< PreviousCAround Your Town Around Your Town When longtime area first responder Rich Kocian passed away at the age of 69 this past July after contracting COVID-19, the loss was both devastating and came as a shock to those who knew him. Kocian, who was otherwise perfectly healthy when he fell ill, had only just retired a couple of years prior from a lifetime of public service. For 38 years, he’d worked as a dispatcher for the North Fayette Police Department. He’d also been a paramedic and a 40-year volunteer firefighter, serving much of that time with the McDonald VFD. As well, he was a founding member of the Washington County Hazardous Material Team and a member of numerous community organizations, including the Oakdale Masons Lodge and the Syria Shriners. The day before Kocian went into the hospital, he spent the day babysitting his grandchildren, Abigail and Hannah. In a fitting tribute, the North Fayette VFD, McDonald VFD, the North Fayette Police Department and a number of other surrounding area departments formed a procession for the longtime first responder on the way to his final resting place. Kocian’s son, Brian, a North Fayette police officer, says the show of support was greatly appreciated. Along with Brian, Rich is also survived by his widow, Kathy. “I’d like to thank the North Fayette police department for their show of support and the local fire departments,” says Brian. “The procession they organized was on a Monday morning and we understand a lot of people are working then, but people did that for him. The surrounding areas coming to the funeral home really meant a lot to us.” Around that same time, yet another community member was finding her own way to pay tribute to Rich. Stephanie Shofield, who owns and operates Our Diner on West Allegheny Road in Imperial, decided to dedicate a run she was planning in September to Rich. That run was a 15-mile leg of the Great American Relay, which involves runners from across 18 states carrying a baton 3,500 miles from Boston to California. Last year, Shofield, who has been running marathons for the past 12 years, ran the same leg in the race’s inaugural year. Her portion started in front of the Magisterial District Court office in Imperial and ended at the Hanover VFD. This year, each participant in the race dedicated their portion to first responders in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. For her part, Shofield wanted to dedicate her run to Rich. She says she decided to do so after reading Rich’s obituary and she’d also gotten to know Brian and his family from them coming to eat at the restaurant. Shofield, though, didn’t tell the Kocians what she was planning. Instead, she put it out on social media, where Brian’s wife found it and showed the post to her husband. “Every race I run I dedicate to someone who’s not here or who’s suffering,” says Shofield. “I don’t tell the people who I’m dedicating the run to. Sometime afterward I’ll tell them. During the race, when I want to quit, I think of them and that keeps me going.” Brian says he had no idea what Shofield was planning until his wife showed him the social media post. “That was really touching to me,” he says. After finding out about Shofield’s plans, Brian decided he wasn’t going to just let her go it alone. Instead, he arranged to drive behind her as an official police escort during his off-duty hours. On Sept. 19, Brian did just that, and escorted Shofield from the magistrate’s office in Imperial to Hanover Township. Because Shofield was battling an upper leg injury, she was unable to run but did bike the length with Brian following behind her. Shofield says she’d been planning to use the run to help her prepare for the Boston Marathon, which took place just a couple of weeks later on Oct. 11. At the time of this writing, she is now preparing for that race. She says that marathon will mark her 17th since she started running around 14 years ago. She says she started running a couple years after the birth of her son, who is now 16. Brian says the tribute was also significant to him because of the way it honored the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. He says 9/11 was part of what contributed to him wanting to become a police officer. The other reason was his dad, who he watched over the years selflessly dedicate his time to public service. “My dad and the Sept. 11 attacks were the reasons I became a police officer,” says Brian. “You grow up your whole life thinking of ball players and musicians being heroes when you’re younger. But then later in life I started thinking about who was doing the heroic things.” At his dad’s viewing, Brian says many people told him about times that Rich had come to their aid, either as a firefighter or paramedic. “You don’t realize how much someone touches someone’s lives until something like this,” says Brian. Local marathoner helps honor memory of longtime area first responder STORY BY DOUG HUGHEY PHOTOS SUBMITTED Stephanie Shofield, who owns and operates Our Diner in Imperial, recently dedicated a race she took part in to longtime area first responder Rich Kocian (pictured below). She is pictured above with Rich’s son, Brian, who is a North Fayette Township police officer. Read and share stories from Allegheny West Magazine! Current and back issues can be read at AWMagazine.com. Copy the URL from individual pages and then share via email and on social media. 20 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2021 October/November 2021 • www.awmagazine.com • 21CAround Your Town Around Your Town Throughout much of his adult life, West Allegheny High School teacher and athletics coach Dan Marshall has been battling a host of blood-related autoimmune disorders. Among his diagnoses have been eosinophilic fasciitis and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy, a particularly rare disease where the body attacks the fatty layers protecting the body’s nervous system. To treat his conditions, doctors have for years prescribed a range of treatments, including regular intravenous immune globulin transfusions. For a time, those treatments seemed to be working, until last year when Marshall’s blood work showed that his platelet counts were dropping. Doctors performed several biopsies and diagnosed him with aplastic anemia, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and large granular lymphocytic leukemia - chronic conditions that affect the body’s white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. If not for the diagnosis, Marshall might not have even known he was sick. “I wasn’t feeling bad at all but my doctors were saying there’s something wrong,” he says. Marshall’s doctors started him on a regimen of chemotherapy medications. As his platelet counts continued to drop, however, Marshall’s doctors referred him to the Cleveland Clinic, where a doctor told him he needed a bone marrow transplant. “We went into this thinking, ‘Should we really do this?’” says Marshall. “But the doctor was like, ‘You don’t have to do this but then you’ll have to have transfusions and medications the rest of your life. You’re just trading one set of issues for another.’ He said that, me being as young and healthy as I am, I was the perfect candidate.” The good news was that a bone marrow transplant would resolve the litany of blood disorders that he’d been diagnosed with previously. To get a successful transplant, however, Marshall would need to overcome two important hurdles. First, he needed a transplant match, but in that regard he lucked out right away. Doctors were able to find a perfect match in the donor database. Secondly, Marshall and his family would need to incur significant financial expenses as a result of the procedure. Following a lengthy hospital stay, Marshall and his wife, Jessica, would need to reside close to the hospital for 100 days in case he encountered any problems. Because the ward that the hospital usually reserves for transplant patients was closed due to COVID-19, the couple needed to find housing for that period of time. Jessica would also need to take time off work, and so would Dan. Then there was the matter of their two boys: Luke, 14, and Zach, 17. Luckily, the West Allegheny community had the Marshalls covered. Over the past few months, community members have held numerous fundraisers to support the family and private donations have flowed into a GoFundMe account that Dan’s brother, Jim, started. Initially, Jim started the account with the goal of reaching $50,000. As of the end of September, it had raised well over $100,000. “The community always seems to rally around people like us,” says Dan. “It’s been overwhelming and motivating. It’s honestly hard to focus on anything negative.” In addition, the district has allowed Dan to continue teaching classes at West Allegheny High School using online teaching tools that the district set up last year during COVID-19. Dan teaches a dual enrollment course in cyber security through CCAC that allows students to earn college credits in high school. Thanks to the district’s flexibility, Dan has been able to continue teaching from an apartment in Cleveland as his condition continues to be monitored. Dan received his bone marrow transplant Aug. 5 and is now waiting out his 100 days until he can return to the area. For the time being, the Marshalls’ children are staying with their grandparents. Dan’s cause isn’t the only one that has received an outpouring of support lately. Community members have also rallied around retired student resource officer Sgt. Michael Hayes, who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer late last year. He retired shortly after, ending his 30-year career as a police officer. For 26 of those years, he was with the North Fayette Police Department. Following Hayes’ diagnosis, students at West Allegheny began selling t-shirts with a caricature of Hayes to benefit him. A number of other fundraisers have also taken place for Hayes, including a “holiday pictures with the alpacas” event spearheaded by school board member Debbie Mirich at the Western Allegheny Community Library. Local businesses have headed others. West A continues to show support for community members battling cancer West Allegheny cheerleaders held a car wash fundraiser in August to aid the Hayes and Marshall families in their battles against cancer. Dan and Jessica Marshall wear t-shirts that members of the West Allegheny community have been making and selling to raise money. Mike and Jennifer Hayes 22 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2021CAround Your Town Around Your Town On Aug. 18, former NFL football player and motivational speaker Merril Hoge even visited West Allegheny to deliver his Find A Way speech, with all proceeds going to Hayes and his wife, Jennifer, who is battling leukemia. “It lifts our spirits to see how many people care,” says Mike, who is currently undergoing rounds of chemotherapy. “It has been unbelievable since this whole thing started - the outpouring of support from all over. People we don’t even know, sending cards and good wishes. It makes you feel good.” Last year, shortly before Mike was to start chemotherapy, North Fayette police officers came up with a plan to donate their sick, personal and vacation time so Mike could get enough time in to retire without having to return to work. North Fayette supervisors approved the plan and a couple of Pittsburgh’s news networks even interviewed Mike about the show of support. This magazine’s contributor Erma Dodd also wrote a piece about Mike in the April West Allegheny edition. A GoFundMe set up to help the couple has to date raised nearly $30,000. Mike says he’s continuing to battle and take things one day at a time. One of the brighter spots for him is when he gets to hear from students or see them during a visit at the school. “The kids have been fantastic along the way,” he says. “Any time I stop there they all want to see me and talk to me. It makes you feel good that I impacted them for awhile.” In Dan’s case, a number of community members also came together to hand-print and sell t-shirts, but with the slogan “Dan’s Fans Stronger Together” on them. West Allegheny administrative secretary Lisa Wilson and softball coach Mindy McFate - along with members of the basketball boosters - headed up the effort. Students have also been selling t-shirts and fans at the Indians’ home football game against South Fayette on Oct. 15 were asked to wear the shirts in a show of support for the former football coach. The team then donated its 50/50 winnings from the evening to the Marshall family. Dan says that, to date, he believes around 1,000 of the t-shirts have been sold. In addition, on Aug. 14, West Allegheny cheerleaders sponsored a car wash at Advanced Auto Parts in Imperial to raise money for both the Hayes and Marshall families. The middle school, junior varsity and varsity cheer squads all worked together to raise $1,000. Celebrations co-owner Alex Scaff matched their efforts and contributed another $1,000, bringing the total amount raised to $2,000. Later in the week, during cheer camp, all 55 West Allegheny cheerleaders signed cards with well wishes for Mike and Dan to be included with their donation. “Our community really showed up to support these two gentlemen,” says Mindy Rose of the cheer boosters. “Some folks pulled in to give $50 to $60 and didn’t even get a car wash!” Dan says the girls basketball, wrestling, softball, baseball and youth football and cheer programs have all donated through his GoFundeMe page as well. “I think every sport has donated in some way, shape or form,” says Dan. “You talk about community, it’s the full gamut.” Dan first started coaching football at West Allegheny in 2000, after he landed a job as an assistant under head coach Bob Palko. Dan, who played quarterback for the Robert Morris University football team, says a quarterbacks’ coach there referred Dan to Palko after he expressed an interest in coaching high school football. The situation couldn’t have been more fortuitous. Over the course of 18 seasons, Dan assisted Palko as he steered the Indians to eight WPIAL victories, the most of any head coach in WPIAL history. In 2001, in just Dan’s second season with the team, the Indians won a state championship. Dan started out as a wide-outs and quarterbacks coach before eventually becoming Palko’s offensive coordinator. Along the way, he coached a number of famed West Allegheny players, including Dorin Dickerson and Tyler Palko. “I think there was only one season we didn’t make the playoffs,” says Dan. “The culture and everything, we did some amazing things along the way.” In addition, Dan coached ninth grade basketball for a number of years and was the head varsity basketball coach for two years. He also coached baseball and track. Dan has been teaching at West Allegheny since 2005. He says he came to the district after teaching at Sto-Rox High School for three years. As news of his condition has spread, Dan says he’s had many former players reach out to him. It’s a family atmosphere that has persisted, despite the distance and time. “You don’t talk to some of these guys in awhile but when something like this happens, it’s such an extended family,” he says. “That’s what I love about West Allegheny in general. It’s such a family atmosphere. When I first started teaching and coaching here, I said, ‘That’s where I want to live.’” Both the Marshall and Hayes families have set up GoFundMe accounts. To donate, visit their pages at gofundme.com. STORY BY DOUG HUGHEY PHOTOS SUBMITTED Read and share stories from Allegheny West Magazine! Current and back issues can be read at AWMagazine.com. Copy the URL from individual pages and then share via email and on social media. October/November 2021 • www.awmagazine.com • 23CAround Your Town Around Your Town Findlay Township recently hired a new parks and recreation coordinator. Ashley Mays, who grew up in North Fayette Township and graduated from West Allegheny High School in 2001, took over the department’s reins in September. She brings to the position an elementary and special education teaching background. Before she took on the job, Mays had been a longterm substitute teacher at Wilson Elementary School. “Ashley has the energy and personality that we were looking for when the recreation coordinators position opened up,” says Chris Caruso, Findlay’s manager. “As a longtime area resident and with her teaching background, Ashley is able to provide opportunities to everyone from toddlers to seniors. We are happy she is part of the Findlay Township team.” Mays says she jumped at the opportunity to apply for the position after Stephanie Strain, the department’s most recent coordinator, left to take another position. Strain had been heading the department since Darlene Howell retired in 2019. Howell headed the department for nearly 20 years after she became the township’s parks and recreation coordinator in 2001. Mays says she became enamored with the role after attending some events with her children that were organized by Howell. She says just before the position opened, she’d been thinking how much she’d like to have a job like hers. “I was telling my husband, if I wasn’t teaching the only other thing I could think of was what Darlene used to do,” she says. “The next day he found the job opening and I applied.” Mays says she’s planning to bring back some different programs that Howell started, like a youth cooking class and other programs for young children. She’s currently heading up the Time with Toddlers program, which consists of an hour of music, movement and activities for young children. She’s also hoping to expand some other programs. For instance, she’s hoping to add some games and entertainment to the township’s annual ice cream social. “We want to build on the things that are working well and bring new things into the community,” she says. Before substitute teaching at Wilson Elementary, Mays taught at a school in Texas. She moved to the state to find work after graduating from Mercyhurst College, where she studied elementary and special education. With few teaching jobs to be had in Pennsylvania, she says she landed 10 interviews in one day in Texas. After teaching there, she moved to Philadelphia, where she also taught before moving back to the West Allegheny area. She and her husband, Peter, settled in Findlay, where they are now raising their children. It was there that she applied to become a substitute teacher at Wilson. Mays says she’s enjoying her new position and taking to the job well. “It has been everything that I love doing, from planning to organizing,” she says. “It’s all the fun parts of teaching. I get to do the toddler programs and fun community events. It’s like planning parties every day.” For more on Findlay’s upcoming parks and recreation programs, see pages 33 and 43. Findlay hires new parks and recreation coordinator STORY BY DOUG HUGHEY 24 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2021 Ashley Mays PHOTO COURTESY STUDIO TENy > 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 Gifting “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” Benjamin Franklin once said. He sure knew what he was talking about when he uttered that infamous line so many years ago. I am asked all the time how taxes can be reduced upon a person’s passing so that their loved ones don’t have to incur more than what is legally obligated in tax consequences to the government. The good news is that, as of today, the federal gift and estate tax exemption amount is the highest it has ever been since this tax law was enacted in 1916. In 2021, the exemption amount increased to $11.7 million per person. A married couple can stack this amount to $23.4 million without fear of Uncle Sam sending a tax bill. I can hear your sarcastic reaction already: It’s tough being rich! Surprisingly, however, in the U.S., to be defined as “rich,” an individual must amass roughly $1.9 million. Still, not too shabby. Even at $2 million, however, you’re not at risk of incurring any estate or gift tax because your estate fails to exceed the eight-figure mark. However, fast forward to 2026, when the increased exemption amount is set to lapse. Not only is the amount slated to be reduced by half, but there shall be imposed a 45% tax on any gifted amount greater than $1 million, or an estate that exceeds $3.5 million. The fear among some is that this reduction may take effect prior to the 2026 scheduled reduction. The situation raises an important question: Should you make gifts NOW and use your current exemption or wait and risk losing it? As a tax professional, I hear the speculation that Congress may break with history and reduce the exemption amount. If not, will they limit or ultimately remove the current estate tax savings techniques, including the annual gift exclusion? Will they repeal the “step-up” of basis for property that transfers at death? Or, will they impose a “deemed realization” of capital gains at death? Again, it’s a problem for those inheriting or gaining wealth. Most aren’t sympathetic until it happens to them. For instance, John dies with a stock worth $100 per share that he bought 30 years ago for $5 each. Currently, because of the “step-up” provision, John’s estate will not owe capital gains tax on the $95 increase in stock value. Instead, the shares pass into his estate at their full market value of $100 each. Heirs who receive the shares then have a cost of $100 each as a starting point for measuring taxable gain when they sell. However, if we lose the “step-up,” in addition to Pennsylvania inheritance tax there will also be a capital gains tax on the $95 growth at 43.4%. That is roughly $41.23 in tax per stock! Other strategies include making gifts to pay tuition or medical expenses, which are both tax-free. To qualify for this break, the giver must make the payment directly to the institution. Using a different strategy, givers can “bunch” five years of annual $15,000 gifts into a 529 education-savings plan, typically for children or grandchildren. For those residing in Pennsylvania who make a gift of more than $15,000 in a year to one person, a federal gift tax will not be due. If your gift to one person is more than $15,000, a simple gift tax return is filed reducing your overall lifetime exemption by the amount exceeding the $15,000 per year allowance. We have nearly $12 million to pull from, so tax is typically not an issue. What is an issue is the fact that, if you die within one year of this gift, as a Pennsylvania resident, the recipient of your gift will pay Pennsylvania inheritance tax. The tax ranges from 0% to 15%. Oftentimes, federal estate tax is confused with Pennsylvania inheritance tax. Pennsylvania inheritance tax is due on EVERY ASSET PASSING FROM A DECEDENT TO A BENEFICIARY, with the exception of life insurance. Therefore, if you own a joint checking account with your child, only 50% incurs inheritance tax. If you designate a beneficiary on your IRA, inheritance tax is based on the date of death value of such account. However, federal estate tax is only for those who die whose estate exceeds that year’s exemption amount (roughly $12 million for a single person). Despite the lifetime exemptions, one point you should make certain is that, should you make a gift within five years of requiring to qualify for Medicaid, your gifts (if they exceed a total of $500 in a one-month period) will be counted against you during the qualification assessment for Medicaid. Therefore, if you intend on “gifting” assets to reduce your estate, you must be cognizant of the five-year look-back period that exists within Pennsylvania. How long these “loop holes” will be available to any of us is a crapshoot. However, if you make a gift prior to the change, your “gift” is grandfathered in. Do not attempt to reduce your estate on your own. If you require assistance, contact Conti Law and your tax, estate and elder law professionals. October/November 2021 • www.awmagazine.com • 25CAround Your Town Around Your Town For the past six years, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden has been treating visitors to a unique and varied outdoor experience with winding trails, manicured gardens, a wild meadow, a Lotus Pond, forests and more. At one time, the property the garden sits on was strip mined for coal, but it is now being converted into a thriving regional attraction. Increasingly, PBG has also been integrating art exhibits and other interactive pieces into the garden that complement and enhance the overall visitor experience. When PBG opened its new Welcome Center earlier this year, it reserved a space specifically for rotating exhibits. Several interactive pieces have also been installed throughout the garden and, at the end of September, PBG unveiled a new large-scale installation in a new five-acre grassy field that had previously been closed to visitors. The piece, titled “Carbon Cycle,” was designed by Toronto- based landscape architect W. Gary Smith and is meant to symbolize the garden’s transformation from a coal mine. Smith and PBG horticulture and facilities director Sue Myers came up with the exhibit’s title while collaborating on the project from afar earlier this year. The piece then came together in late September, thanks in large part to help from a few dozen volunteers. To get to the installation, visitors first cross a bridge over the Lotus Pond and then head up the slope. The entrance is marked by two pillars made of Tulip Poplar branches that volunteers bundled for the exhibit. Beyond, visitors follow a winding path through a grassy field that PBG has spent the past few years enhancing. The path then leads to the exhibit, which consists of 12 felled trees placed in a circle with their trunks pointing toward a pile of coal in the center. The ends of the trees have been carved into points and stained to look charred. In a circle surrounding the exhibit, young native tree saplings raised by Tree Pittsburgh have also been planted. Smith says elements in the piece symbolize how carbon released from coal that was once mined on garden property is now being captured and converted into minerals and compounds that help cultivate plants, thereby giving the area renewed life. He says they even went as far as to ensure that the same type of coal that was mined there was brought in for the exhibit. He says that this process is particularly important today, given the role that released carbon plays in global warming. “There is a specific narrative involved, a specific story being told which is about the reclamation of an old coal mine and then the reforestation of that land and then bringing in the garden,” says Smith. “So, that whole process of ecological succession from disturbed land into healthy land is the story.” Visitors at the site can either follow a winding path into the exhibit or view it from atop a high wall that was created when coal was removed from the site. PBG reshaped and reinforced the high wall path while developing the property. Viewed from above, the exhibit resembles a wheel with spokes. Myers says that idea of a cycle made sense when coming up with the exhibit’s title. “It made sense in my mind, taking the scientific concept of something that really is a giant cycle, of carbon moving from the atmosphere into plants and into the ground and sometimes into the Earth’s crust, and then it comes back out, released again by burning coal or wood, and goes round and round again,” she says. Smith, who has created exhibits at other botanic gardens across the country, says that most of his exhibits are temporary and “fed to the chipper” at the end of the summer. This exhibit, however, will remain for at least two years and change with the seasons. Over time, as the trees surrounding the exhibit grow, they will create a circular canopy that will become part of future exhibits. Smith and Myers say the choice of trees to plant was significant, as those trees were raised from hand-picked native seeds rather than genetically identical clones, which is the case with many commercially available trees. They say introducing genetically diverse, native trees with a lineage that has acclimated to the area was important. Myers says that about 400 acres of PBG property lie beyond the five acres that were opened for “Carbon Cycle.” She says some of that property was the very last to be mined and that PBG volunteers have planted over 14,000 trees on that part of the property. In addition to “Carbon Cycle,” another exhibit called “Forever Spring” is also now on display in the Welcome Center. It consists of 10 watercolor paintings by San Francisco-based artist Gary Bukovnik. The artist’s work is already part of permanent exhibits at the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University. Bukovnik visited the garden for a reception Sept. 9 and unveiled a piece created exclusively for the garden that will remain with its permanent collection. The exhibit will be on display through October. For more, visit pittsburghbotanicgarden.org. PBG opens new exhibit garden with art installation STORY AND PHOTOS BY DOUG HUGHEY W. Gary Smith, an internationally known landscape artist and designer, recently visited Pittsburgh Botanic Garden in order to oversee installation of a new exhibit he designed called “Carbon Cycle” (at right) in a new section of the garden. Watercolor paintings by San Francisco-based artist Gary Bukovnik are also currently on display through October at PBG’s Welcome Center. 26 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2021 October/November 2021 • www.awmagazine.com • 27 Heroes Supporting Heroes would like to thank all of the businesses and people who made the 2021 West Allegheny Workcamp a great success! First, to all of the residents who participated in this year’s Workcamp, “Thank you” for the opportunity to serve and assist you with projects on your home. We would like to acknowledge the businesses, organizations and people who supported the West Allegheny Workcamp through donations of money, materials, services, and time. “It Takes A Village” to make Workcamp a success! In our case, set-up week volunteers, hospitality volunteers, ladder lenders, ladder collectors, service providers, delivery volunteers, site writers, camp staff volunteers, weekly helpers and many more played a huge part. Organizations and businesses also provided lodging, meals, snacks, water, ice, equipment, waste removal, paint, lumber, skirting, plants, gravel and other project materials. Thank you to the following businesses, organizations and individuals: The need is great and we are small. But with your help and God’s grace all things are possible. Thank you!! Looking forward to the next West Allegheny Workcamp in 2023! Adam Krepol Allegheny West Magazine America’s Best Value Inn Angelia’s Pizza Bill Mitchell Billy Scott Brett Barker Brian Stanny Brusters Ice Cream Cathy & Jeff Scott Chad Slovick Charlie Campbell Chuck Fratangelo Chuck Kozwoski Clearview Federal Credit Union Clockwise Tees Cooked Goose Catering Crossroads Church Dan Taylor Interiors Inc. Dave Glowark Dave Kriznik Dave MacMillan Dave Turner Dave Zurn David Davis Communications David Zurn Debbie & Frank Nagode Debbie & Marty Mavrich Debbie & Paul Mirich Delvin Irwin Denise Pangersis Dennis Dumpsters Devin Foster Don Coleman Dr. Josh Slomkowski Drew Turner Ed Glowark Ed Stormer Ernie Leopold Findlay Township Board of Supervisors Findlay Township Parks and Recreation Glenn Schade Greg Hough Gregory and Betty Daniels Group Mission Trips Group Workcamp Staff Hank Lack Hoberek Enterprises Inc. Hometown Spine & Sport HSH Board Jan & John Kreutzman Jeff & Sue Lutz Jeff Davis Joel Colinear John Foth John Lee Jon & Emmy Winslow Josh Lutz Just Dance Conservatory Ken Farrell Ladder Day Saints Lee Hostetler Liberty Lumber Lowe’s Store #1200 Lutz Contracting Ma’s Ice Cream Shop Makenna Van Wyk Marianne & Doug King Mark Curtis MinuteMan Press Southside MRV Siding Supply North Fayette Police Department North Fayette Township Board of Supervisors Peg Landon Pittsburgh Area Military Commissary Rich Arbogast Rich Stenzel Rock Mulch & More Ryan Waggoner Scott Ecoff Scott Family Seth Hostetler Sherwin Williams #1865 in Sewickley Sierra W/O Wires Inc. Specialty Ice Distribution St. Isidore the Farmer Parish Sue Peindl Suellyn Fratangelo Sunshine Party & Event Rentals Susan Johnson Susie Dorman Ted Lutz Theresa Locke Tim Chappell Tom Falcioni Tom McMillen Turner Lutz Union Church Valley Presbyterian Church Vince Weber Walnut Ridge Vineyards West Allegheny Donaldson Cafeteria Staff West Allegheny Donaldson Custodial Staff West Allegheny School Board West Allegheny School District West Allegheny School Staff Proud Co-sponsor of West Allegheny Workcamp October/November 2021 • www.awmagazine.com • 28y > Learning Curves Learning Curves If you own a house in the Pittsburgh suburbs that was built prior to 1980 and it still has the original sewer line, you could be in for some trouble. Most residential sewer lines in this area were 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 lawns. Replacing a line by excavating it can thus involve demolishing and replacing costly items such as driveways, retaining walls and nicely manicured 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 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 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 October/November 2021 • www.awmagazine.com • 29Next >