Board Chooses New Ward 2 Commissioner

commissioners appointed Donald Rectenwald Monday night to fill the Ward 2 vacancy.

The vote was 6-0. Commissioner Nick Seitanakis participated in the meeting by phone.

"We were pleasantly surprised we had seven very good candidates. They only problem is we can only pick one," President Bob Orchowski said. "It was a very tough decision."

Rectenwald is a 20-year resident of Upper St. Clair and president of . He spent seven years on the Upper St. Clair Parks and Recreation Board and played a big part in the planning of Boyce Mayview Park.

During his , Rectenwald said he is not against the on the corner of Washington and Fort Couch Roads.

( for the latest article on the former Consol development.)

"It's pretty obvious the northern end (of Upper St. Clair) is a commercial area," Rectenwald said. "I live across from a ."

He also said he likes the current plan for a residential area within the development instead of it just being a large commercial development.

However, Rectenwald is concerned about the increase in traffic it could cause and is interested in working with the traffic engineer to find ways to ease congestion.

Rectenwald added that he is not against the , but would like to protect Route 19 and not have commercial development in southern Upper St. Clair.

Rectenwald told commissioners they would find him to be even-tempered and a listener who takes all points of view into account.

Rectenwald will serve the rest of Mark Hamilton's term, which ends in December 2013.

from his position at the start of the year.

Upper St. Clair Athletic Association Presents Check

Joe Krolcyzk, of the Upper St. Clair Athletic Association, presented the commissioners with a check for more than $19,000 on Monday night.

The money will be used to offset township costs to maintain the sport facilities.

What is your take on the commissioners' decision to appoint Donald Rectenwald as Ward 2 commissioner? Tell us in the comments.