Pottsville’s plan to upgrade the sidewalks near Garfield Square is on track, and the city council hopes to advertise for a contractor in July, City Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said Thursday.
“If everything goes according to plan, the new sidewalks will be installed in that area by the end of the year or in the first quarter of 2017. If the weather holds it up, it will be started this fall and finished in the spring. It will include new sidewalks and lighting and trees, very similar to what we’ve done in the past on North Centre Street,” Palamar said.
For more than two years, city officials have been working to revitalize the section of West Market Street from North Centre to North Sixth streets, a six-block corridor. There have been talks about improving sidewalks there and finding the funding to accomplish such a project.
This year, city officials believe they can afford to replace the sidewalks on the north and south sides of West Market Street from Fourth Street to Sixth Street. Palamar and Karen B. Parish, senior project manager for Mullin, Lonergan & Associates Inc., Camp Hill, discussed the project Thursday.
“Karen helps us with all of our CDBG projects,” Palamar said.
The city had hoped to pay for the entire project with federal Community Development Block Grant funds, but the rules which control that kind of funding influenced the city’s decisions regarding the project.
“The way we fund curbs and sidewalks has changed significantly. Karen, the manner in which the state allows us to spend money on downtown curbs and sidewalks has changed. What was the crux of that?” Palamar asked Parish.
“Up until 2013, they were using 2000 census data to justify low-to-moderate income. Then HUD (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) finally issued new data based on the 2010 census. And since the census didn’t list income, they used American Community Survey data. And that was changed to represent the low-mod. So the city was no longer considered overall low income. That designation for the city went away then,” Parish said.
“So what we had to do was rethink West Market Street. The blocks of West Market near Garfield Square are more residential. It’s low-mod income. It’s eligible,” Parish said.
“So we decided to do the area near Garfield Square. As we look forward into the future, we can look at, perhaps, bringing additional funding sources in to do those sidewalks closer to the downtown,” Palamar said.
Palamar wasn’t sure when the sidewalks in the project area were installed and doubted they were put in as part of an initiative like the one the city is about to do.
Garfield Square is a tourist attraction in the city. It’s a grass-and-memorial-filled island in the 500 block of West Market Street. Its centerpiece is the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Monument, which was sculpted by an artist named August Zeller in 1889, according to newspaper archives.
To afford to replace the sidewalks on West Market Street between Fourth and Sixth streets, the city had to set aside CDBG money budgeted over the past four years. Palamar had a list of how much was put aside: $20,964.45 from the 2012 CDBG program; $166,000 from the 2013 CDBG program; $126,511 from the 2014 CDBG program; and $190,090 from the 2015 CDBG program.
The city hasn’t received its 2015 CDBG allocation yet.
“The Community Development Block Grant program is federally funded and has continued to be processed through the budget impasse. The City of Pottsville has received an annual CDBG entitlement allocation dating back to 1984. The city was last approved for $288,311 in funding as part of the 2014 federal allocation and the 2015 application is currently under review,” Daniel Carrigan, press assistant for the state Department of Community and Economic Development Communication Office, said Wednesday.
Despite that, the city is moving along with the project.
“Right now, all the preliminary engineering is being done,” Palamar said.
Alfred Benesch & Co., Pottsville, the city’s appointed engineer, is working on that project.
“The highway occupancy permit is also being developed by Benesch. That’s the most cumbersome part of the project. We’re also looking ahead to tree placement. We have a little community group working on that,” Palamar said.
That group includes Joseph T. Orlowsky, chairman of the Pottsville Shade Tree Commission, and people who work and reside in that area, including Paul J. Datte, who has an office at 450 W. Market St.
“They’re going to get a bunch of people together to help us purchase and select the trees,” Palamar said.
In other matters, the city council on March 14 approved the salaries and wages of appointed office holders, elected office holders and employees of the city.
The chief of police and the city administrator received 3.5 percent increases this year.
In 2015, the police chief received a salary of $87,500. In 2016, the chief will receive $90,562.50, according to the city salary ordinances from those years.
In 2015, the city administrator received a salary of $82,909.87. This year, the city administrator will receive $85,811.72, according to the city salary ordinances from those years.
The salary increase percentage was not across the board.
For example, the following employees will receive a 2.5 percent increase, according to the city salary ordinances from 2015 and 2016:
• In 2015, the fire chief received a salary of $53,524.31. This year, the fire chief will receive $54,862.42.
• In 2015, the deputy health/code enforcement officer received a salary of $34,717.94. In 2016, that employee will receive $35,585.89.
• In 2015, the assistant code enforcement officer received a salary of $30,900. In 2016, that employee will receive $31,672.50.
• In 2015, the health officer/animal control officer received a salary of $35,343.51. In 2016, that employee will receive $36,227.10.