Ross commissioners are taking steps to address environmental issues by considering a tree protection ordinance and the establishment of an Environmental Advisory Council in the township.
Commissioners may introduce an ordinance to protect trees at their March 18 meeting. The ordinance would be part of the planning and subdivision ordinance and apply to developers, not individual homeowners, said commission President Steve Korbel.
“I think that this ordinance… addresses the concerns that I have heard loud and clear from folks that we have to be more proactive in protecting our tree canopies,” he said.
The proposal would prohibit developers from “clear-cutting” all the trees on property to be developed. If a developer must remove many trees, there must be a plan to replace them.
Commissioner Dan DeMarco said “a percentage of trees have to remain there to protect the vegetation.” He noted a developer who clear-cut a property near his home years ago.
“It was incredible what he destroyed. He cut down nearly every tree on his property,” Mr. DeMarco said. “There were logging trucks going up and down my street for days.”
If the ordinance is introduced on March 18, it will be available for final adoption in May.
Commissioners also directed P.J. Murray, township solicitor, to draft an ordinance to create the advisory council. The council would have five to seven members, and would advise commissioners about environmental issues.
In other business, JoEllen Marsh from the Allegheny County Health Department spoke to commissioners about opioids.
Ms. Marsh said Ross had the highest number of requests for Narcan, a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses, in the northern suburbs. Ross residents had to travel to a distribution center in Millvale to receive the Narcan, she added.
There were 22 opioid overdose deaths in Ross from 2015 to 2017, she said.
Ms. Marsh offered to have the health department partner with Ross on a door-do-door survey in select neighborhoods to offer Narcan to residents. A similar survey was conducted in Etna, Millvale and Sharpsburg, and a second survey is planned in those boroughs.
The health department received a grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to provide the free Narcan. It can be obtained through fire, police and EMS services, libraries, YMCAs, after-school programs, churches, gas stations, bars and homeless shelters. An online form to obtain a kit is available at www.tinyurl.com/achdnarcan.
Commissioners also awarded a contract for road paving to Shields Asphalt Inc. for $2.59 million – “the largest amount spent on paving that I can recall,” Mr. Korbel said.
Sandy Trozzo, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.
First Published: March 7, 2019, 4:04 p.m.