News

Mayor orders an extra $1.6M for fixing police and fire stations, other assets

Bob Bauder

06/09/2015

June 09--Toilets flush and raw sewage runs down the inside walls of a fire station in Swisshelm Park.

Firefighters use a bucket to catch rain water flowing through a roof in a Lawrenceville station. Sewage repeatedly backs up in an East Liberty station, leaving filth coating a sink. Police and paramedic union officials said similar conditions exist in their facilities.

Problems with Pittsburgh's more than 300 buildings -- a legacy of the city's longstanding financial morass -- are immense and would require "tens of millions" to fix, union and city officials said Tuesday.

"These did not happen just today," said Ralph Sicuro, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 1, displaying photographs from fire stations across the city. "These things have been going on for a long time."

Mayor Bill Peduto issued an executive order calling for complete repair of all city assets within 10 years, and the establishment of a 40-year maintenance plan.

Pittsburgh will spend $1.6 million this year repairing 11 buildings, including a paramedic station Downtown that was closed because of a leaking roof and bricks separating from an outside wall. Paramedics are working out of stations in Knoxville and the West End.

The improvements will be on top of $3.5 million allocated in the capital budget for repairs to other facilities.

"These facilities just fall apart year after year after year," said Officer Howard McQuillan, president of Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge 1. "The general maintenance just isn't there."

Budget Director Sam Ashbaugh said the administration will hire a firm this summer to assess all buildings and develop a triage list.

Some buildings deemed redundant could be sold to developers; the money could go to a trust fund for repairs, he said.

Ashbaugh said the city doesn't have cash in its $76 million 2015 capital budget to repair all buildings, and would have to chip away annually as money becomes available. Pittsburgh is scheduled to borrow $50 million this year and $50 million in 2017, according to its financial recovery plan.

Additional money will be available in 2019 when annual debt payments are scheduled to decrease by $49 million. Ashbaugh said Peduto is negotiating with nonprofit organizations to make payments in lieu of taxes that would go exclusively toward infrastructure improvements.

"We haven't invested in decades, so we have to start somewhere," Ashbaugh said. "I know $1.6 (million) is just a drop in the bucket, but it signals a commitment by the administration to do something."

A list of planned improvements can be found online at https://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/mayorpeduto/Facility_List_for_2015.pdf.

Bob Bauder is a Trib Total Media staff writer. Contact him at 412-765-2312 or bbauder@tribweb.com.