Land Bank Ordinance Legislation To Boost Lot Cleanups In Pittsburgh

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some of Pittsburgh’s vacant lots become dumping grounds for used tires. Others get filled with construction debris. Some are overwhelmed with knotweed, a thick and invasive species that has been a plague since Bill Harlak started cleaning lots 34 years ago.

Harlak is executive director of City Source Associates, the city’s property maintenance contractor. He attempts to keep tidy 7,200 vacant city-owned lots, plus 1,400 the Urban Redevelopment Authority owns. His dozen employees clean perhaps 2,000 lots a year, he said.

“There’s always more land,” he said.

Surplus city-owned property, whether a patch of grass or an abandoned home, drains about $5.5 million a year from the budget, according to the city planning department. The estimate includes costs to the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Building Inspection and police. A newly established land bank could reduce the cost — if it can succeed in selling abandoned properties.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/5946208-74/lots-vacant-lot#ixzz30C8n1ZVa
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Invasive Bug To Cause A Stink This Spring, Summer

The brown marmorated stink bug is expected to cause, well, a stink this year when large numbers of them begin nibbling on crops and infiltrating homes.

Entomologists are predicting an onslaught of the invasive species based on the amount of overwintering bugs counted in the autumn.

“Most entomologists indicated that the population of brown marmorated stink bugs that were seeking shelter in the fall of 2012 was significantly higher than the population seeking shelter in 2011,” said Tom Ford, a commercial horticulture educator from the Penn State Extension office in Cambria County.  “As a rule, unless you have some significant event that impacts the over-wintering adults you should have a very robust number of mature brown marmorated stink bugs that will be laying eggs this spring and summer.”

The insects are emerging from their winter hiding places, and if you’ve spotted one recently, chances are it was on its way to find a mate.

Read more:  http://standardspeaker.com/news/invasive-bug-to-cause-a-stink-this-spring-summer-1.1473181