Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

In an effort to make it easier for the city’s new financial officer to do his job properly, Bradford City Council has approved on first reading changes to several tax ordinances. During its meeting Tuesday night council OK’d changes to the Local Taxpayer Bill of Rights, Mercantile License Tax, Business Privilege Tax, Local Services Tax and Public Utility Tax Ordinance. City Solicitor Mark Hollenbeck explained the changes give Michael Shanks “the ability to monitor the ordinances, enforce them as part of his duties with the city.” Mayor Tom Riel stressed that council is not raising taxes or creating new taxes. In other matters, council authorized the filing of a Keystone Communities Façade and Public Improvement Grant for the Second Ward Neighborhood Partnership Program. The $400,000 grant would go toward the NPP façade program, streetscape improvements and new construction. The city is also seeking a Home Program grant from the state’s Department of Community and Economic Develo...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director The Special Police won’t be working in Bradford as we know them anymore. Mayor Tom Riel made an announcement during Tuesday’s City Council meeting saying, effective immediately, the city and Special Police no longer have a working relationship. City solicitor and city police chief Chris Lucco spoke with the media after the meeting to explain. Hollenbeck said after a question from a citizen he dug into the history of the organization as well as state law and “couldn’t find anything that made us comfortable” with continuing to use them. State codes say that having auxiliary police is OK, but they can only be used in emergency or disaster situations not, for example, to direct traffic during parades. The state also allows Special Fire Police, but they are connected to volunteer fire departments. Hollenbeck stressed that the Special Police are not disbanding, but having them work for the police department would be improper. “They will continue in so...

The United Way of the Bradford Area, Inc. announced today the final results for its 2011 Campaign: Live United and Lend a Helping Hand. With a campaign goal of $325,000, organization officials announced the final amount raised at $328,730. “We are so proud and appreciative of the Bradford community for stepping in to achieve this goal,” says Executive Director Megan Minich. “We are ecstatic with the total raised during this campaign season. More importantly, we’re grateful for the amount of good these dollars can do and the lives we can change through our partner agencies with the money entrusted to us.” Board President Vonda Reese added that “We could not achieve this kind of success without the hard work and dedication of numerous volunteers. On behalf of the Board of Directors, we would like to thank campaign co-chairs Christine Minich, Karen Costello-Pecht, and Steve Cottillion for their enthusiasm and commitment to United Way and this year’s appeal process. In addition to this yea...

Scarnati Re-Elected President Pro Tem Rhett Kennedy was sworn in as the newest member of Bradford City Council this morning. Tom Riel was also sworn in for his second term as mayor. Karen Hector was sworn in for her second term as city treasurer. The Board of Health also had a brief meeting, electing Kennedy president of the board. Kennedy will oversee public safety (fire and police) and code enforcement for the city. He replaces Ross Neidich, who did not run for re-election. And in Harrisburg, Joe Scarnati has been re-elected by his colleagues as Senate President Pro Tempore. Pictured, City Clerk John Peterson (far right) administers the oath of office to Hector, Kennedy and Riel (standing) as city solicitor Mark Hollenbeck and councilman Rick Benton and Jim Evans look on . Photo by Ron Orris The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

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...