Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Futures Rehabilitation Center, Inc. held its annual meeting at the Center on Dec. 11 during which time board members reviewed the Agency’s 2011/2012 fiscal year operations. During the meeting, several board members were reappointed to serve three-year terms beginning January 2013. Those included, Sara Andrews, Susan Evans, Nancy Leonard, Katharine Pude and George Duke. Officers for the coming year are: Ron Orris, chairman; Richard Johnson, vice chairman; Marcia Avey, treasurer; Ross Neidich, secretary and Robert Esch, past chairman. Management team members gave a power point presentation to the board on their service areas. President and CEO William Leven provided an overview of the Agency along with program and fiscal results for the last fiscal year. The agency’s annual report, detailing program and financial results of the fiscal year was distributed to the board of directors. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Last month Bradford City Council was looking at 4.5 millage rate and a hefty tax increase. Tuesday, they learned the rate has been cut by more than half and they’re not finished cutting yet. Earlier in the afternoon it had been cut to 2.58 but City Clerk John Peterson said that thanks to a diligent insurance agent and the efforts of the city’s employee safety committees, another $60,000 was cut out of the budget, bringing the millage rate to 2.21. Peterson commended Sundahl Insurance and Fred Hilzinger for finding a better rate than the city had been getting for their workman’s compensation insurance. It been $213,959 and is now $151,911 for a rate reduction of 29 percent. He thanked Hilzinger for “going the extra mile for the City of Bradford.” Peterson added that city employees deserve a round of applause because the reduction can be directly attributed to the safety committee, headed by former Councilman Bob Onuffer, who brought safety issues...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Bradford’s newest councilmen agree that code enforcement is the number one priority of city residents. Almost all public comment council has received in the last six months has been about code enforcement, blighted properties and the historic district, said Councilman Fred Proper during Tuesday's council meeting. “The quality of life in our community is being affected by the property in the community – deteriorating property,” he said. As a council, “You got it across to us that it’s probably the number one priority in this community right now. We need to work together to handle that.” “I’ve got the message that it is the number one priority, aside from maybe some financial problems that we’re going to have to face,” he said. “This is the number one issue – blighted properties, code enforcement,” Councilman Jim Evans said. “The only reason it surpasses financial is we’re not building a budget right now.” “That message has come through loud a...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director There is something several people in Bradford don’t think is pretty in pink. The Riddell House. Sam Sylvester of the Historical Architectural Review Board said he was asked to attend Tuesday’s council meeting to talk about "the appropriateness of the recent pink job at the Riddell House.” “Joe (Troutman) is a friend of mine and I appreciate (that) he’s doing what he’s doing. But if the HARB is to be effective, we need to see the request first. We have not seen the request," Sylvester said. He said there are several other incidents in town where people have done work without contacting HARB, but he was just at the meeting to talk about the Riddell House. City Clerk John Peterson said the city received several complaints, so he contacted commercial building inspector Mark Grassi. Grassi was told Tuesday morning the building was being repainted the same colors it had previously been painted. “Photographs from Google Earth show that not to...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Bradford Mayor Tom Riel thinks, although the city’s landlord ordinance is only 18 months old, it could still use more teeth, and he also thinks the code enforcement department needs to give more attention to individual property owners. Bradford businessman John Kohler started the discussion during Tuesday’s City Council meeting by saying, “I’m just trying to get what the 'enforcement' means in 'code enforcement.'” Kohler wanted to know how much money had been collected in fines from landlords. Councilman Ross Neidich said he couldn’t provide those numbers, but will be meeting with code enforcement Wednesday and will have the numbers then. Kohler also said it’s not just bad landlords who are contributing to blight in the city. “There are a lot of blighted individual properties,” he said. “In our community, we have a lot of aging houses to begin with,” Neidich said. “We have people that sometimes don’t seem to care about what their...

The Bradford Branch of the American Association of University Women named Patricia Neidich as its Outstanding Woman of the Year for 2010 in recognition of her contributions to the organization and the Bradford community during its annual banquet on May 6 at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. Neidich is a graduate of Mansfield University and has taught elementary school in the Bradford Area School District for over thirty years. Neidich is a longtime member of AAUW, and has served as co-president and corresponding secretary of the branch chapter. An active volunteer in the community, she has volunteered for the American Cancer Relay for Life and Bradford Landmark Society. She and her husband Ross have raised three children: Michael, Lindsay and Katie Jo. Pictured, Stephanie Seagren (holding certificate), incoming co-president, and Neidich Photo courtesy of AAUW

The Bradford City Fire Department’s central station will be staying right where it is for now. The department received an “unofficial official” reply concerning the fire station grant application, according to Bradford City Councilman Ross Neidich. “It doesn’t look like we’re going to be receiving the funding through the federal government (to build a new fire station),” Neidich said during Tuesday’s council meeting. “I guess we’re just going to have to make due with what we have.” The fire department was hoping for the federal grant to help pay for the $6.4 million "green" fire station they want to build. Back in June, Fire Chief Boo Coder said renovating the current fire station is not an option. "That station is 106 years old. It was built for horses. It wasn't built for fire trucks," Coder said during a June 23, 2009, council meeting. "We've renovated to the point where we can't go any farther. Now when we buy a fire truck or a piece of fire equ...

Bradford City firefighters are still hoping for a federal grant to help pay for the $6.4 million "green" fire station they want to build. During a work session prior to Tuesday's Bradford City Council meeting coucnilman Ross Neidich, who oversees the fire department, fire chief Boo Coder and firefighter Matt Rettger, who writes grant applications for the department, said they intend to ask council for permission to submit more grant applications. They also updated council on their grant application and what possible avenues they can take to secure more grant money. Although the proposal wasn't approved by the Department of Homeland Security, Rettger said there's "still $130 million hanging out there." Rettger said they've been looking into the Kresge Foundation's "Challenge Program" as a possible source for the $750,000 to $1 million for a "green" roof. He added that green grants are available at the state level for the $750,0...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director A fork in the road to the next Street Dreams Car Show may have been straightened out. Gary Hoy, president of the Street Dreams Car Club, had said that the club would take the show elsewhere in protest of the City of Bradford's new $25 fee to hold an event downtown. Additional costs would be incurred if an organization needs services from the city, including having barricades delivered and set up for street closings, delivery and/or pickup of trash receptacles, and electricity. "Your fees are preposterous to us," Hoy told Bradford City Council Tuesday night. "We, as a group, refuse to pay this." Mayor Tom Riel explained that the city raised fees for various services in the city, not just for organizations holding events downtown. "Because we have such budgetary problems, and because we're having trouble making ends meet, we've taken away people's jobs," Riel said. "We've forced people to pay ...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director A new restaurant may be coming to Bradford, and a restaurant that's already in town will be getting a liquor license. OECD Executive Director Sara Andrews said during Tuesday's city council meeting that at least two parties are interested in opening a restaurant at 109 Main Street, which was most recently La Herradura. The OECD is currently renovating the building and that project was more involved than they thought it would be. "We found that an entire floor of the building was rotted and we had to replace the entire floor," Andrews said. She said she hopes her crew is finished with the renovations by the end of the week. After that, she said, "we can start more aggressively working at (getting) some type of restaurant" back in the building. Also Tuesday, council approved the transfer of a liquor license from Mount Jewett to Pizza Napoli on West Washington Street in Bradford. Main Street resident David Newman said he...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Say good-bye to blue tarps and hello to a Holiday Inn Express – if everything goes according to plans. Bradford City Council on Tuesday heard from Code Enforcement Officer George Corignani concerning the tarps and other code enforcement matters, and from the developer who plans on building a 72-room hotel at the former Micale Construction site. Corignani said the people who have blue tarps on their roofs have been given until the end of the month to have the buildings re-roofed and have the tarps taken off, or they will be cited. Mayor Tom Riel specifically asked about the blue-tarped property on East Main Street. Corignani said he would be surprised if the owner didn't have a building permit this week. Office of Economic and Community Development Executive Director Sara Andrews said she believes the new landlord ordinance has made it easier for code enforcement to do its job because the ordinance "teeth in it" concerning fines for...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Residents of Pleasant and School streets and Jackson Avenue packed city council chambers Tuesday night to say putting a new fire station at the head of Mechanic Street is a bad idea, and it's not welcome there. But if all goes well – assuming the city gets the federal grant in the first place – the building wouldn't go there anyway. Councilman Ross Neidich, who oversees the fire department said, "We have a good lead, I think, on something that would make everybody happy including us. Let's just hope that comes to fruition." After the meeting, Neidich and Fire Chief Boo Coder said because they are still in negotiations with the property owners they didn't want to publicly talk about the site. During the meeting, Jackson Avenue resident Dave Lamborn said one of the reasons he's against having a fire station at the former Third Ward School site is that it would take away the possibility of the property ever getting bac...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director In a brief meeting Tuesday night, Bradford City Council approved a two-for-one appointment to the Historic Architectural Review Board. George Corignani and Mark Grassi will serve on an as needed basis to fill the seat previously held by Fire Chief Boo Coder. Corignani is the residential building inspector for the city. Grassi is the commercial building inspector. "These guys are the ones who know all the laws," Coder said. "When they (HARB) need some direction, it would be good to have these guys to be on the board." "HARB feels it only makes sense to have the people who are approving the building permit applications be on the board, and they want to have that communication with them," said Deputy City Clerk Teri Cannon. "Having the inspectors on the board is going to help HARB understand the building permit process a little bit more," she added. City Clerk John Peterson added that when HARB was created, t...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director The streetscape and gateway projects have taken one more step toward reality. Bradford City Council on Tuesday authorized the OECD to advertise for bids on the streetscape project. OECD Executive Director Sara Andrews said the project includes Kennedy Street from Forman to Main, and Boylston Street from the East Washington Street Bridge to Kennedy Street. Kennedy to Davis Street may be done as well. Funding is coming from the city's 2007 and 2008 Community Development Block Grant Programs. As for the gateway project, Councilman Bob Tingley asked why the city was eligible for a $25,000 grant through the Pennsylvania Route 6 Heritage Corporation when the city is miles from Route 6. Andrews said although Route 6 doesn't run through the city Bradford is considered part of the Route 6 Heritage Region. She went on to explain that the project will include new signs near the Elm Street exit of Route 219, a decorative retaining wall and landscapi...

During Tuesday's Bradford City Council meeting Mayor Tom Riel said he wanted to clear up a couple of misconceptions about the pilot for the reality show that's being filmed in the city this week. "It's not costing the City of Bradford taxpayers one red cent," Riel said. "They're not soliciting investors; this is being done at the expense of a couple of production companies. It's not comparable to other ventures that were proposed in the area." Riel went on to say, "They're filming a pilot for a reality to show to promote Bradford. It's not a comedy, or anything like that, like some things that have happened in the past." He added that if people want to share their thoughts --- good or bad -- with producer Luca Palanca and director of photography Eric Pickett they're more than welcome to do that. Pictured, Eric Pickett films Mayor Tom Riel following Tuesday's Bradford City Council meeting. Also pictured are Councilman Bob...