TheBurg News - Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine
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8 | The Burg | 08.15 anTi-BliGHT Bills passed Harrisburg City Council last month approved two bills meant to battle the continuing problem of blight in the city. e bills, passed unanimously, create a registry of foreclosed properties and increase fines on real estate investors and speculators for code violations. Under the first ordinance, banks will pay a $200 annual fee for each property on the registry. e properties then must be kept properly maintained and secured. Under the second, the city will levy higher fines on "corporate owners" of properties cited for code violations than it does on residential owners. e higher fines are justified because it costs the city money to track down the investors and speculators, who often live out of the area and are difficult to identify and contact because they hide behind corporate entities, said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. Food TrUCk rUles UpdaTed Food trucks in Harrisburg must locate at least 100 feet from brick-and-mortar restaurants under an ordinance passed last month by the City Council. Council unanimously approved an ordinance update that requires food trucks and other mobile food vendors from setting up within 100 feet of existing restaurants, 15 feet from building entrances and 15 feet from a fire hydrant. e ordinance update was urged by several downtown restaurants, which have complained that food trucks set up near them during high-volume times, such as during lunch and on weekend nights, and negatively affect their business. ey also have complained about grease and litter. e mobile vendors also must cease selling by 2:30 a.m. and move from the area by 2:45 a.m. e ordinance does not apply to food trucks that congregate during special events, such as the monthly Food Truck Feast held during 3rd in the Burg. HUd FUnds disTriBUTed Harrisburg last month finalized the recipients of its annual dispersal of federal housing money. e city received $3.1 million from three U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development programs, most through HUD's Community Development Block Grant program. e city's housing rehabilitation program received $451,806, the largest allocation, and the city police department received $250,000, which it plans to use to boost manpower in Harrisburg's most troubled neighborhoods. e city's demolition program got $111,114. Other recipients included: • Fair Housing Council, $130,000 • Tri County HDC, $100,000 • Camp Curtin YMCA, $80,000 • Christian Recovery Aftercare Ministry, $75,000 • Habitat for Humanity, $70,000 • Boys & Girls Club of Harrisburg, $60,000 • Latino Hispanic American Community Center, $59,982 • Heinz-Menaker Senior Center, $50,000 • Mid Penn Legal Services, $30,000 • Christian Love Ministries, $29,000 • Codes Enforcement, $10,000 e city's Emergency Solutions Grant Program received $164,603, and the Homeowner Improvement Program got $295,765. reCovery oFFiCer appoinTed Audrey Utley was appointed last month as the new chief recovery officer for the Harrisburg School District. State Board of Education Secretary Pedro Rivera appointed Utley after a search committee recommended her. She recently retired as superintendent of the Steelton- Highspire school district and served a short, three-month stint as acting superintendent of the Harrisburg district in 2010. Utley will continue the effort of trying to improve the financial and academic condition of the Harrisburg district, an effort begun by Utley's predecessor, Gene Veno, who served in the post about two years before resigning in June. Under Veno's recovery plan, the district's precarious financial situation stabilized, but the academic performance deteriorated further, according to state performance measures released last year. TransiT ConsolidaTion UrGed A state official last month urged the Harrisburg City Council to consider regional consolidation of mass transit services. Area governments could save an estimated $2.3 million a year, mostly through reduced administrative staff, if they chose to consolidate into a single entity, said Toby Fauver, deputy secretary for multimodal transportation for the state Department of Transportation. Fauver cited the potential savings as he briefed council on Phase 2 of the South-Central Regional Transit Consolidation Study, which recommends consolidation for most transit systems in south-central Pennsylvania. If they decide to merge transit operations, the participating counties and municipalities would need to appoint representatives to a transition board that would decide such issues as structure, governance and operations. e consolidation would cost about $4.7 million to achieve, but the state would absorb that cost, Fauver said. e Broad Street Market Task Force last month released a long-anticipated report on how to improve the condition, management and overall operations of the historic Midtown market. Chairwoman Jackie Parker told Harrisburg City Council that the market's two buildings are in decent condition, but that they will require "large capital investments" over the next decade. More immediately, the report strongly recommended changing the market's management structure. Currently, the Broad Street Market Corp. operates the market, with the Historic Harrisburg Association as its sole shareholder. e task force advised separating from HHA and transitioning to a nonprofit entity, which then could better pursue grants and other funding. "It would be a newly established nonprofit that is dedicated to full-time fundraising for the market," said Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse, who announced the 10-member task force early last year as one of his first acts as mayor. at transition could take the better part of two years, said Parker, who also is director of the city's Department of Community and Economic Development. Under the new structure, the market's two buildings would remain owned by the city, but ongoing repair and maintenance would shift to the nonprofit. Separately, Joshua Kesler last month was named president of the Broad Street Market Corp. board, replacing Jonathan Bowser, who resigned in June. Kesler is owner of e Millworks restaurant and art studios across the street from the market. MarkeT reporT released CaMpBell pleads GUilTy Former Harrisburg Treasurer John Campbell last month pleaded guilty to charges that he stole money from several Harrisburg-based non-profit organizations. Campbell said he was guilty of two counts of unlawful taking, a felony, and one count of Charitable Act fraud, a misdemeanor. He also promised to make full restitution for the thefts, which total almost $30,000. Campbell was accused of taking money from several groups, including Historic Harrisburg Association, the Stonewall Democrats and Lighten Up Harrisburg. If Campbell makes restitution by his Sept. 15 sentencing, Dauphin County Deputy District Attorney Joel Hogentogler said he would agree to a sentence of probation.