Nov 1, 2018 5 min read

BELLE VERNON – Belle Vernon school directors and Rostraver Township commissioners held a first-of-its-kind meeting Tuesday to informally discuss common areas of interest that affect both entities and their constituents.

During a 60-minute meeting at the BVA school district’s administrative offices, school board members and commissioners exchanged views on a wide range of topics, ranging from taxes to business and housing development to recreation.

School board President Lou Rood said the board scheduled the meeting to open a line of communication and develop a good working relationship with Rostraver Township.

“We’re here to find areas of mutual interest for both groups,” he said. “No votes will be taken, and we won’t be making decisions about anything. This is just an informational meeting where we can share ideas.”

In addition to Rood, school district attendees included board members Michelle Callway-Rodriquez, Kathy Forte, Joe Grata, John Nusser and Joel Whiteko as well as Dr. Michele Dowell, acting superintendent; J.R. Duritza, business manager, and solicitor Vic Kustra, the school board’s solicitor.

Representing Rostraver Township were commissioners Gary Beck, Devin DeRienzo, Ray Iacoboni and Gary Litvany along with Jeff Keffer, business manager; Tim Maatta, solicitor; and Greg Resetar, police chief.

Rood kicked off the meeting by noting that the district is interested in maximizing opportunities to use the John DiVirgilio Sports Complex for scholastic competitions and general recreation.

“We’ve already been able to work with the township to set up an agreement that allows the BVA baseball team to play games at the DiVirgillio Sports Complex,” said Rood. “Our board members have suggested that maybe we can look into other agreements. As a group, we talked about putting in a track and adding more seating in the bleachers. Maybe there’s some way we could work together to apply for joint grants and financing to possibly do these upgrades.”

Added Nusser, “Maybe we can establish some sort of barter system to trade dollars on field usage. We need to be creative to find ways to help each other.

Grata stressed that it is essential for the township to offer a broad range of recreational activities to draw more residents to the area.

“As Rostraver Township continues to see population growth, we’re seeing more families with younger children,” he said. “They will be heading to Cedar Creek Park and Rostraver’s recreational facilities to find things to do. But it’s not just football, basketball and baseball anymore. We are going to be relying on you to offer more programs for kids.”

Keffer told the school board that Rostraver Township is using grant money to install lighting at the softball field and do some repaving at the DiVirgillio site. The township also hopes to get another grant to build a one-mile walking track around the complex.

Maatta encouraged the school board to appoint a liaison to attend meetings of Rostraver Township Recreation Commission.

“We would love to hear your ideas,” he said.

Taxes were another important topic of discussion at the informational meeting. Maatta asked the school board why it decided to designate Berkheimer as its collector for per capita taxes, rather than doing business with individual municipal tax collectors. Grata replied that Berkheimer has the resources to identify residents who were not paying their per capita tax.

“We weren’t getting any of that money, and it just wasn’t fair. That was the idea for going to Berkheimer,” said Grata, who noted that the district hopes to double its revenues the next few years under the new system.

School board members also asked the township commissioners for an update about housing and business development in Rostraver Township.

DeRienzo said the commissioners are taking a proactive approach to attract more residents and businesses, but they are facing hurdles developing certain areas of the township.

“Everybody wants to be in the business district, but we have no room left in the plaza,” he said. “We also want to develop the Route 51 corridor, but no one wants to be the first guinea pig, because there’s nothing really out there right now. As commissioners, we really don’t really have a say in what specific businesses come in. It is up to the land owners and who follows our ordinances. And who is willing to pay the most per square foot.”

DeRienzo noted that the commissioners are meeting with developers and passing ordinance amendments to make it easier to open a business in Rostraver Township. He said UPMC is working on plans to open a senior day care facility on Route 51 and Shuster Custom Homes is gearing up to build a housing development by the Rostraver Township municipal building. In addition, the township is still meeting with companies that want to develop the site of the former Kmart building.

Grata encouraged the township to continue bringing in more businesses to the area.

“About 40 percent of our taxes come from businesses, including the top 10 taxpayers. We have to work together to keep taxes low enough so there is still interest (in relocating to Rostraver Township). It’s a big balancing act,” said Grata.

Rood expressed optimism that both entities can continue to work together to brainstorm ideas for future joint projects.

“I think this meeting was beneficial for everybody,” said Rood. “Maybe we can get together every month to talk more about these issues. We depend on you guys a lot.”

Rood added that the BVA school board hopes to schedule similar meetings with other municipalities that are part of Belle Vernon Area School District.