Leetsdale selects Penn State student as Local Government Academy intern

Leetsdale officials have tapped a Penn State student for a new mapping project.

Resident Conor Kelley, a junior studying agriculture, community and environmental development, was selected via 5-1 vote April 13 as the borough’s Local Government Academy intern to collect data for a geographic information system database.

Councilman Jeffrey Weatherby dissented. Councilman Osmon Awad was absent.

Council vice president Maria Napolitano said the borough reviewed 24 resumes and interviewed eight candidates for the internship.

“We are very excited to have Conor,” Napolitano said. “(He) has a lot of experience working with local government, and he has very specific skills that will be a a great fit for our project.”

Councilwoman Beth Carroll was also involved in the intern search.

“Conor was above and beyond our first choice with his skill sets and everything,” Carroll said. “Having him local (as a resident) is fantastic.”

Kelley served as a sustainability assistant for education abroad at Penn State, and is also studying for a bachelor’s degree in global and international studies, according to his LinkedIn page.

Kelley was not at the council meeting. He is expected to work about 30-40 hours per week for a total of 400-480 hours from May 19 through the end of August.

Compensation was set at $12 per hour with LGA covering about half of it.

The intern project involves creating a list of all residential properties, including street addresses and lot numbers, a color-coded map to illustrate the database, identifying blighted properties and recommend remediation strategies.

Other parts of the project include mapping out existing trees in Henle Park and creation of a tree database, helping design arboretum-style tree tags, a registry of large trees of scientific or aesthetic significance within the borough, as well as digitizing old photos and booklets for the borough website.

The Local Government Academy is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization. Its municipal intern program is supported by the state Department of Community & Economic Development, Allegheny County and the Redevelopment Authority of the County of Washington.

Leetsdale officials began internship discussions in January.

In other matters

Fundraising for the Leetsdale Fourth of July Committee celebration is underway.

The committee has scheduled a spaghetti lunch and dinner event April 28 in the Community Room of the borough building, 134 Broad St.

Lunch is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and includes a take-out option. Dinner is from 6-8 p.m. Take-out has not been confirmed for dinner.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children. It includes dinner, salad, bread and a drink. There will be a bake sale with a variety of desserts at the event.

A flower and garden sale is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 7 at Henle Park. Vegetables, seedlings, flowers and herbs will be available for purchase.

The committee also sent letters out to residents, businesses and nearby borough seeking donations.

Committee chairman Scott Zahner said they hope to raise about $27,000 from all these efforts.

The holiday celebration will be on July 4. Activities start with a parade at Quaker Village Shopping Center at 2 p.m. It goes from the plaza to Beaver Street, then Broad Street and ends at Henle Park.

Park activities are planned from 3 p.m. to dusk. There will be live entertainment. More details are still being confirmed. Fireworks will be launched from a location in Edgeworth near the river.

Call Zahner at 412-720-0298 for more information about the fundraising events or to donate.