Riverview School Board Wants Details on River's Edge TIF Plan

Riverview School Board has rejected a proposed resolution that would initiate a study for providing tax monies to finance a portion of the proposed River’s Edge development at the former site of Edgewater Steel Co. in Oakmont.

The board voted 6-0, with school directors Mary Kay Stein and Arlene Loeffler absent, against the proposal that would have given the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County permission to prepare a detailed Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Plan for consideration by the property’s three taxing bodies — the school district, the county and Oakmont Borough.

“Even though it’s non-committal, I have grave reservations about it,” said school board member John Hackworth, citing the resolution’s “ambiguity,” his own concerns about giving up school district tax revenues for the project and questions about how the plan would affect other parts of the development.

The state’s TIF act gives local taxing bodies the authority to cooperate in providing financing for development of blighted areas to increase the tax base, provide new employment opportunities and improve the general economy.

Ken Doyno, a representative of Rothschild Doyno, the architectural design firm working on the project, had asked the school board to approve the proposed resolution provided by the Allegheny Economic Development Office. At the school board study session on Feb. 21, several members expressed concerns about any language in the resolution that might obligate the school district before officials conduct a study of the matter.

Solicitor Pat Clair advised the school board to reject the proposed resolution, saying it was “premature to approve it at this point.” The proposed resolution stated that approval was non-binding and that participation on the TIF committee was not endorsing acceptance of the plan.

The board has appointed three members — Joe DiMario, John Hackworth and Dave Kadylak — to serve on the TIF committee. School board President Anne Shearon asked Superintendent Chuck Erdeljac to communicate to those involved that the board has people ready to serve on the committee but that “the reality is there’s been no specific proposal of a TIF.”

Brooks and Blair Homes LLC of Wexford is the developer for the 28-acre site, which is expected to include single-family homes, condominiums, townhouses, a restaurant, parks and a private boat dock.  

Kacin Companies of Murrysville is building an upscale residential community with office and retail space on a second 34-acre parcel at the site of the former steel mill.