Harrisburg City Council meeting
Harrisburg will help an affordable housing development in the city improve after years of neglect.
City Council on Tuesday voted in favor of giving $250,000 towards assisting the Residences at Governor’s Square, a bankrupt and dilapidated complex near N. 5th and Maclay streets.
The money will go to a court-appointed receiver, who is slated to take over operations of the development and bring the properties into code compliance.
Last October, Governor’s Square’s owner Uptown Partners, Harrisburg and other parties to the bankruptcy case agreed to have the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas appoint a receiver to take over control of the property. The owners first filed for bankruptcy in May 2023, having received hundreds of city code citations and condemnations. While in bankruptcy court, the owner has struggled to find an owner with the necessary funding and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development approvals.
The money from the city will help get the receivership started, with the expectation that the funds will be reimbursed to the city eventually.
The court has yet to appoint a receiver However, the city has proposed Justin Heinly, owner of Harrisburg-based Midtown Property Management.
Also on Tuesday, council took a step forward towards kickstarting the Citizen’s Law Enforcement Advisory Board (CLEAC). Council approved the creation of the board in 2020, but the board has not yet met.
At its meeting, council made an amendment to the board, removing Mayor Wanda Williams’ two required appointments to the board. Now, council will have the power to appoint seven board members, instead of its previous five.
In March 2023, council appointed Brent Miller, Quinton Davis, Adrian Selkowitz, Gia Johnson and Lakichia Carrier to the board. The board is not able to function without all seven appointees. Once appointed, the board will select another two members for appointment.
During the public comment portion of the meeting on Tuesday, Harrisburg resident Vivian Brandler presented council with a petition related to the Broad Street Market. The petition included signatures from around 500 community members opposed to Harrisburg’s proposal to construct a new building in the market’s courtyard, between the two market buildings.
Brandler told TheBurg that she collected signatures over four days at the market, hearing from residents and out-of-town community members who were shocked and disappointed by the city’s proposal, one of several possible ideas for the future of the courtyard.
“There’s something to be said about a third space,” Brandler said. “It’s a meeting place.”
Brandler said that she also plans to deliver the petition to the mayor’s office and the Broad Street Market Alliance board “so they can understand what a representation of the general population thinks. People were really mad.”
Finally, council moved to reallocate $59,000 in the city’s budget to fund a new Harrisburg Youth Sports Association. The association, created by several community members, will help city youth pay for costs associated with local sports teams and memberships to the Harrisburg Area YMCA and Boys and Girls Club of Harrisburg.
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