Steering Committee Will Participate in #1 Cochran Discussions

A steering committee of Dormont citizens, business owners and a local church will be formed to assist Dormont council members in a discussion of .

voted Monday night to form the committee, which would include business owners in the area near the location on West Liberty Avenue, citizens living in the area, and representatives from .

“I know there’s once again been some rumors circulating, but we have not sold, traded or even talked to Cochran about their proposal,” said council President Bill McCartney.

Several people who spoke at the meeting offered to serve on the committee, including local business owners and a representative of Bethany Lutheran.

Joe D’Amico, owner of on West Liberty Avenue, said his restaurant has never had a need for valet parking because customers typically are able to find parking spaces near the restaurant.

He said he was interested in preserving the metered lot near his business on West Liberty Avenue, not only because of its convenience to customers, but because it could be dangerous to park on the street.

“I would be happy to be a part of your steering committee just to offer some insight if I can,” he said. “As some of you know, we have a second location in Peters Township in a beautiful strip mall, and we have parking problems there. I would be happy to share those at any given time.”

Council also voted to appoint a real estate attorney to assist the borough in negotiations with #1 Cochran involving land swaps and similar issues.

“Currently what we have are Cochran’s numbers, which we need to validate with our own numbers,” McCartney said, in response to a resident’s question about the issue. “We want to have our own appraisals done, so we’re moving very cautiously on the Cochran thing.”

McCartney said the process for developing the steering committee would be discussed during borough committee meetings throughout March. Borough committee meetings are not voting meetings, and they are open to the public.

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