TheBurg

05.18 | theburgnews.com | 9 DBes DeBateD For months, Harrisburg City Council members have raised seemingly the same question to members of the city's administration. How many women and minorities are being hired for public works contracts? Last month, they got their first firm answer from Harrisburg Business Director Marc Woolley, who appeared at a legislative session to review the city's success in hiring disadvantaged business enterprises, or DBEs, for its public contracts. DBE is a recognized business category that includes minority business enterprises (MBEs) and women business enterprises (WBEs). A business can seek MBE or WBE certification if 51 percent of its ownership is controlled by minorities or women, respectively. Last month, Woolley confirmed that DBE contracts for the 3rd Street Multimodal project, which will enhance two miles road and sidewalks from Uptown to downtown Harrisburg, amounted for just 3.8 percent of the project's $3.1 million construction budget. "ere's a lot of room for improvement if we want to increase our participation percentages," Woolley said. He set out to determine how many DBEs have participated in city contracts in the past three years and how city departments can reach more through bidding and solicitation. According to Woolley, the program currently under development will have three objectives: removing impediments to business certification, participating in business development, and elevating small businesses and suppliers by moving them up the supplier chain. Woolley said that Harrisburg's current process for certifying DBEs is cumbersome, which could discourage businesses to seek DBE certification and, in turn, skew the city's participation rate. Woolley and his team plan to simplify the certification standards and are in the process of verifying the DBE status of every vendor that the city has hired in the past three years. e verification process has already revealed some vendors who were not listed as DBEs and who have since been added to the city's Certified Minority Business Directory, he said. Harrisburg's DBE program will focus on education and business development, Woolley said. City officials also plan to bolster outreach by advertising public bidding opportunities on social media and in public service announcements. supeRintenDent Decision ReveRseD e Harrisburg School District may not be getting a new superintendent after all, thanks to an unexpected vote last month. In March, the board voted 5-4 to approve a resolution opening the position of superintendent to new applicants. e move signaled to current superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney that her contract would not be automatically renewed when it ends on June 30. But last month, Tyrell Spradley, the board member who cast the deciding vote on that contentious resolution, motioned to rescind it. His motion passed 5-4 with board members Carrie Fowler, Percel Eiland, Brian Carter and board President Judd Pittman in the minority. Asked what the vote meant for Knight-Burney's contract, district Solicitor Samuel Cooper pointed to the Pennsylvania school charter. at law states that the board must give the acting superintendent 90-days notice if it doesn't intend to automatically renew her contract. But if the board fails to take action, the terms of Knight- Burney's contract extend for one year, Cooper said. By nullifying the vote from the prior month, the board has essentially chosen to forego any action on the superintendent's contract. It will automatically renew for a one-year provisional period, but Cooper said the board could act before then to renew it for up to five years. After the meeting, Spradley said that he changed his mind about the search because the board received new information about personnel and budget matters. Allowing Knight-Burney's contract to renew for one additional year will preserve consistency in the district and lead to better decision-making by the board, he said. "I don't have an issue looking for candidates, but we need time to find the correct ones," Spradley said. "e board may feel rushed." Pittman was disappointed, but not surprised, by the board's action. He said his position on Knight-Burney's tenure has not changed in the three years he's served on the board. "When you look at our academic data and the evidence we put forth for our success, it just isn't there," Pittman said. "If we'd done a search and Knight-Burney came out as the best candidate, I would have supported her… but our responsibility as a board is to hold everyone as accountable as possible." MoRe apaRtMents DoWntoWn Another downtown apartment project received the official go-ahead last month, as Harrisburg City Council agreed to a residential conversion on Pine Street. Council voted 5-1 to allow Harristown Enterprises to proceed with converting the circa-1952 office building at 124 Pine St. to a 25-unit apartment building with commercial space on the first floor. e lone no vote came from council President Wanda Williams, who stated that she would refuse to vote affirmatively on future Harristown projects until she was satisfied that they contained what she considers to be affordable units. With the affirmative vote, Harristown can move forward with purchasing the six-story, 30,000-square-foot building from current owner Keystone Human Services, which has it on the market for $1.5 million. Once the sale is complete, Keystone is expected to lease the building until it can find a new home, meaning that the office- to-residential conversion probably won't begin until early 2019, according to Harristown CEO Brad Jones. e Pine Street project, Jones said, will consist of 18 one- bedroom and seven two-bedroom units that will range from about 700 to 850 square feet in size. He expects rents to be about $1,095 to $1,395 a month. e project includes 19 off- street parking spaces, which would be rented separately. Over the past few years, Harristown has converted several other downtown office buildings to residential use, adding about 60 apartment units in all. At last month's meeting, City Council also approved a resolution that will allow broadcaster ABC27 to construct a 3,500-square-foot addition to its Uptown Harrisburg building. e project entails consolidating three parcels at 3235 Hoffman St. and at 560 and 600 Alricks St., demolishing several existing structures on the Alricks Street parcels and adding to the main building on Hoffman Street. Lastly, council passed a resolution allowing New York- based Smart City Media to install about 25 digital kiosks in downtown and Midtown Harrisburg. e kiosks will display city-based information such as events, businesses, dining options, schedules and history, with Smart City footing the $100,000 cost per kiosk, said Councilman Cornelius Johnson. e displays will contain advertising, with the revenue split between the company and the city, he said. news visit www.theburgnews.com

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