I hope that I am not the only person stunned by a suggestion made at Bellevue Council's meeting on Tuesday, but given the lack of horrified gasps in the room, that may very well be the case.

On Monday, Jan. 4, The Citizen staff attended five different municipal meetings. At the first four, the procedure was pretty much the same. The meetings began at the advertised time with the swearing-in of newly-elected officials, followed by the election of a president and vice president. They then moved quickly through such first-of-the-year business as naming committees, appointing a solicitor, and setting meeting dates for the coming year. The meetings ended with everyone sharing refreshments and good will.

Even as local politicians were gearing up to run for state legislative seats in new districts, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Wednesday struck down the reapportionment plan, completely rearranging the proposed political landscape in areas such as the North Boroughs.

Although there were any number of questions about who and when and how, Bellevue Council voted Tuesday to award a contract for a streetscape design to Civil and Environmental Consultants.

The firm’s bid was some $3,000 higher than the next competitive bidder’s, but members of the Downtown Business District Advisory Committee re-commended CEC because, according to council president Kathy Coder, its proposal was customized to relate to Bellevue, and the company had experience with similar streetscape projects.

Although it appeared that few people on Bellevue Council actually wanted to pay a new part-time office clerk $15 per hour, a resolution doing just that was approved by officials at Tuesday’s work session.

Miscues, misinformation, lack of preparation, bad acoustics and outright distrust factored into a series of events that ended with the hiring of a temporary office clerk at the same salary paid to the former assistant director of administrative services.

DAS Doug Sample defended the higher hourly pay rate, arguing that job would entail more than just clerical work.

Plans for construction of a skate plaza in Bayne Park will go no further for now, as concerns about the rising cost, loss of green space and lack of proper procedure prompted Bellevue officials Tuesday to again delay a decision.

Bellevue officials have authorized a number of applications for grant funds that could go a long way towards revitalizing the borough.

Even as Allegheny County is preparing a request for proposals that will be advertised to get a firm to prepare a plan for streetscape improvements along Lincoln Avenue, Bellevue is applying for a grant to implement at least part of that plan.

Bellevue will again host a celebration at Memorial Park for residents on July 4th, despite the best efforts of council’s parks and recreation committee for the second year in a row.

Last year, the committee -- chaired by Lisa Blaney-Stewart and including council president Kathy Coder as a member -- ignored the event until the final days, at which time Coder signed an employee’s name for credit card purchases using the borough’s card so that Bellevue could offer its free menu of hotdogs and watermelon, along with entertainment.

Bellevue will take its proposed 2011 budget down to the wire, with the major points of contention left unresolved despite extensive debate at a special meeting on Tuesday.

Council reached a consensus on only one of three sticking points, that of next year’s garbage fee increase. Major points that could sway a final vote on the budget on Dec. 28 are the sewer surcharge and a raise for the public works supervisor.

For the second time in recent months, Bellevue Council did not have the votes necessary to approve paying the borough’s bills due to concerns about the hiring of a new solicitor last December. That solicitor, however, says that his hiring was completely legal and no further action is necessary.

With three council members and the mayor absent from the Sept. 28 meeting, a motion to pay the borough’s bills failed in a tie vote. Voting in favor were council members Kathy Coder, mark Helbling and David Gillingham Jr. Opposed were Jane Braunlich, Linda Woshner and Susan Viscusi.

After receiving positive feedback from Allegheny County, Bellevue will move ahead with a grant application that could produce much of the funding necessary to construct a skate board plaza in Bayne Park.

Council president Kathy Coder and administrative assistant Katie Hale said that the borough had submitted a pre-application for a Community Development Block Grant that sought funding for a $360,000 project in Bayne Park that also included an amphitheater, dog park and boccie court. Hale said that county officials quickly zeroed in on the skate plaza aspect.