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Eliminating Drug Use A Key Topic of Concern

By Colette Wilbrink

On October 5, at 12:00 pm, Shiloh Church located at Brandis Avenue in South Park, held a community forum where public officials, church pastors, school officials and local residents came together to address any questions or ideas they might have concerning their community.

Forum addresses problems facing the South Park Community

Lili Lehamann was concerned about drugs among the youth in the community. South Park Middle School Principal, Kevin Monaghan, responded by stating that the student’s lockers are allowed to be searched and they will contact the parents if they find that a student has drugs in their possession. Monaghan also encourages people to speak up if they take notice of something.

“If we don’t know something and the community knows something, please call the schools.” Monaghan continued, “Our job is to keep our kids safe. That’s our number one priority in our school districts.”

Crystal Bates applauded all of the officials who helped reduce the drug activity at a playground in a South Park neighborhood. At a previous forum, attendees requested there be something done about the drug activity at that playground, so South Park Township installed cameras.

Bates also requested that the same be done in another area. “I would like to make that same request over on Overhill, there’s a playground over there and I have been informed by people who reside in that area, there’s drug activity on that playground.” She hopes that if cameras are installed there, they will be just as helpful and effective in keeping drug activity down as they were in the other South Park neighborhood.

South Park Manager, Karen Fosbaugh, responded, saying that anyone who has any such concerns can attend South Park’s monthly board meetings or they can simply call the Township.

County Council, Sue Means, also responded to the drug concerns. “There has been a great decline in the overdose in the county and I think that is partly because the former director of public health did something very forward-thinking. She got the ability for anyone to get a prescription of Narcan. So, you can go anywhere to a pharmacy in Allegheny County and get a prescription for Narcan,” Means said.

One of the attendees at the meeting mentioned having spiritual clubs in schools. Monaghan mentioned that he is all for the spiritual aspect and said that Campus Life is one spiritual club that they’ve had, but if anyone wants to start another club they can always reach out to the Superintendent.

The Executive Director and CEO of Melting Pot Ministries, Brenda Lockley, showed her appreciation to Monaghan for his efforts to help her ministry. “Mr. Monahan, I wanted to say to everyone who’s here, that you’ve been one of the most supportive parts of making Melting Pot succeed,” Lockley said.

Lockley also brought up that the kids in the Melting Pot program need to get their Chrome Books monitored. She said that parents don’t know how to properly check their children’s Chrome Books. Monaghan agreed that this is something important that parents need to know, but it is a challenge to get people to attend when they hold various informational courses.

“We’ve had opportunities where we’ve opened things up to the community to come and learn about various things and the response has been lacking,” Monaghan said.
He continued by saying that if people can’t attend these classes because of work or other commitments, they can reach out to him or someone else in the district who can help, to schedule an appointment so the individual’s educational concerns can be addressed.

Another attendee had a concern about a house being torn down, and Fosbaugh said that the Township will be setting up a public hearing to see if the owners will claim the residence and give their approval for its demolition. Fosbaugh explained the public nuisance procedure.

“If it affects the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the community, which it is, at that point the Township, if in fact it is a hazard and deem it to be so, takes the appropriate measures and secures the services of the contractor to demolish the home,” Fosbaugh said.

Other topics discussed at the meeting were concerning traffic issues, property taxes and issues with coyotes.

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