Good news from our schools about protecting children from drugs

Drugs, alcohol and other mind-altering substances have been a problem in America’s schools for decades. But even though they present a serious challenge, it seems as though many communities don’t take them all that seriously. One result, according to a recently released nationwide study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is that the use of illicit drugs is disturbingly high and growing.

Nearly half the high school seniors studied reported having used some form of illicit drug at one point in their lives. And almost a quarter of the seniors surveyed in 2010 had done so just within the previous month.

That doesn’t even count alcohol use. Two-thirds of the seniors in the study reporting drinking within the past year; more than 40 percent of them just within the past month. And 2.7 percent reported drinking daily, notwithstanding the fact that they were all significantly under the legal drinking age. It’s no wonder that math and science test scores of American students have fallen behind those of every other industrialized nation, as well as most developing ones.

The good news is that Seneca Valley’s schools seem to be moving the other direction. And they have data to prove it. That’s because the school, for the past eight years, has had a drug testing policy in place. Although it doesn’t apply to all students – the district is legally limited in who they can include in the mandatory testing program – it applies to the great majority who either participate in athletics, in extracurricular activities, or drive to school.

What it shows is that the average positive drug test result for Seneca Valley students is 0.43 percent – less than half of one percent. Nationally, the corresponding number is 2.5 percent – more than five times higher. Even more importantly, the Seneca Valley number has gone down in each of the last three years from 0.72 percent in 2009, and 0.66 percent in 2010.

The key to Seneca Valley’s approach is that the tests – which are administered by Ohio-based Sports Safe Testing Service – are not used as tools to punish students or expel them from the district’s schools. Instead, they are intended to provide an early warning of trouble to parents and school administrators. And in the sequence of five follow-up tests required for those who did test positive for drugs, only one student showed evidence of a repeat offense.

As a result, the program has become a model for other schools all around the country, and school administrators have been approached not only by other districts, but by CBS News and the White House Office of national Drug Control Policy to learn more about Seneca Valley’s success.

For a school district which has steadily raised its academic performance, this show of concern about drug use should tell local parents that Seneca Valley takes a broad approach to student health and achievement, and that it acts with their children’s best interests at heart. As a parent of three Seneca Valley students, I really appreciate that. As one of my Township Supervisor’s always reminds me, “it’s easy to do nothing; it’s hard to do the right thing.” Seneca Valley has chosen to do the right thing. My thanks to the leadership of our school district.

Let me know what you think, at jerry.andree@cranberrytownship.org

Cranberry Township's blooming economy

Our Board of Supervisors requires staff to constantly evaluate the effects of public policy decisions, which include ordinances and investments in public infrastructure.  This review process is to assure the end result is consistent with the expectation. To accomplish that task we monitor many factors, including employment data, private investment in the community and other key economic indicators. We have completed a review of the most current data and it includes some very upbeat information about Cranberry’s economy, and I’d like to share it with you.

For one thing, the number of new jobs created here just since 2002 has hit 11,500, for a grand total of 24,000. That’s a whopping 92 percent increase. We’ve also seen a significant investment in non-residential development, with lots of new offices, hotels, and retail construction during the past year alone. In March we had over $11 million in new commercial construction – almost half of which was for Talisman Energy’s expanded headquarters in Thorn Hill Industrial Park. And last month we had our biggest April in five years.

Our residential development is moving along nicely as well. In addition to conventional subdivisions, it also includes apartments, traditional neighborhoods, townhomes and retirement communities.

And all three of those indicators – jobs, commercial construction, and new housing – are related; new employment requires new work space and new employees require new homes.

Some people might think it’s strange at a time when America’s economy has been under tremendous stress, and unemployment is high, and our national recovery is often characterized as fragile, that Cranberry could have such huge economic growth. After all, we’re all part of the same country, aren’t we?

Of course the answer is ‘yes.’ But it’s also a reflection of the fact that national economic figures are composites – they average together places that are doing well, places that are doing badly, and those that are just treading water. It’s sort of like the weather; you can come up with an average temperature for the country, but you’d be wrong for most places. We already know most of the reasons that weather varies from place to place, but what about variations in the economy?

Let me suggest an answer: it’s that local economic health is heavily influenced by local laws, local taxes, local policies, and local investment. And each locality is different. Cranberry's new numbers offer convincing evidence that the Township's success at a time of regional and national stress is a reflection of the vision and priorities our community has articulated through a collaborative and transparent process. The Board of Supervisors, in response, have been taking concrete steps to implement those priorities and vision through public policy decisions, including investments in infrastructure, through an equally transparent process.

The community's over-arching goal: to create an environment where private investment can succeed, where property values grow, and where families can flourish. A spin-off of achieving this goal is the creation of an environment that attracts quality employers that share similiar goals. The numbers confirm we are on target with the expectations of those public policy decisions and investments in infrastructure.

I have had the honor of working in local government for nearly 35 years and am pretty passionate about it. I have seen what’s happening across the spectrum of government in Pennsylvania up close and personal, and much of it isn’t pretty. As I have said here in the past, I feel blessed to work for a community where many residents and businesses are committed to do what it takes to keep Cranberry Township a premier, sustainable community. Plus, our governing body "gets-it" and embraces collaboration in managing our local government.

So to the thousands of residents and business leaders who have pitched in to move Cranberry forward, I salute you. You are the reason for our success – a success clearly reflected in the most current economic and employment numbers. Thank you!

As always, your feedback is welcome, jerry.andree@cranberrytownship.org

The Sovereign Republic of Cranberry

Cranberry Township doesn’t have a Secretary of State or a U.N. ambassador, but it’s building the foundation for its own foreign policy. It’s a policy which was broadly outlined in the long-range comprehensive plan our Board of Supervisors adopted in 2009. In essence, it calls for taking steps to create a welcoming environment for the growing number of residents and visitors to Cranberry from around the world – a need underscored by the findings of the 2010 census.

The Westinghouse Electric Company’s 2006 decision to relocate to Cranberry was a major impetus for that push; the company’s multi-billion dollar business is global, so its worldwide outreach directly affects Cranberry’s local economy. In fact, it was the company’s selection by Chinese authorities to build a series of new power plants there that triggered the need for Westinghouse to expand its workforce into a new campus here in the first place. And other Cranberry-based companies are increasingly global as well. So Cranberry’s prosperity has become inexorably bound up with the success of our international commerce.

Earlier this week, a group of 30 area residents gathered at Cranberry’s the House of Chen restaurant to celebrate the first year anniversary of the Cranberry Township Sister City Association – an organization that actually extends beyond Cranberry to include Butler County Rotary Clubs, Slippery Rock University, the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, and various regional organizations concerned with international affairs, as well as a number of multi-national firms located in Cranberry.

Through that program, American Sister Cities are paired with corresponding cities abroad. In the case of Cranberry, that sister city is Haiyang, a coastal city of 670,000 on the Yellow Sea, which is also where two of the power plants that Westinghouse is building in China are located. Sister Cities typically work on projects to build understanding, goodwill, and personal contacts with the businesses and residents of their overseas counterparts.

Although it enjoys support from the Township government in the form of a resolution adopted by Cranberry’s Board of Supervisors last fall, the Cranberry Township Sister Cities Association is actually an independent, nonprofit, non-governmental institution open to businesses, individuals, and organizations that share an interest in China, in cultural diversity, or in travel abroad.

In its first year, the Association held a number of events, including a well-attended cultural fair at Sherwood Oaks. It also assisted with the Welcoming International Neighbor group, or W.I.N., which was another outgrowth of the Cranberry Plan. That group, which held its first New Neighbors Expo earlier this week, also enjoys support from dozens of Cranberry residents who make sure our new international neighbors are received in a warm and friendly manner.

So congratulations to the Cranberry Township Sister City Association  and to W.I.N.  They offer another demonstration of why Cranberry Township is becoming an even more awesome place to live, work and play.

I would welcome your feedback: jerry.andree@cranberrytownship.org

For some folks in Cranberry, Springtime is Speedtime

By Lt. Kevin Meyer, Cranberry Township Police Department

Thank goodness it’s spring.  People here are celebrating the warm weather with outdoor get-togethers, family vacations and, I’m sorry to say, by speeding on local roads.  Every year at this time, our Police Department sees the number of complaints about speeding vehicles spike, along with the number of drivers who blatantly disregard stop signs.  This is of particular concern in residential neighborhoods where children are outside playing in their yards, on the sidewalks, and occasionally in the street.

Our officers are keenly aware of the consequences of speeding autos; after all, we’re the first ones on the scene who have to deal with the consequences when something goes wrong.  So especially in residential areas, we will be out in force this spring to identify problem areas and enforce the posted limits. 

To help, Cranberry’s police department has created a dedicated Traffic Enforcement Unit.  Its primary function is to keep motorists and pedestrians safe by addressing such traffic-related issues as stop sign violations, speeding, and identifying distracted or impaired drivers.  They are also responsible for conducting accident investigations.  But we can’t be everywhere at once, so we need your help in two ways. 

First, I would encourage you and everyone you know to drive safely during this season and to persuade other drivers in your family, as well as your friends, to do the same.  Second, if speeders are a problem where you live, call 911 right away so we can act in a timely fashion.  And if you have any other traffic related questions or concerns, feel free to contact our Traffic Enforcement Unit head, Corporal Bill Ahlgren, at william.ahlgren@cranberrytownship.org or 724-776-5180 x1423.

Thank you. 

Cranberry’s Left-leaning Traffic Signal Patterns

By Duane McKee, Assistant Township Manager, Cranberry Township

Have you noticed a change in the traffic light patterns along Routes 19 and 228? It’s subtle, but it is one of many steps we have taken over the years to help improve traffic management along our major corridors.

During my tenure in Cranberry over nearly 20 years, I’ve been closely involved with putting a succession of new traffic management systems into place. Our first coordinated traffic signal system, 17 years ago, included 12 intersections; today, we coordinate more than 30 of them from a state-of-the-art Traffic Operations Center we opened earlier this year.

We completed our first signal project in 1994, which included the beginning of our fiber optic system that now connects 90% of our signals. It was the backbone for the current signal infrastructure, and it created a system we could update periodically. It was a simple, clock-driven, time-of-day plan. And for a while, it worked quite well. But as our needs grew, so too did traffic control technology – advancing from clocks, to closed loop systems, to traffic-responsive systems, and hopefully someday to automation. And Cranberry was an early adopter of all of them.

Those upgrades always involved Partners – PennDOT District 10, the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) and private developers. Most motorists do not realize that traffic signals are owned by the municipality, even those on state highways. And they are expensive to operate and maintain. We could have chosen the route most communities have taken in regards to traffic signals which is to be reactive, but that is not an acceptable method to our Board of Supervisors. Our position has been and will continue to be proactive in managing the traffic that is passing through our community, no matter where it came from or where it’s going. That includes allocating the appropriate resources to properly maintain those systems. We also understood that motorists did not know or care which municipality they were driving through and simply wanted traffic flows that were as efficient as possible.  Poorly operated traffic signals costs motorists time and fuel. That is why Cranberry advanced the idea of managing traffic as a traffic-shed and successfully engaged our neighboring communities of Marshall and Adams Townships and Seven Fields Borough in that effort.

In our proactive position we’ve always understood that simply adding more asphalt could not be the ultimate answer to traffic congestion. We knew we would need to use all the tools in the box – particularly the ones involving more advanced signal management systems – to get the most out of the pavement already in place.

That turned out to be a good thing because in 2007, the State's General Assembly approved Act 44. That Act severely reduced funds for state highway capacity expansion projects. It left Cranberry to deal with its congestion issues, just like other Pennsylvania communites.  Fortunately, due to the foresight of our Board of Supervisors we were far better prepared for that responsiblity than most other communities – by building upon the electronic technology that was the backbone of our system.

Our most recent opportunity to implement new enhancements came with an SPC SINC-UP grant and a state Infrastructure Development Program grant (IDP). The SINC-UP grant was created to help communities manage their traffic signals to decrease driver frustration, cut emissions, and reduce fuel waste. Due to Cranberry Township's history of effectively operating our traffic signal systems, we were a perfect fit for the SINC-Up grant. The IDP grant was specifically targeted to help Westinghouse mitigate it's impact on our infrastructure, including the traffic signal systems. The IDP funds were used to acquire the most recent generation of traffic management software, which went on line earlier this month.

All of those efforts resulted in the timing and movement changes that were implemented on April 5. This was a team effort. The IPD grant was managed by the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development and the Community Development Corporation of Butler County. SPC pulled together a great team of traffic engineering, operation and technology specialists and our own signal technicians to develop and implement custom-crafted traffic signal patterns. Our new signal sequence, known as “leading lefts,” was part of that solution.

Leading lefts are not a common pattern in our area. So we published a lot of information about it. We used local media, our newsletter, variable message boards, and social media to prepare the motoring public for its rollout on April 5. Right now, we’re in the monitoring phase – tweaking the timings to refine our traffic model information and make sure it’s working as intended.

But you can prove it for yourself; drive the length of the Route 19 and Route 228/Freedom Road corridors and see if you notice the improved flow of traffic. Also, please pay attention to the other traffic corridors you travel, you may even get a better appreciation of what we are doing in the Cranberry Township area traffic-shed.

Keep an eye out for those leading lefts and if you notice something that needs a little more tweaking, I would appreciate it if you dropped me a note at Duane.McKee@cranberrytownship.org

Coffees confirm local pride and passion

Yesterday I held my tenth ‘Coffee and Conversation’ with Cranberry residents.  Maybe I had too much coffee, but I’m feeling overwhelmed with the pride over the way our residents think about their community.  We launched our series of coffees last year to provide an additional channel for dialogue between our residents and their Township’s government.  Most of our communication up to that point had been mediated – information carried by print or Internet or text messaging – all of which were essentially one-way.

At the outset, quite frankly, we weren’t sure if the coffees were going to be successful – after all, we started them around the same time that congressional representatives all over the country were getting hammered by their constituents at town hall meetings about healthcare, stimulus spending, and other issues.  It wasn’t pretty.  But we put on our game face and said: let’s try it. 

Well, not only did we end up sharing coffee with more than 150 guests altogether, it reconfirmed how well-informed and caring the residents of Cranberry Township really are.  I heard excellent questions and thoughtful comments that clearly showed that people really were paying attention.  And it led to a great exchange of thoughts and ideas.  I left each of those coffees beaming with pride over the honor I have in serving a community of such engaged, informed and supportive residents.  It was really reassuring.

As a high school student back in the 1970’s, I remember loving my civic class; it spurred my interest in local government and it really never left me.  Unfortunately, our schools don’t offer those same types of civic classes today.  Civics seems to have gone the way of wood shop and other practical courses which gave everyone the sort of hands-on learning that stays with you for a lifetime.  Perhaps that’s why we work so hard in Cranberry to make sure there are lots of opportunities for civic involvement and education.  Just look around and you’ll be amazed by the civic involvement of our residents. 

Let me give you an example.  At last night’s Board of Supervisors meeting, there were two significant recognitions of residents whose activities helped to improve our community.  One was Amy Fuller, who headed up the Relay For Life fundraiser last July in North Boundary Park.  The American Cancer Society honored her for running the most successful Relay out of the 5,000 that were held last year nationwide. 

Then Michael Sherry was honored by the Cranberry Township Community Chest and Chamber of Commerce as their outstanding citizen of the year.  Michael was the driving force behind the Miracle League Baseball Field at Graham Park.  It is a remarkable facility, designed to accommodate players with serious disabilities, and it demonstrates our community’s insistence that children of all abilities get to experience the joy of playing baseball. 

One comment I recently heard from a resident really summed it up for me.  It was from a guy who provides financial services to local governments all across the state to help them with their operating and capital needs.  He told me that when his clients explain what they need, they inevitably say ‘we want to do it the way Cranberry Township is doing it.’  At that point, he beams and says ‘I know exactly what you mean, I live there myself, and I’m very proud of my community.’  Well, so am I.

If you have any ideas on how we can even do better with communications, I would love to hear from you by contacting me at jerry.andree@cranberrytownship.org

Supporting our High School Seniors is just as important as supporting our Golden Age Seniors

Perhaps, during a recent visit to the Municipal Center or one of our outdoor facilities, you’ve noticed groups of high school students huddling together, carrying out strange and unexpected activities.  You don’t need to notify the police.  They’re probably Seneca Valley high school students doing their senior projects.

Starting in February and continuing for another week or so, Cranberry Township’s facilities will have hosted 40 different students, at various locations, doing an assortment of worthwhile projects which are required for their graduation.  Among them: a presentation on dyslexia, an anti-bullying seminar, a musical program, various athletic competitions, fund-raising projects, and taste testing.  

These dedicated, hard-working students are actually completing one of the most stressful parts of their high school experience.  And Cranberry Township is honored to be able to help them with facility support, staff guidance and in other ways helping them achieve excellence in their projects.  

Since the school district’s own facilities are not available to support these student projects, the Township and its resources have emerged as a critical element of Seneca Valley students’ ability to graduate.  We are genuinely pleased to play such a key role in students’ success and ensuring that they get the most from their high school education.

So, the next time you see a group of high school students standing around a table or display at the Municipal Center, stop by and say hi; you’ll be amazed at what our SV seniors are doing.  They make us all proud.

If you have had any experiences with the students undertaking their senior projects in Cranberry Township, I would appreciate hearing about that experience by contacting me at Jerry.Andree@cranberrytownship.org