By Bob Podurgiel
Carnegie council members adopted an ordinance regulating the opening and operation of Airbnb rentals in the borough.
Council President Phil Boyd pointed to the rapid growth of Airbnb rentals as the reason for passing the ordinance during the July 10 municipal meeting.
“We want to get our arms around it. Before Covid there were three in the borough. There are now 14 after Covid,” council president Boyd said.
Airbnb is a company that brokers and receives a commission for arranging short-term home rentals from one night to over a year.
“The Airbnb (rentals) take resident’s parking, and we want to determine where they can and can’t be, and give relief to the residents when it comes to parking,” Boyd said.
During an interview after the meeting, Johnston questioned the sincerity of Scholl’s interest in the position and expressed skepticism that he’d even volunteered for the seat.
Borough Manager Ray McCutcheon said via email that three candidates had expressed interest in the Ward 3 seat, but did not name the third person who submitted a letter of interest.
Scholl openly acknowledged he was sought out by borough officials.
“I know the borough manager and he approached me about it,” he said.
Scholl said McCutcheon’s suggestion appealed to him because he was a longtime Coraopolis homeowner and had not done anything public service-wise since he served on the hospital board for Ohio Valley Hospital from 2009 to 2016.
Scholl said he doesn’t have a specific agenda on the board, but believes his financial expertise will come in handy.
“I spoke to [Council member] Allison [Marine] and we had talked, I asked her the challenges they were dealing with,” Scholl said.
He does not know if he will run in November to extend his term.
“We’ll see how this goes,” Scholl said.