Mt. Lebanon started a program where residents would adopt a green space and keep it free from litter, debris, and weeds.
Since we lived next to Rockwood Park, it was only natural to adopt the Park. We had been doing that unofficially for ten years. My husband and I would clean up litter, pick up sticks and fallen branches, rake leaves, clean off the picnic tables, remove bird poop from the swings and slides, provide bandaids to kids with scraped knees and elbows, and before cell phones, we called the police for frantic parents whose children were injured. Any park related issues were reported to Tom Kelley and his predecessors, Mike Rudman and James Harrod. I have even used my grass edger and edged the front of the park along the street. We cooperated with MTL police to allow a police officer camp out on our porch to catch the person that kept vandalizing (setting fire) my back neighbor's car back in the late 80's.
Until now. There is a dead tree along the edge of Rockwood Park, in line with the other trees that were cut down and now I am being told that I have to maintain that area since it is a paper street. The paper street is part of the park.
Rudy Sukal came to look at the tree and said that his GPS shows that since it is on the paper street, I am responsible for maintaining the area. We have been doing that for thirty years.
I just want the tree removed so that I can replace it with bushes or trees, not sure which, but they would definitely be deer resistant. I am not asking for the tree to be replaced. I would take care of that part.
Here is the tree. Rudy doesn't want to start a precedence, even though this will be the fourth tree that died in a row. The three others were removed by Mt. Lebanon. I guess this goes along with what Kelly Fraasch told me. There are consequences to my actions. Exposing the crap in this town has cost me. Retaliation is alive and well in our lovely community known as Mt. Lebanon. This is just one of several consequences that I am facing. This is why people don't go to commission meetings and are afraid to sign peaceful pledges. Payback is a bitch.