Pittsburgh City Council
Coghill finds money to repair a playground and buy a garbage truck.
Written by Amy Whipple
Council Member Anthony Coghill of Beechview wants to use $415,000 saved on lower interest payments to buy a garbage truck and for Brookline Memorial Park playground upgrades.
This is the second week in a row that a council member has presented a workaround to compensate for a lack of Department of Public Works vehicles.
The trash vehicle for DPW costs $165,000 and would complement Coghill’s recent request for $9,000 to purchase trash cans.
The other $250,000 be spent on playground upgrades. According to Coghill, the busy playground has broken equipment, some of which is roped off, and worn-out surfacing. He said the city didn’t allot any capital improvements for his district.
Peter McDevitt, city council’s budget director, said the requested money will come from a $3 million surplus in the operating budget from lower-than-anticipated interest rates.
Council Member Deb Gross of Highland Park expressed frustration because her district needs playground upgrades as well.
The Brookline playground Coghill wants to renovate is near the bottom of the list for parks that need to be upgraded: A 2023 controller’s analysis gave Brookline Memorial Park a 103 out of 135 priority ranking.
In 2019, voters approved a dedicated tax fund for park improvements. The fund came under council scrutiny when $1.6 million went to replacing park maintenance vehicles.
Connections to this story
- Elected officials:
- Anthony Coghill
- Governments:
- Pittsburgh City Council
- Public meetings:
- City Council · October 14, 2025
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