McDonald sets aside day for beautification project

By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
McDONALD -- Within the next few weeks, the village should become cleaner and greener.
The annual village cleanup and beautification project is set for 9 a.m. to noon May 12 at Ramsey Pavilion on Ohio Avenue, council member B.J. Farr announced at Wednesday's council meeting. Participants will pick up litter along several busy thoroughfares, plant flowers, apply mulch and perhaps help repaint some park equipment, said Farr, who also heads council's parks and buildings committee.
Council also approved a motion to appoint Cynthia Green for the third consecutive year as McDonald Park supervisor. Green's duties will include overseeing the five park attendants and the park's day-to-day operations; she also will be involved with many of the summer concerts and programs, Farr said.
Also at the session, council approved giving a third reading to an ordinance to increase the salaries of volunteer firefighters, and passed a separate ordinance designating as a three-way stop McKinley Boulevard and Pennsylvania Avenue.
Pay increases
If the ordinance to amend their salaries passes, the firefighters will be paid 7.65 per drill and 10.95 per call, up from 7.43 and 10.61, respectively, Solicitor William Roux noted. The higher rates would take effect in June, he said, and the ordinance also would provide a pay increase for emergency medical technicians.
The department has 38 firefighters, 27 of whom are volunteers, Chief Ed Winterbauer said.
Roux said that the three-way stop is necessary because the nearby McDonald Industrial Park bridge is closed for construction and the intersection will likely see heavier truck traffic. The move should cut down on the potential for accidents, he predicted.
In other action, Mayor James Border announced that structural repairs will get under way this year to the Niles-McDonald viaduct. Border, however, was unable to provide a date for the work to begin or a dollar estimate.