Logans Ferry Road straddling the Murrysville-Plum border.

Murrysville Council is set to vote on the project in January.

Municipal officials also will discuss the future of the amphitheater project at Murrysville Community Park. Initially funded by a state grant, the project’s cost has ballooned to more than $1 million over the past couple of years following the covid-19 pandemic’s supply chain shortages and the increased cost of building materials.

In late 2022, some residents began attending council meetings to push back against the project, questioning whether the money would be better spent elsewhere.

Mayoral and council seats in Murrysville, Export and Delmont will be up for grabs in the 2023 municipal elections.

— Patrick Varine

Rails to Trails work

In 2023, Armstrong Trails will finish its recreational trail on the former rail line of the Kiski Junction Railroad, stretching 14 miles from Bagdad, Gilpin Township, near Leechburg, to connect with the Armstrong Trails in Manor Township.

The trail organization will continue its work to convert the Kiski Junction’s former railroad bridge, at the confluence of the Kiski and Allegheny rivers, into a recreational trail linking to the Wynn and Clara Tredway Trail in Allegheny Township.

Plans are underway to construct a flyover bridge above the active rail lines in Allegheny Township, between the railroad bridge and the Tredway Trail.

This new critical link will connect 130-plus miles of off-road, ADA-compliant recreational trails in Armstrong, Allegheny, Butler, Clarion, Jefferson and Westmoreland counties. The project is expected to boost tourism and redevelopment.

— Mary Ann Thomas

Latrobe, Unity

Latrobe is looking for a new police chief and new officers, with hirings expected to take place as early as March. The city is prioritizing the process because the department has seen a jump in overtime pay.

City police also will be receiving new computer technology with a $152,000 grant awarded in December.

The Latrobe Community Revitalization program will be identifying and beginning work to rehabilitate residential properties in the city. The focus will be on properties that were deemed in “fair” condition in a county blight study. The study found 368 of the city’s 3,912 properties are in fair/poor condition and 57 are in poor condition.

Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity will receive electric vehicle chargers in its parking lot. The city of Latrobe also is attempting to acquire charging units. Meanwhile, airport officials are busy planning for the 2023 air show, set for June 17-18. Headliners for the event are the Air Force Thunderbirds.

Greater Latrobe School District intends to finish its master plan in 2023. Superintendent Mike Porembka previously said one of the purposes of the plan is to determine how to bring the district’s older schools into alignment with educational needs in the coming years.

— Haley Daugherty

Duquesne medical school rises

Duquesne University will continue to move toward opening its College of Osteopathic Medicine, with the first class of entering students expected in August 2024. The complex endeavor is the largest in the Catholic university’s history and is intended to help alleviate a shortage of physicians regionally and nationally.

The project, with an estimated cost of $151 million, is under construction on Forbes Avenue. Leaders are working toward accreditation and securing other necessary approvals.

Officials hope the school ultimately will employ 60 to 80 faculty and staff and will have 680 students, including an initial entering class of 85.

— Bill Schackner

North Huntingdon, Irwin and Norwin

North Huntingdon is working on a comprehensive plan, the first one in more than a decade.

Township officials have discussed a program in which landlords would be required to register their rental properties, whether they own one house or an apartment complex. The proposal is being tweaked. The township manager said North Huntingdon would charge a $10 fee and would make landlords liable for paying a business privilege tax.

Irwin wants to spend its Community Development Block Grant funding to improve Irwin Park. It’s part of a continuing effort that included a new walking track and stormwater improvements to reduce flooding and a stream bank restoration project to prevent erosion along the banks of a tributary to Tinkers Run.

Irwin Fire Department appears to be stalled in its efforts to build a fire hall at the site of the former Sixth Street School. The department has been unable to raise the needed money for the project, which had an estimated cost of $1 million two years ago.

The leader of a minority faction of four conservative Republicans is looking to back a slate of candidates to take control of the Norwin School Board in December. Members of the faction continue to snipe at Superintendent Jeff Taylor, whose contract is up in 2024. Two $10 million bond issues for long-delayed capital improvements that will require a tax hike are looming in the district.

— Joe Napsha

More from Iron City

Pittsburgh Brewing Co. ramped up to full production in its new, state-of-the-art brewing facility in East Deer last year.

The company renovated the former PPG plant there and produces hundreds of cans of Iron City Beer every hour. The company opened a gift shop with Iron City-themed products late in the year, but its plans for development of the property along the Allegheny River don’t stop there.

Company officials say they plan to open a restaurant and pub on the property along the Allegheny River this year. No date has been set.

— Tribune-Review

Jeannette

The old Fort Pitt Brewery is expected to be demolished in 2023, along with dozens of other buildings, as part of a large-scale blight removal project. That effort is being funded, in part, with a portion of Westmoreland County’s American Rescue Plan allocation. Hearings are expected to continue on a regular basis to identify structures with ownership issues that are in disrepair and can be torn down.

Improvements at several city parks are planned with the help of a $1.2 million state grant. Some parks will get upgraded equipment, while others will see the addition of surveillance cameras. A recreation commission is being established to create a group of volunteers to help with ongoing events and to possibly create new opportunities for residents of all ages.

— Renatta Signorini

Kiski Township police suit

A civil lawsuit in Armstrong County filed by former Kiski Township police Sgt. Tom Dessell against township supervisors will proceed in the discovery phase in 2023, according to Dessell and his attorney.

Dessell and four other members of the police department quit their jobs in July, claiming they were harassed and intimidated by township supervisors.

After quitting, Dessell filed his lawsuit, seeking an unspecified amount of damages and legal expenses.

The township has rebuilt its police department under the direction of its new police chief, Lee Bartolicius.

— Mary Ann Thomas

Oakland rising

Development isn’t necessarily widespread throughout Pittsburgh, but the Oakland neighborhood is ready to take off. Already the third largest business district in Pennsylvania (after Center City Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh), Oakland has over a dozen large development projects on the books, and potentially more to come.

UPMC is building a 17-story Presbyterian hospital tower along Fifth Avenue at a cost of $1.5 billion. Carlow University, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University all have large projects slated.

Walnut Capital is constructing a massive mixed-use housing project in the southern part of the neighborhood that will bring Oakland its first major grocery store in years.

A protracted zoning fight could determine what develops in the area around Boulevard of the Allies. Road/transit changes are coming to Fifth and Forbes avenues as construction of the $300 million Bus Rapid Transit project starts in earnest.

— Ryan Deto

Controversial changes in Hempfield Area School District

By the end of the year, Hempfield Area School District could have a new book policy and a shuttered Harrold Middle School.

These two hot-button issues provoked ire from parents and community members in 2022 and will continue to spur debate in 2023.

Superintendent Tammy Wolicki and solicitor Krisha DiMascio are hammering out a book procurement policy that would aim to keep inappropriate books out of the school library. Though board members remain divided on the standard for appropriateness, they agree sexually explicit books should not be placed or remain in the library.

Meanwhile, the district’s middle school reorganization plan will be put to a vote Feb. 21.

As proposed, the plan would permanently close Harrold and consolidate sixth, seventh and eighth grade students into the Wendover and West Hempfield middle schools beginning in the 2023-24 academic year.

The district would then use Harrold to house ninth graders during a high school revitalization project, which involves the high school being gutted and everything being replaced.

The project drew the interest of Hempfield’s next principal, David Palmer, who plans to start this month.

— Maddie Aiken

Greensburg, Greensburg Salem School District

Citizens who commented on Greensburg’s recently approved comprehensive plan indicated a desire for recreational improvements.

That’s just what they’ll get in the coming year as the city looks to update several playgrounds as well as the ice rink at the Kirk S. Nevin Arena.

Greensburg will tap several grant sources to help pay for a revamp of the neglected Spring Avenue Park in the city’s 5th Ward. With an estimated cost of $535,000, that project envisions installation of updated playground equipment, renewal of a basketball court and creation of either a pergola or pavilion.

New play apparatuses also are slated for the city’s Lynch Field Park, Northmont Tot Lot and Barry Court and Coulter playgrounds. Funding includes about $188,000 from federal block grants.

The Nevin ice rink will see installation of an updated refrigeration system at a cost of about $2.2 million. That work is slated to begin in April, with support from various grants. Completion is expected in time for the facility to reopen in mid-August.

The Greensburg Salem School District looks to move forward with two exterior improvement projects, funded with a combination of grants and donations.

The high school will see development of an outdoor classroom where a greenhouse once stood. Both open and roofed learning spaces will be near a restored pond. The area might be used for various academic disciplines, as well as an adjacent pre-K program.

A new outdoor basketball court and recreation space is planned at the middle school. The court will get new pavement, new hoops and fencing.

— Jeff Himler

Pitt faculty contract

The Union of Pitt Faculty, part of the United Steelworkers, is seeking its first labor contract with the University of Pittsburgh administration.

The union represents more than 3,000 full- and part-time faculty on the main Oakland campus and branches at Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown and Titusville. Results of the organizing election were announced in October 2021.

Job security is a major issue in the talks, and organizers also seek a $60,000 floor for annual pay for full-time instructors across the bargaining unit.

With no pact reached as of early last month. about 75 faculty protested the pace of the talks outside Provost Ann Cudd’s office on Dec. 7.

— Bill Schackner

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