The Sept. 27 regular meeting of Bellevue Council had to be canceled due to the lack of a quorum.

Only three members of council -- Linda Woshner, Jane Braunlich and Susan Viscusi -- appeared for the 7 p.m. meeting.

The six members of council who were absent were Lisa Blaney-Stewart, David Gillingham Jr., Mark Helbling, Kathy Coder, Mark Panichella and Jim Viscusi.

Woshner said that the business scheduled for Tuesday’s meeting likely would be placed on the agenda for the council work session to be held the second Tuesday in October.

In addition to the alcohol referendum on the Bellevue primary election ballot, there are quite a few other races across the North Boroughs that will have to be decided.

Although registered Independents normally cannot vote in primaries, they will be able to cast their votes in Bellevue for the referendum only.

Bellevue property owners may pay a bit more this year in sewer surcharges, but it won't be as much as it could have been. With two members absent, a hotly divided Bellevue Council voted Tuesday to set a usage based surcharge at $2.25 per 1,000 gallons of water used at a property.

An ordinance adopted in December had set the fee at $3 per 1,000 gallons of water used, but that ordinance was vetoed by Mayor George Doscher shortly after it was approved. Doscher argued that it would be more "compassionate" to increase the fee in stages over a two-year period.

Bellevue Council has once again found itself in the position of needing to hire someone for the swimming pool, but not having any funds budgeted.

A motion to hire two people to work as cashiers ran into problems at council's work session on Tuesday when council member Jane Braunlich pointed out that the budget line item being used by the parks committee had already been spent.

"You cannot take it out of that line item. That line item no longer exists," Braunlich said.

Business may have been left undone when Bellevue Council's parks and recreation committee canceled its last meeting -- with no notice to people scheduled to attend the meeting.

Committee chair Lisa Blaney-Stewart reported at council's workshop meeting Tuesday that the meeting had been canceled because there was "nothing on our agenda." In addition to Blaney-Stewart, the committee includes council president Kathy Coder and member Susan Viscusi. Neither Viscusi nor one borough employee was told in advance that the meeting had been canceled, according to Viscusi and other officials.

Parking lot problems Excavation for a parking lot adjacent to Bellevue's borough hall turned up more than anyone expected, with the result that it will cost more to finish the lot.

Engineer John Rusnak told borough council members Tuesday to expect a "change order of some magnitude" due to "unforeseen site conditions" discovered as the contractor excavated the site.

Bond refinanced

Refinancing Ohio Township's current bond will produce about $87,000 for capital projects.

The Ohio Township Supervisors voted unanimously at their Oct. 5 meeting to refinance the debt. Township manager John L. Sullivan Jr. said that favorable interest rates had allowed refinancing with no extension of the amount or term of the bond. Instead the township will receive $87,000 as a refund or reimbursement for capital projects, he said.

Contract extension

Kilbuck fire service

Beginning Sept. 1, fire calls in Kilbuck Township will be answered by the Emsworth and Ben Avon fire companies.

The Kilbuck Township Board of Supervisors voted unanimously at its July 28 meeting to accept offers from the neighboring boroughs to provide fire services after the Kilbuck Township Volunteer Fire Company disbands in September.

Kilbuck will be divided at Plumer Avenue for the purpose of call response, with Emsworth and Ben Avon firefighters responding to calls in their respective areas.

A time crunch will leave Bellevue among the uncounted when the Allegheny County Health Department considers the adoption of new air quality guidelines on July 1.

Bellevue Council at its regular meeting on May 5, approved two ordinances.

The first was a “Knox Box Ordinance” that requires certain structures to have a key lock box installed on the exterior of the building for fire safety purposes.