Sometimes it's the littlest things -- the ones you think are unimportant and can safely be set aside until you can get around to them -- that come back to bite you the worst.

The one thing lawyers absolutely hate with a passion are surprises.

After a couple weeks of pretty much nonstop nastiness at municipal meetings -- highlighted by one resident actually accusing a Kilbuck official of putting melted marshmallows in her mail box -- I am issuing a plea that we all remember that this is a season of love, giving and joy.

Yeah, right.

For the second time in as many weeks, an attempt to oust Bellevue’s solicitor has failed.

A week after a motion to seek proposals from attorneys failed in a tie vote at the borough council’s reorganization meeting, a second motion made at the first regular council meeting on Tuesday met the same end.

The post-election reorganization of Bellevue Council Monday night was not without incident -- several of them in fact. The meeting began with one council member-elect omitted from the swearing-in, and ended with questions about the legitimacy of the entire process. In between, a new regime took charge of council, and perhaps set the tone for the coming year.

Bellevue officials are still debating which company to hire for tax and fee collection, possibly including garbage fees in 2012.

Council's finance committee has recommended hiring Jordan, which currently i used by the solicitor's office to collect delinquent real estate taxes. The company's performance in that task has been "above and beyond our wildest expectations," according to director of administrative services Doug Sample. Sample said the borough budgeted about $90,000 in revenue from delinquent property taxes, and has received about $170,000 so far and is expecting $100,000 more.

By VICKI MORTIMER

The Aug. 4 hearing required before Avonworth can p[roceed with construction of a primary center was sparsely attended by only three of the district's residents, as well as representatives from the elementary school and the school board.

A panel of four spoke to those present: superintendent Dr. Valerie McDonald; solicitor William Andrews; Greer Hayden of HHSDR, the architects/ engineers for the project; and Antonio Misiti of PNC Capital Markets, the district's financial advisor.

Barely a month after voters rejected allowing liquor licenses in Bellevue, the borough is dealing with a proposal to sell beer in Bayne Park -- a proposal from the borough's own employees.

The idea for a "beer corral" in the park developed from plans to hold an arts festival to raise money for the borough's matching share of a grant to build a skate plaza in Bayne Park.

After more than three hours of testimony by an overflow crowd at the Nature Center Monday night, the Ohio Township Supervisors unanimously approved a zoning amendment related to Marcellus Shale drilling sites that left many unsatisfied that all possible steps were taken to keep drills and fracking ponds out of their community.

Many of those who attended supported adoption of the zoning restrictions as a stopgap measure until more protections could be put in place with other legislation or a full zoning code overhaul the supervisors said would be done in two months.

A unanimous vote by Emsworth Council Wednesday evening put an end to a firestorm -- literally, in some residents’ opinions -- that erupted one week before when the Avonworth Community Park executive board approved a lease that would allow drilling beneath park property for natural gas, part of the lucrative Marcellus Shale reservoir.

Both the old fire station and the current municipal building in Kilbuck Township soon will be sporting for sale signs.

The township supervisors, at their meeting Tuesday, unanimously approved a motion authorizing the solicitor to prepare a notice advertising the properties for sale.

Officials previously said that the municipal building is seldom used, and that they could save thousands of dollars in maintenance and operation costs by holding meetings elsewhere. The fire station was donated to the township when the volunteer fire company disbanded.

Emsworth Council will consider a revised street opening ordinance that will put the borough in a "more defensible" position when it comes to enforcement.

The proposed ordinance reduces the area of newly-paved streets that must be resurfaced by anyone -- such as a utility company -- that digs up the roadway. In an effort to preserve the street surface, officials originally considered a proposal to require repavement of the width of the street some 50 feet on each side of the opening.