Politics & Government

Ross Commissioners to Vote on Budget, Restaurant Renovation, and Honor Fire Hero

Three police officers will also be honored.

A busy agenda awaits the Ross Township Board of Commissioners on their last scheduled meeting of the year on Monday night. 

Budget Vote

Ross Township's interim manager and finance director are proposing a 2013 budget that increases spending by $473,521, or .03-percent, but lowers the real estate millage rate from 3.0 to 2.7 mills.

Find out what's happening in North Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"This is a .3 mill decrease from 2012 because of the increase in the new Allegheny County assessment values," said Deborah J. Grass, Interim Township Manager, and Roger A. Dunlap, Interim Finance Director, in their budget statement. "In the first year of a countywide reassessment, municipalities are capped by state law at 5-perecent of additional collection from the real estate taxes that were collected from the previous year."

Restaurant Renovations Vote

Find out what's happening in North Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The newest edition to Mark Baranowski's North Park Lounge empire will be called  at the site of the former Sunseri’s (and before that Jergel’s, which moved to Warrendale) restaurant at 3385 Babcock Boulevard.

Baranowksi is seeking approval of a plan in which the entire right half of the existing structure will be torn down, and rebuilt at the same height as the left half of the building, in order to stay above the flood plane. The restaurant's menu will be similar to the original North Park Lounge, featuring a wide variety of sandwiches, some entrees, and plenty of appetizers and munchies.

Fire Hero Honored

It was shortly before 8 a.m. on the Friday after Thanksgiving  when Paul Shields, 20, noticed smoke coming from behind his neighbor's home across the street at 125 Lilac Ave. 

"Paul is a hero. That's all there is to it," said Heyl. "The kid saved our lives. Thank God he was home from school and was able to wake us up. I can't say enough about him."

The Ross Board of Commissioners apparently agree, and will present Shields with an honorary plaque. 

For a look at the rest of the items on Monday's agenda, click here. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Commissioner's meeting room at the Ross Municipal Center.

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