JULY 2009 - Allegheny West Magazine

BY PAT JENNETTE
Whether it’s cable television, parks and recreation, finance, or public
safety, one thing is certain -- the leadership team that represents the
many facets that make Moon Township operate are on top of things.
Last year was a tumultuous period in the township’s current history.
Several employees either resigned or chose not to renew their contracts,
for whatever reason.
As with anything, time marches on and goals move forward. For a
community to continue to serve its residents, those involved in the
decision-making have no time to spare. And so the Moon Township
team of department heads and directors, as they often do, met for their
regular weekly meetings one summer morning at the township
municipal building to update each other on their activities, hammer
out problems and issues, and define the upcoming projects.
Dana Kasler, who resigned from his position at parks director but
subsequently returned to the job, decided to come back because there
was so much on the horizon left to do and he simply liked being in
Moon Township.
“We have a major investment in redeveloping Moon Park and have
recently awarded the bidding for Phase I,” he said.
Working with the township’s public works department, which is led
by Jim Henkemeyer, the park redevelopment project will see a
considerable amount of savings due to the partnership of the two
departments.
John Scott, the administrator for the Public Works Department, said
that his department is using its talented employees to prepare some of
the infrastructure for the first phase of the parks project.
The employees will install utility lines, excavate for road beds, and
take care of other such tasks that would have required additional funds
out of the township’s budget had Moon subcontracted those jobs out.
Planning Director Adam McGurk, who is also director of the Moon
Transportation Authority, said that enhancement of another portion of
the community -- the University Boulevard corridor and properties
adjacent to the main throughway, i.e. the now largely vacant West Hills
Shopping Center plaza and Robert Morris University -- are in the midst
of a major metamorphosis.
“There is a lot of interest in University Boulevard, especially since the
township set up an overlay district there,” he explained.
He pointed to new facilities such as Sheetz, Arby’s and Walgreen’s that
have emerged over the past two years that incorporate many of the
aesthetics and design features required by the overlay district. While the
future Wal-Mart complex on the West Hills Shopping Center property
has yet to be finalized, Wal-Mart had purchased the property and is
working out the transportation details with the Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation to bring the project to fruition. Latest estimates
are an opening date of 2011.
Robert Morris University is in the midst of its own major overhaul. A
new business school, nursing school, and Colonial Village -- a housing
complex for visiting professors -- are just some of the school’s soon-tobe
newest amenities to the rapidly growing campus.
Dave Meinert, the township’s building code official, said, “And all of
this is without impacting the township’s budget. We are seeing a
diversified tax base becoming strongly rooted here that is successfully
replacing what we once had as an airport community,” he noted.
In fact, the last time the township’s taxes were raised was five years
ago.
ABOVE, LEFT: row 1, Jim Koepfinger, Greg Seamon; row 2, Janet
Sieracki, Jeanne Creese, Charlie Belgie; row 3, Sarah Welch, Lisa
Lapaglia, Adam McGurk; row 4, Dana Kasler, Dave Meinert, John Scott.
ABOVE, RIGHT PAGE: top, Leo McCarthy; bottom: Jim Henkemeyer.