When it comes to government business, some officials meet in a little slice of heaven.
Or they just go to the mall.
Across the region, lack of space or lack of funds force some small municipalities to find quirky places to convene a quorum.
Sometimes it's in a church. Sometimes it's in someone's living room.
While Export council debates whether it should meet in the borough building's small quarters or the fire department's spacious social hall, council members in Arona go to church.
Arona council has met in the basement of the Lutheran church since the mid-1990s, when property near the borough building was sold to the Postal Service.
"That destroyed our little meeting house," said Roberta Beaudway, former Arona mayor and councilwoman. "It's a good-sized meeting room, almost the full basement of the church. It has only four steps to get down there; people who attend the meeting or bring a problem are able to get up and down.
"It's just a small community. We don't have a lot of spaces. The church offers the largest space," Beaudway said.
East McKeesport council meets in a converted church, where audience members sit in pews.
"It's very comfortable," said Donna Ferranolo, council vice president. "It gives you a more conventional look. Every once in awhile we talk about, 'Wouldn't it be great to look at a new building?' But it's not something that's such a need. It's our little hometown East McKeesport Borough Building. It's quaint and unique. I like that kind of thing."
Others take a more homey approach.
Haysville council in Allegheny County meets at the home of Catherine Paff, council president, and her husband, Louis, another council member.
"It makes me clean my home," Catherine Paff joked. "It's a small group. We have five council members; the mayor usually comes and the secretary/treasurer. We're all in a small living room. We just sit around and do what we've got to do and get out. We try to keep government to a minimum."
Paff said it's rare for any of the borough's 78 residents to attend meetings.
Valley Township supervisors in Armstrong County have met at the home of secretary Amy Hindman for eight or nine years.
"They always met at the other secretaries' houses," she said. "I have them in my basement. It's just like any other meeting."
In Indiana County, Cherry Tree's borough building is a converted home on South Main Street.
"The living room has been converted to a place where everyone sits, discusses, talks. The place has been packed," said council President Henry Statkowski. "We used to meet at the fire hall, but there was no place to conduct business. Now we have the garage and the police station and the borough office all together in one spot. It's very comfortable."
Hovey Township, population 80, had met at the secretary's house for many years. That changed about 10 years ago when supervisors moved to the Hovey Township Election Building.
"We just got too much stuff for there, so we moved over," said Jim Watts, a supervisor for 21 years in Armstrong County's smallest municipality. "They're well-organized. We're a small township. But we have the same business as other townships, just on a smaller scale."
Harmony Borough in Butler County has met in Stewart Hall, part of the Harmony Museum, since the mid-1990s. Because of a contentious issue in the community, meetings were moved to a location that could hold a larger crowd.
"It's one of the few locations in town that could hold everybody," said council President Jeff Smith.
Frazer Township's municipal building might be in the most unique location -- the recently developed Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills Mall.
"The type of growth the mall development brought necessitated a new building. It worked for them. It worked for us. The price was right and the space is brand new," said Supervisor Lori Ziencick. "I think we're the only municipality in the state that has offices in the mall."
Meetings had alternated between the township maintenance garage and the fire hall. When fire alarms blared, no one could hear.
Maintenance garages are used in other municipalities, including Donegal Township.
"It would be nice to have a big meeting area," said Supervisor Tom Stull. "With our budget, spending money on a nice (meeting room) would be a waste for our township, but it's always on the wish list."
Larger text
Smaller text
Print this article
E-mail this article
