Local voters may have sent a message last Tuesday, but I'll be darned if I can figure out what it was.

We definitely saw a bit of the Republican backlash that occurred across the country, but then how do you explain the vote in Ben Avon? Three Democratic incumbents were tossed out of office, but one of the top vote-getters was a 19-year-old Democrat.

Ben Avon is considering offering a tax abatement to anyone who would like to buy certain property on Park Avenue, with the stipulation that the existing structures would be torn down and that any rebuilding would be done according to the borough's code.

The property currently consists of five buildings containing 19 units. Nearly five years ago, Jeff Garbinski bought it with the idea of renovating the property into 19 affordable housing units. However, little has been done since that time and various problems have ensued.

A healthy carry-over from 2011 helped convince Bellevue Council members that no property tax increase is necessary for 2012.

Council voted unanimously at its Dec. 30 meeting not to enact a proposed .25 mill tax increase, although members reversed themselves and voted for a 25 cent increase in the sewer surcharge per 1,000 gallons of water used. Council member Lisa Blaney-Stewart was absent from her final meeting.

With only a couple weeks left in the year, local officials are being forced to make the hard decisions when it comes to budgets for 2012.

In Bellevue, final adoption of the budget will not be considered until Dec. 30, with a public hearing to be held Monday, Dec. 19. Council members are continuing to debate the proposed .25 mill property tax increase and a 25 cents per 1,000 gallons sewer surcharge hike.

Council member Linda Woshner said that since the news of the tax increase came out, she has heard from several people opposed to it.

After 15 years of service from the Ben Avon fire department, Ben Avon Heights emergency calls will be answered next year by the Avalon Volunteer Fire Company. Of possibly even greater significance, however, is the fact that the change is being laid squarely at the feet of Ben Avon’s elected officials at a time when a joint Avonworth community fire department is being proposed.

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.

Bellevue’s engineer will be asked to provide alternate plans for parking and handicapped-accessible ramps in Bayne Park while council wrangles with what work should be done in conjunction with the construction of a skate plaza there.

Plans to extend the current lot and widen the driveway to accommodate two passing vehicles met with opposition from elected officials and residents due to the amount of “green” space that would be lost.

There is a vacancy on Emsworth Council.

Council member Connie Taylor submitted a letter in August resigning her seat. The resignation became effective with council's acceptance of it at Wednesday's meeting.

Taylor did not give a reason for her decision. Her term on council runs only through the end of the year, so whoever is appointed to the seat will have a very short tenure.

Council has 30 days to fill the seat.

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.

One month after approving a contract with an elected official to respond to Pennsylvania One-Call situations, Emsworth Council voted Wednesday to rescind that agreement.

The PA One-Call system requires anyone opening streets or other property to check first to see if there are any underground structures that have to be taken into consideration -- such as sewers, water lines, gas lines, etc. When a municipality is notified of a potential excavation, it generally has three days to mark the area in question. In an emergency, that time frame shrinks to one hour.

Bellevue has been home, off and on, for the past 20 years for Kathy Coder, but since returning here in 2004, the community has become her passion.

"When we moved back, we bought a 100-year-old house. It was lots of work, and at the same time, I kept thinking I wanted to get involved with Bellevue. I knew nothing about local government, but I thought I'd like to bring some ideas here."

Coder went to a few council meetings, found herself replacing a council member who had resigned, and shortly after was elected council president.