Local Government Academy is pleased to announce the 2017 Municipal Intern Program projects. Click here to download a PDF with the full project descriptions.

Students interested in these projects should register and attend the Municipal Intern Fair on March 30, 2017.  Click here for more information.

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Ambridge Borough
600 11th Street
Ambridge, PA 15003
Development and Implementation of the Ambridge Business Investment Strategy Plan
The goal of this project is to develop and implement a Business Investment Strategy Plan that focuses on Ambridge’s Downtown and Historic Districts.  The intern will help determine regional and national resources that reach potential investors with interest in historic district communities and traditional downtown cores; develop comprehensive contact spread sheet for resources.

Baldwin Borough
3344 Churchview Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15227
Sanitary System and Building Inspection Program Evaluation
The selected intern will analyze effectiveness of current regulations in order to improve the rate of compliance. The regulations the intern will evaluate include a sanitary sewer consent order, residential and commercial safety regulations, and the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Program.

Braddock Borough
415 Sixth Street
Braddock, PA 15104
Capital Plan Fund
Braddock Borough is in need of a plan for capital improvement and development as well as getting funds to do improvement in the buildings and around the borough. This plan will address the antiquated boiler system, and the non-energy efficient windows and doors in the building. This plan will also be inclusive of maintenance for the Civic Plaza.  The ultimate goal for the intern is to have  a comprehensive funding plan for these capital improvements and present it to Borough Council.

Brentwood Borough
3624 Brownsville Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15227
Ten Year Capital Improvement Plan
Brentwood is seeking to improve the efficiency in the allocation of scarce resources toward capital projects while still retaining its operational capacity.  In order to achieve this goal, the Borough is proposing to implement its initial Ten Year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Our Borough is seeking the assistance of an engaged and enthusiastic graduate intern to draft this vital policy document.  The project would consist of several unique phases that would lead to the formulation of a plan that will be annually reviewed as an integral part of the budgeting process.

Buffalo Township Municipal Authority
707 South Pike Road
Sarver, PA 16055
Enhancement of Communication Tools with Our Customer Base
We are in need of a creative and talented individual to enhance the way we interface with our customers by improving our communication tools.  Not only is our website lacking in functionality, but our mass emergency notification system through Swift Reach 911, which is a state requirement to employ this type of system, only has 141 users registered out of 2,810 customers.  We are hoping an “out of the box thinker” will join our team and improve our customer reliability by designing and implementing a user-friendly and informative website, linking our emergency notification system and possibly online bill pay to this website – one stop shopping for water and sewage services!

Canton Township
655 Grove Avenue
Washington, PA 15301
Emergency Management Implementation
The selected intern will assist in planning and implementation of Canton Township’s Emergency Management Plans and Emergency Operations Center.  Assessing hazards of businesses and special needs residents in Canton Township. Working along with and local organizations, churches, groups in identifying shelters within Canton Township.  Assisting in the completion of information needed for implementing Canton Townships Emergency Alert System.  Also working with local business owners on mutual aid agreements.

Chartiers Township
2 Buccaneer Drive
Houston, PA 15342
Planning Department Record Management System Development
The goal of this project is to create a logical system to manage the files generated as a result of the subdivision land development process.  The intern will help create a system that will make filing not only uniform but also easily accessible.  We anticipate creation of a mirrored database to accompany the paper filing system that is searchable thereby increasing efficiency.  The system developed will be used for current and future development plans to grow as the Township grows.

Churchill Borough
2300 WILLIAM PENN HIGHWAY
PITTSBURGH, PA 15235
Data base/ Communications Consultant
The borough would like to foster better communication with and among the residents. The intern would be required to conduct a survey to determine the wants/needs of our population of just over 3,000.  After an assessment, they would design and implement a data base to include email addresses and other pertinent information for forms of communication.

East McKeesport Borough
907 Florence Avenue
East McKeesport, PA 15035
Consolidation/Modernization of Community Records and Business Reinvestment Action Plan
There are two main objectives that the intern will be tasked with completing over the summer. The first is to consolidate and modernize the record keeping of the Borough. The intern will be asked to assist with the organization of historical files within the Borough and create a filing system of records that can be used by the manager and council. The second part of the internship will be to capture and create an action plan for our business district corridor.

Edgeworth Borough
301 Beaver Street
Edgeworth, PA 15143
Digital Street Tree Inventory
The goal for this program will be to create an all-encompassing local government experience for the LGA Intern with an overarching goal of ushering in an era of digitization by creating a searchable data base for all Borough street trees. This internship will give the candidate an opportunity to experience local government in action while also helping to propel our community’s street tree inventory into a GIS based searchable database. Further, the intern will work intergovernmentally as the GIS component of the project will be administered through work with the affiliated Council of Governments.

Elizabeth Township
522 Rock Run Road
Elizabeth, PA 15037
Development and Implementation of the MS4 Program in Elizabeth Township
The overall goals of the project will be to complete an MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer) map, collect data from outfall GPS points, organize inspection, education and training records, create pamphlets for MS4, organize public outreach and delineate watersheds for their outfalls.

Greenville Borough
125 Main St
Greenville, PA 16125
GIS Mapping Project
The intern will compile as much information as possible and enter it into our GIS system. The intern will need to have a fairly good working knowledge of current GIS software. This data will help provide recommendations for policy considerations that can be implemented in an effort to create a more effective government. The intern selected for this project, will gain valuable knowledge of data collection and using it in a real world GIS system.

Homestead Borough
221 East 7th Avenue
Homestead, PA 15120
Steel Valley Revitalization
The overall goal for the Borough of Homestead is to update the outdated 2001 Comprehensive Plan that comprise of three adjacent, municipalities in the Steel Valley (Homestead, West Homestead and Munhall) and to assist in developing the framework for a Main Street Program and National Main Street Accreditation as part of the municipality’s economic development strategy. The student will assist the Borough Manager / Chief of Administration and staff with these community and economic development initiatives as well as work with elected officials, business owners, residents, stakeholders and the Pennsylvania Downtown Center from Harrisburg.

Jackson Township
140 Magill Road
Zelienople, PA 16063
Jackson  Township  Planning Implementation Strategy
The intern will assist in developing a Ten Year Capital Improvements Plan. They will help develop plans for road improvements (maintenance and new construction), recreation improvements and equipment purchases (including police and public works equipment and vehicles). The intern will also help prioritize and plan for submission of grant applications, in addition to developing a monitoring plan to track the success of the ten-year plan.

Moon Township
1000 Beaver Grade Road
Moon Township, PA 15108
Human Resources – Personnel File Improvement Project
The goal of this project is threefold. First, the selected intern will research what should be contained within an employee personnel file and from that research prepare a recommendation on setting up and maintaining employee personnel files. With this information at hand, the intern will then go through the active and inactive employee personnel files and organize them in accordance with the new protocol. Finally, the intern will utilize the Township’s new HR module upgrade to our financial software and enter all available employee information, which will create an electronic personnel file system.

Penn Hills Municipality
12245 Frankstown Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15235
ArcGIS mapping of Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4)
To update existing ArcGIS Mapping of the municipal storm sewers in order to maintain compliance of PA DEP and EPA mandates. The mapping will be done using tablets in the field collecting data with GPS coordinates and adding it to an online mapping system. Water quality sampling will be done along side the data collection.

Pittsburgh
414 Grant Street, 4th Floor – Room 431
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
HRIS Data Integrity and Compliance
The City of Pittsburgh is utilizing a new Human Resources Information System (HRIS) and we need to ensure the integrity of our data transfer.  The person working on this project will review and analyze data fields in the system and update the HRIS fields for each employee record according to the findings of their analysis.

Quaker Valley Council of Governments
8306 Ohio River Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15202
Multi-Municipal Property Database and GIS Strategy Implemention
The goal of this project is the up the “Blight Fight” for communities by responding to changes in the funding landscape. Students will have the opportunity to research and build their knowledge of community revitalization strategies, planning, priority setting, databases & GIS, and sustainable development. This placement provides ample opportunity to hone data management skills, make recommendations, interact with department heads, elected officials and the community.

Steel Rivers Council of Governments
1705 Maple Street
Homestead, PA 15120
GIS Data Intern
An LGA intern will work with SRCOG Director, one other intern and a consultant to support the transition of the desktop based GIS data to an ArcGIS Online environment and to share the data on the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center. The student will gain experience working with a variety of GIS data sets and will be a part of a team who will decide how to best share and present the data.

Wilkinsburg Borough
605 Ross Ave
Wilkinsburg, PA 15221
Program Development
Interns will coordinate with community partners and Borough staff while developing, planning and launching a weekly, ongoing, Senior Citizen program and a 6-week summer recreation program, that will occur once a week. An important part of this project is presenting a sustainability plan for the continuation of these programs. Interns will be granted some creative liberty in the creation of these projects, but general guidelines will be provided by the Borough manager and related staff.