TheBurg

08.19 | theburgnews.com | 9 news 2-Way 2nD stReet DesiGns unveileD Do you prefer a bike lane or a center lane? at was the big decision last month for Harrisburg residents, who attended the final community meeting for the planned conversion of N. 2nd Street to two-way traffic. At the meeting, the city unveiled its two final design concepts for the street. e first design features a left-hand-turn lane, along with partial median strips, along the two-mile stretch of N. 2nd from Forster to Division streets. e second includes a dedicated, "parking protected" bike lane, meaning it would be protected from traffic. "at's the main difference," said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. "Do you want a center lane with medians, or do you want a bike lane? We can't accommodate both." A 40-minute presentation kicked off the meeting. Afterwards, attendees broke off into groups to study the concepts in detail, block by block, and offer input. Both designs include roundabouts at certain busy intersections, such as at N. 2nd and Verbeke streets and N. 2nd and Reily streets. Notably, most traffic signals would be removed under both concepts and, like with the current construction along the 3rd Street corridor, intersections would be improved to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. Signals would remain at the busy intersections at Forster, Maclay and Division streets. Papenfuse expects construction to begin next year, wrapping up at the end of 2021. e cost of the $5.6 million project is being split between the city, the state Department of Transportation and Impact Harrisburg, a nonprofit set up in the wake of the city's financial crisis. Both concepts reduce the total amount of parking along 2nd Street, mostly because of the ADA-mandated intersection improvements. Currently, there are 620 street parking spaces on N. 2nd from Forster to Division streets. Concept 1, which includes the turning lanes, would reduce parking to 550 spaces, while concept 2, which includes the bike lane, would reduce street parking to 537 spaces. "It is genuine to say that I see the benefits of both," Papenfuse said. "We could go with either and be very pleased as a city. ey're both transformative and safer and better for the neighborhood." autozone passes huRDle e Harrisburg Planning Commission last month approved the land development plan for an Uptown auto parts store, despite a continuing disagreement over the design of the project. By a 3-1 vote, the commission gave its OK to an AutoZone store on long-vacant land at the corner of Maclay and N. 7th streets, but the approval requires the company to tweak its design to address several city concerns. Commission members agreed with the city's planning bureau that AutoZone needed to make modifications to its plan—namely, reorienting the 6,816-square-foot building to bring it closer to Maclay Street and eliminating access from busy N. 7th Street. "I don't want to have people coming into the city greeted by a parking lot and a set-back building, just like you see in the surrounding suburbs," said commissioner Zac Monnier. City officials have long complained that the proposed AutoZone design was too generic and better suited for a suburban strip mall, not a city block. ey have especially disliked that AutoZone's original proposal set the store back from Maclay Street, with parking in the front. David Tshudy of Pepper Hamilton, the law firm representing AutoZone, repeatedly pushed back on the requested changes to the company's design, saying that city planners have no role in design decisions based on Harrisburg's current land use ordinances. "ere's nothing in the ordinance that requires the building to be situated any differently than what is shown on the plan," Tshudy said. "e building is best where it is shown on the plan." e two sides also had a heated disagreement about AutoZone's desire for a driveway to the site from N. 7th Street. In April, the two sides held a meeting to iron out their differences. Tshudy said that he left that meeting believing they had agreed to retain the access point, but only for right turns in and out. City officials disagreed. "At no time did we indicate that this was a design that the planning bureau would support or thought was a good design for this particular site," said Geoffrey Knight, director of the city's planning department. Now that it's passed the Planning Commission, the land development plan must be approved by City Council. city chanGes cDBG pRocess Harrisburg plans to shake up the yearly process of doling out federal housing dollars under its "Annual Action Plan" unveiled last month. Franchon Dickinson, director of the city's Department of Building and Housing, told City Council that the administration wants to tighten requirements for Harrisburg- based social service agencies seeking funding under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. "If we want to effectuate change, we're going to need to change the way we do business," she said. In recent years, council has doled out relatively small amounts of CDBG money to a dozen or so specific service agencies. HUD, however, recently has questioned the way Harrisburg has distributed some of those funds, said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. erefore, the city needs to make certain it strictly follows HUD guidelines, he said. Specifically, agencies must show that a service is new or must demonstrate a "quantifiable increase in the level of service in the last 12 months," said Dickinson. In addition, she said that HUD prefers to fund "senior enrichment programs or special needs populations." Moreover, the administration wants to change the funding structure for CDBG, which, this year, will total nearly $1.94 million, down from last year's $2 million. Under the current proposal, just $100,000 will be set aside for social service programming, down from about $240,000 last year. However, for facilities projects, agencies will be able to apply for money from a second bucket, one reserved for "public improvement/public facilities," which totals $407,261, Dickinson said. Papenfuse said that HUD didn't like that, in the past, Harrisburg permitted facility improvements with money meant for "public service activities," funds that were supposed be reserved for programming and other service activities. e application process also is changing. is year, the city will not determine recipients before submitting its action plan to HUD in mid-August. Specific recipients will be determined later through a request for proposals (RFP) process, which will be issued in late August, and applications will be scored to make sure they meet HUD guidelines, Papenfuse said. "It's a change in procedure, but it's a good one," he said. "It makes sure that every dollar we spend will be spent wisely." Other proposed CDBG allotments include: • $593,423 for debt service, as the city continues to pay down a federal loan it guaranteed under former Mayor Steve Reed for the disastrous Capitol View Commerce Center project • $387,670 for grant administration • $250,000 for homeowner rehabilitation • $200,000 for emergency demolition In addition to the CDBG ordinance, council introduced ordinances for the HUD Emergency Solutions Grant Program for $166,243, which mostly goes to the Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness to fund emergency shelter and rehousing, and another for HUD's HOME Investment Partnerships Program for $432,187, which funds affordable housing solutions. Council is expected to take a final vote on the ordinances on Aug. 13. e state's recently released financial audit of the Harrisburg school district is a "clear indictment" of the practices of the former school administration, according to the district's receiver. Receiver Janet Samuels released a statement last month declining comment on specific audit findings, but that acknowledged the report's findings. "In my capacity as the court appointed Receiver, I acknowledge receipt of the audit which is a clear indictment of the accounting and Human Resources practices of the former school district administration," she said. In March, the state Department of Education hired Johnstown- based Wessel & Co. to perform the audit following a series of costly errors by the district, including continuing to pay health benefits to former employees. e report, released in early July, looked at a year-three period, July 2015 to June 2018, and discovered more than $3.8 million in unsupported and questionable costs, more than 100 ex-employees who continued to receive healthcare benefits and huge deficits in cafeteria operations that had to be covered by the general fund. Other shortcomings included personnel records rife with errors, a lack of financial oversight and controls and a profoundly unqualified business manager. "I am not going to comment on any of the specifics of the audit findings other than the fact that the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit plans to fully analyze all of the issues raised in the audit and establish best practices for the school district. ese audit findings further justify the necessity of my June 27, 2019 action partnering with the MCIU to operate the district and my personnel actions taken on that date," Samuels concluded. At the urging of the state Department of Education, a Dauphin County judge appointed Samuels as the district's receiver on June. 17. She then dismissed most of the district's leadership and contracted with MCIU to help lead the district for the next three years. school auDit calleD "cleaR inDictment"

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