< Previousy > Learning Curves Learning Curves If you own a house in the suburbs that was built prior to 1980 and it still has the original sewer line, it could be in trouble. Most residential lines are made from materials that were only meant to last upwards of 30 years. Over time, ground movement, tree roots, construction and other factors tend to wreak havoc on these old lines. Whether comprised of cast iron, steel, terra cotta or even plastic, the lines will eventually fail. This can lead to backups and, in a worst case scenario, raw sewage spilling back into the home. To replace sewer lines such as these, plumbers have traditionally excavated the old line and replaced it. Though costly, the new line lasts a lifetime. Unfortunately for many households, old sewage lines tend to be buried underneath new construction and landscaping. Replacing a line by excavating it can thus involve demolishing and replacing costly items such as driveways, retaining walls and landscaping. In that case, replacing a sewer line can run homeowners thousands of dollars above and beyond just replacing the line. Fortunately, new technology allows for the repair of old sewage lines without excavation. A system known as trenchless pipe repair and lining involves digging a small hole down to the old line and coating the inside in an epoxy. The epoxy cures to a plastic that is just as thick as a modern sewer line. It does not mitigate flow, can be installed any time of the year and lasts a lifetime. The process also costs about the same as a traditional sewer line replacement. Homeowners who would otherwise need to replace a driveway, retaining wall or landscaping could thus save thousands of dollars. Trenchless pipe repair for sewage lines isn’t a commonly offered service in this area, however. That’s why Jim Meyers and Son Plumbing in Oakdale decided to invest in machinery earlier this year that would allow them to offer it to both residential and commercial customers. So far, they’ve fixed old sewer lines that would have otherwise incurred significant added expenses. To clear blocked sewer lines, Jim Meyers and Son Plumbing also uses a pressurized water system prior to installing the epoxy that flushes out buildup. Pressurized to 4,000 psi, the system can even clear roots from a line. A camera system allows them to inspect the pipe for blockages. For more, visit meyersplumbingpittsburgh.com or call (412) 787-7805. How to repair a sewer line without destroying your yard or driveway Rather than excavate and replace this old sewer line, it was flushed and then coated in an epoxy that will keep it operating for a lifetime. Jim Meyers and Son Plumbing in Oakdale is now one of the few plumbing businesses in the area offering trenchless pipe repair for residential and commercial sewer lines. The service allows for the repair of a sewer line without excavation and can potentially save property owners thousand of dollars. CONTENT SUBMITTED 20 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2020y > Learning Curves Learning Curves Michele P. Conti is an estate planning and elder law attorney. Conti attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Oxford University and Duquesne University School of Law. She received her LL.M. in taxation from Villanova University. She can be reached at (724) 784-0239 or michele@contilawpgh.com. BY MICHELE P. CONTI While counseling my clients, I’ve often heard of the one “bad seed” beneficiary who won’t be happy with their share of assets upon my client’s passing. My clients have asked what we can do to protect their estate and other beneficiaries from any possible contest created by these individuals. It’s sad, but there’s always one who doesn’t abide by the old adage: “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.” As planning attorneys, we always try to incorporate every protection for our clients but, at the end of the day, anyone can challenge anything if they have enough money behind them. When we receive a call regarding a will challenge, the belief is that the will does not match the testator’s actual intent or that the will is otherwise invalid. This means that there was undue influence, forgery, fraud or lack of testamentary capacity. If one of these proves true, we must file a formal objection and will challenge petition. It is imperative that the procedures are all followed or else crucial issues may later be barred. What everyone needs to understand is that this process is time consuming. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and it’s costly. A will contest is not for the faint of heart. It is litigation, which means that there will be monthly costs, hearings and more that you must endure. While there is no magic figure for the cost of litigation, it’s dependent upon the facts and parties involved. It could total $10,000 after six months or it could take more than a year and exceed $50,000. While the judge may order that some of your costs are covered by the estate, this is not something that should be expected. However, not just anyone can bring a challenge. In order to get past the first hurdle, a person must have “standing,” i.e. a party of interest. Another way to look at it is if the will is deemed invalid and thrown out, will you be financially better off? If so, you have standing. Keep in mind that if a will is thrown out and an older will exists, the older will may be adhered to unless Pennsylvania rules of Intestacy take precedence. Claiming that the will does not reflect the testator’s intent isn’t enough, though. We must also prove one of the following, or a combination: undue influence, duress or coercion, fraud, forgery, lack of capacity, or a superseded will. Undue influence is when a person used a position of power to influence the decedent to change the will to benefit the person with power in a way that the decedent would not have otherwise done. Duress arises when the testator’s belief in a threat causes them to make a will change favoring the threatening person that they would otherwise not make. Fraud is when a beneficiary knowingly uses false statements that cause the testator to change the will to benefit the beneficiary. Forgery means being able to prove someone other than the testator signed the will. Lack of capacity is when someone believes the testator was not of sound mind when signing the will. You do not have forever to contest a will. There is a statute of limitations, even after the will has been probated. A contest is different than a caveat. A caveat is just a minor first step. A caveat occurs prior to the will being probated, which will prevent the Register of Wills from probating a will until notifying the caveator. If, after review, the caveator decides to pursue a will contest, then the formal procedures must be followed so that nothing is forfeited throughout litigation. The benefit of a caveat is that the Register of Wills will appoint a neutral party to act as the administrator during the challenge. The downside is the cost associated with any litigation in front of the court. Sometimes people rely on the forfeiture clause or in terrorem clause of the will, which stipulates that if a beneficiary challenges a will, they are excluded from the will. Though Pennsylvania recognizes such clauses, the court will not enforce them if they find probable cause for a challenge. The issue becomes one of concern if this clause is added to a will that excludes the challenger. If this is the case, then the challenger has nothing to lose by bringing a challenge. If you are concerned about a future beneficiary causing problems, call us to make sure that your estate is protected from any unnecessary litigation. Will your beneficiary challenge your will?!? 22 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2020y > Learning Curves Learning Curves Mia A. Kovacs, CFP®, is a vice president and a financial consultant with Bill Few Associates. She can be reached at (412) 630-6041 or at mkovacs@billfew.com. SUBMITTED BY MIA A. KOVACS, CFP®, BILL FEW ASSOCIATES Though most investors get anxious in an election year, the reality is presidential elections don’t matter as much as one might think. It is true the market does not like uncertainty, and an election comes with a hefty dose of the unknown - even more so this year with the pandemic at hand. That shouldn’t change your long-term investment strategy, however. Historically, the stock market does experience volatility in the months leading up to a presidential election. The uncertainty of which candidate will be elected is fueled by hyperbolic media headlines meant to grab your attention. However, the politically divisive predications of how the election will affect your portfolio are easily disproven. The facts just don’t make catchy headlines or generate readership. Over the long term, the S&P 500 has steadily risen, regardless of which party holds office. We have experienced good and bad markets as well as good and bad economies across all administrations. This time will likely be no different. The market will price in the results of the election within the first few weeks to several months, then turn the focus back to economic fundamentals: corporate earnings, interest rates, economic growth and factors outside of the control of any administration. Take, for example, the 2016 election. As more and more states started reporting a Trump victory, the S&P 500 fell more than 5% in premarket trading. By market close of the day after the election, the S&P 500 was up over 1%. The market then continued its decade-long bull market until this year’s pandemic. Long-term planning makes sense as real market returns are measured over a full business cycle, which lasts on average 5.5 years. That is longer than even one presidential term, necessitating an investment strategy that covers more than one election cycle. Don’t allow the emotions surrounding the presidential election to narrow your investing perspective. Regardless of the current election results, stay true to your long-term investment plan. Make sure you have a financial plan that includes diversified assets, in accordance with your goals and risk tolerance. Those who have done so in past election years have been rewarded in comparison to those who were led by their emotions and tried to time the market. Investing in presidential election years This chart reflects the long-term performance of the S&P 500 and respective presidential parties dating back to the 1930s. October/November 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 23CAround Your Town Around Your Town Autumn is a season that is characterized by change, but one thing that is usually a constant during the brisk fall months in western Pennsylvania are the Friday night lights of high school football. This year, though, things have thus far been a little different as teams have played in front of mostly empty stadiums. Still, things could have been worse. For a while, it looked like there might not be a season at all. As circumstances continued to change throughout the summer, teams scrambled to prepare for all eventualities. For first-year head coach David Schoppe, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Schoppe, a 1988 West Allegheny High School graduate, was promoted in February, right before the full onslaught of the pandemic hit. A 27-year coaching veteran, Schoppe previously coached at North Hills and Bishop Canevin. This year, he had to conduct his entire offseason via computer meetings and film breakdowns on the popular online football tool HUDL. To say the least, it’s been a unique challenge for the first-year head coach as he’s tried to settle into his new role. Teams didn’t find out for sure if there would be a season until Aug. 21. That was when the PIAA voted to allow fall sports, including football. Bob Lombardi, the PIAA executive director, was quoted in response to the decision as saying, “We know there are no guarantees, but we’re at least making the attempt to try, if it doesn’t go well and we have to shut down, we’ll do it, because everybody knows health and safety of everyone is first and foremost…we think we owed it to our member schools, our athletes and the coaches, athletic directors, administrators, parents and community to try.” The hastened timeline didn’t leave much time for coaches to get their players up to speed. Football in particular is a sport that has so many moving pieces that it takes almost an entire summer to get everyone on the same page. Once guidelines were in place and teams were permitted to begin practice, a whole new set of challenges presented themselves. “The biggest hurdle for us is the guidelines limit to how many we can have in our locker rooms and weight rooms,” said Schoppe. “We’re only permitted to have 25 kids at a time, so when you have 75 kids you’re looking at roughly 20 to 25 minutes for each group to rotate, so you’re losing out on practice time.” He said they’ve needed to be pretty creative in order to make sure everyone gets the necessary work. Despite early challenges faced by the Indians, including a loss in their first game to Moon Area, the young team has proven resilient. Following that loss,they put up a combined 103 points in their next two games as they rolled over Shaler and Connellsville. They then soundly defeated Bethel Park on Oct. 2. During those games, junior quarterback Gavin Miller emerged as one of the WPIAL’s top passers under offensive coordinator Shane Patterson. An Auburn University baseball commitment at shortstop, Miller’s pocket savvy and instinctual ability have at times been reminiscent of Russell Wilson, the former college middle-infielder and quarterback who is now the front runner for the NFL MVP award. “I think it helps out a lot, making different throws, throwing off balance, and moving around in the pocket,” said Miller in regard to how his baseball prowess is helping him on the gridiron. However, when you ask Gavin who his favorite quarterback is, you get a pretty quick response. “I love watching Mahomes,” he says. Just like his favorite gunslinger Patrick Mahomes, Gavin loves throwing the ball down the field. At the time of this writing, he’s averaging roughly 15 yards per completion and 225 passing yards per game. Plays like his 53- yard touchdown to the team’s leading receiver Jashon Spencer (#4) in their game against Moon are a big reason why. In total, Miller, at the time of this writing, has seven passing touchdowns and 903 passing yards. Three of those touchdowns have gone to sophomore Nodin Tracy (#2). When prompted, Miller acknowledged the difficulty that the team faced while trying to prepare over the summer. “The thing that was the most difficult was the summer, being in different groups for practice instead of all being together at once,” he says. However, he mentions that the team has somewhat settled into a new routine. “During the season, everything’s been much more normal,” he says. “The only weird stuff is the locker room and film, we can’t all watch film like we used to.” Miller also acknowledges that the situation has brought the team together. “It’s just us out there, we can’t feed off the crowd anymore so it’s just us in the huddle, just talking and being boys,” he says. “I’ve just tried to be myself out there, not try to do too much.” Whatever he’s doing, it’s working. Schoppe’s team is fun to watch and many expect them to be making noise come playoff time. “Every single team is good,” said Miller about their remaining schedule as the team was preparing to play Bethel Park. “We have to bring our A game every single week.” At the time of this writing, the team is preparing to take on Upper Saint Clair. After that, the team will face South Fayette on Oct. 16 and Peters Township on Oct. 23. Games can be watched remotely on the NFHS Network. Register for free at www.nfhsnetwork.com. As Indians adjust to COVID, offense emerges as bright spot Despite the hurdles facing this year’s Indians football team, quarterback Gavin Miller and the offense are adjusting well. PHOTO BY PRIDDY PICTURES STORY BY WILL GLADDEN 24 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2020Websites that get results. Designed in Pittsburgh Imagine your website working as hard for your business as you do. Affordable Custom Designs | Responsive Sites | SEO Content Management | E-commerce | Hosting | Maintenance 412.205.8998 | DDSWebDesign.com Contact us for a free website analysis. October/November 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 25 As we enter into another fall season, our community and neighboring counties are continuing down the path of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. We are rebuilding our thriving and competitive economy. Each day, there are signs of hope and forward momentum, as seen through the lens of our Chamber and its members. This Chamber, along with many of our partners here in the airport area, have persevered through so much under extremely challenging conditions these past seven months. For us, the lack of face-to-face interaction with our members has just felt different. It has felt unnatural, abnormal and troubling not to be able to see the people who make up our business community with any kind of regularity. As we look at what the future will bring, however, there appears to be hope right around the corner. The overall positive attitude that defines us has been evident as I’ve traveled recently throughout the airport region to visit companies and municipalities gearing up for better times. Take, for instance the new Amazon Fulfillment Center that recently opened right here in Findlay Township. I was honored to be the first non-Amazon employee to walk through the front reception area and tour this massive new facility. Yes, the lights are on at Amazon’s new 1.3 million square-foot center and the 1,000-plus jobs it will create are right around the corner. Traveling through the Westport Industrial Park and seeing the earth being moved for future development is amazing. Couple this with the Southern Expressway connection that is to be completed this year, and the West Allegheny area is positioned for an economic surge. I encourage you to take some time and digest the unique content in this issue of Allegheny West Magazine that defines who we are here in the Pittsburgh Airport Area. Support the advertisers and those who support the community through this publication and you will be adding to the rebound that we all so desperately want and need. Welcome New Members! Creative DIY Workshop, LLC MaxxCole Salon & Spa MJK Photography Slater Family Services Woofles Premier Pet Resort October Milestone Anniversaries 30 years Greater Pittsburgh Business Connection 10 years Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar Westar International Forwarders Neora 5 years Military Affairs Council of Western PA Walnut Grill - Robinson Advanced Auto Parts Ribbon Cutting Celebration 26 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2020y > Learning Curves Learning Curves SUBMITTED BY BRAD COLVIN AND AMY RILEY, FINANCIAL ADVISORS, HEFREN-TILLOTSON Brad Colvin Amy Riley • Review Your Credit Reports – These can be obtained for free, every 12 months, at www.annualcreditreport.com and includes summaries from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting agencies. Further leverage this service by spreading out the reports over a full calendar year by choosing a different agency’s report every four months. • Only Bring What You Need – As opposed to keeping your wallet filled with all of your credit and debit cards, consider instead only carrying the specific cards that you’ll need for any given trip. This way, if your wallet or purse is lost or stolen, the damage is mitigated and easier to manage. In that same vein, keep a record of all your accounts safe at home, so if something does go missing, you have all the pertinent information you’ll need to contact your bank. • Protect Your Social Security Number – This number is the single most important piece of personal identification and the most difficult to recover if stolen. Unlike a credit card, your Social Security number can’t be closed. Armed with this and other varying personal information, a criminal can do anything you can, including, but not limited to, applying for government benefits; filing your taxes for a refund; opening bank accounts; and taking out loans. • Use A Shredder – Never throw anything with personal information in the trash. Thieves will often go through trash bins and dumpsters to find any discarded materials with identifying information. Be proactive against this threat by shredding all documents, preferably with a cross-cut shredder for maximum protection. • Reduce Your Exposure – To stop telemarking calls, register your number at www.donotcall.gov. To remove your name from most email and mailing lists, register at www.dmachoice.org. To remove your name from marketing lists prepared by the reporting agencies, use www.optoutprescreen.com. • Safeguard Your Computer and Mobile Devices – Ensure your computer’s firewall and antivirus software are up-to-date and make sure to run periodic scans which will notify you of any existing or potential threats. Also, be mindful of how much personal information you store on your computer or mobile device in case it is lost, stolen, or accessed by a hacker or virus. • Set Alerts – These days, the majority of banks let you customize your preferences in terms of monitoring and alerts. Consider having your bank notify you, via phone or email, of any purchase that exceeds a certain threshold. In addition, before going on vacation, let your bank know where you’ll be traveling. Otherwise you risk having your card suspended. • Monitor Your Accounts – Periodically checking your accounts online is an easy way to guard against fraudulent activity. In addition, certain online services can import and aggregate your banking information for you so that you can review everything at once. These services can also alert you to suspicious activity, for an extra layer of protection. Trick or Treat? How to Avoid Fraud • Maintain A Healthy Sense Of Skepticism – “Stranger Danger” is not just a proverb for children, but an adage that all consumers should follow. There are countless scams out there, whether online, in the mail, or through the phone. It’s always best to be circumspect of anything that seems too good to be true. If you’re unsure, research first. While monitoring your accounts is an important aspect of your finances, there are other critical planning issues to consider. Please contact Amy and Brad for further details regarding Hefren- Tillotson’s MASTERPLAN® process and how it can help you review if you are on track for retirement. Amy and Brad can be contacted for a no-obligation review. Call them at (412) 633-1725 or email Amy.Riley@hefren. com. Learn more about their webinars at www.hefren.com/seminars. It seems like each month a different company experiences a data breach. Criminals continue to get more resourceful and their capabilities are always expanding, which is why it’s more important than ever to remain constantly vigilant against these threats. While no single action guarantees you won’t become a victim, there are many steps you can take to greatly reduce your risk: October/November 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 27CAround Your Town Around Your Town A couple of years ago, Dr. Eric Sparkenbaugh, who is both Montour School District’s director of academic achievement and the school’s safety/security coordinator, was working on a new training program on how the district responds in an active shooter situation. Up until that time, Montour had relied largely on a shelter in place philosophy that encouraged students and teachers to barricade themselves in their classrooms. It was a protocol based on an active shooter response program developed in the aftermath of the mass shooting incident at Columbine High School in 1999. In more recent years, however, police and government agencies have been rethinking how civilians should respond in such a situation. In 2012, the city of Houston developed the “run, hide, fight” protocol, which is now recommended by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Pennsylvania State Police. As the name implies, rather than strictly sheltering in place, the protocol includes actively evading an intruder and, if cornered with no other choice, strategies for engaging and even subduing an attacker with whatever is available. Following yet another school shooting in 2018 - this one at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida - Montour implemented several new safety measures, including adding armed security officers at each of its buildings. The district also adopted the run, hide, fight protocol and Sparkenbaugh, who spent 12 years as an elementary principal, approached the situation much as any educator would: he first went searching for existing educational material. “I was looking for resources but there really weren’t any,” he says. With little else to go on, Sparkenbaugh developed his own training program directed at teachers. He even enlisted the help of a retired police officer heading up a new program specifically to train civilians on run, hide and fight. Montour began holding Act 80 days to train teachers and it got a positive response. Sparkenbaugh, though, was still troubled by the fact that there weren’t any educational materials for students. Rather, students get active shooter training through drills that school districts are required by the state to hold within the first 90 days of each school year. That lack of tangible training materials gave Sparkenbaugh an idea to write his own manual on the subject. When he reached out to publishers, though, he got a lukewarm response until he suggested a book directed at elementary-aged children. That peaked their interest. Sparkenbaugh then approached two of his colleagues at Montour - high school English department chair Gina Ligouri and middle school art teacher Kimberly Roehn - with the idea. Working together, and leaning on their expertise as educators, the three assembled a book that utilizes illustrations, colors and rhyme schemes to help educators broach an uncomfortable subject with elementary-aged children. Ligouri sees the book as a tool that can complement the training students receive during drills and can be built upon in their later years. The book, “BEE READY to Run, Hide or Fight - Everything Will BEE Alright,” was published this past summer as an educational safety resource. It has been endorsed by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala, Allegheny County Sheriff William Mullen, retired North Fayette police chief Mark O’Donnell and others. “It’s still a serious matter but the book approaches it in a way that’s non- threatening,” says Sparkenbaugh. In the book, insects characterize and demonstrate the different concepts of run, hide and fight as they evade a scary spider. While a green grasshopper runs away from danger, a yellow ladybug hides and a red wasp fights. The colors of the characters, reminiscent of the colors of a stoplight, further illustrate when each action is appropriate. While the book makes clear that evading danger and hiding are the first options, it also outlines when fighting may be necessary and tactics for doing so. “You just have to give them options,” says Sparkenbaugh. “How the individual responds in a situation is going to be up to the individual.” Sparkenbaugh and Ligouri say that feedback from children, educators and community members has thus far been positive. “I’m actually surprised at just how observant kids are as they read and what they notice as far as illustrations and our intentional details,” says Ligouri. “They like that it’s bright and colorful, that it’s easy to read, and that they can remember the rhyme. That rhyme was designed so that the more often kids read it, the easier they remember it. Our whole intention was to help them remember the safety protocol, so seeing that response in action is amazing.” She says she thinks the book will also help put teachers at ease. “From a teacher’s perspective, having a tangible resource that puts all of my colleagues on the same page takes the stress off of the teacher,” she says. “It’s a difficult topic to talk about, especially with our youngest kids.” “BEE READY to Run, Hide or Fight - Everything Will BEE Alright” will be available at Barnes and Noble and on Amazon. com. Bulk rates for the book are also available. For more information or to purchase a copy, visit www.beereadykids.com. Area educators pen children’s book on a difficult subject STORY BY DOUG HUGHEY This new children’s book, which was self- published by educators at Montour School District, is intended to help teachers discuss active shooter preparedness with elementary-aged children. 28 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2020October/November 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 29Next >