Steelton sells water assets to PA American Water; company also being interviewed by Harrisburg

October 11, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Capital Region Water at work. File Photo

A company that has expressed preliminary interest in Harrisburg’s water system has purchased the water assets of a neighboring municipality.

Pennsylvania American Water announced today that it has bought Steelton’s water system for $21.75 million. The system serves nearly 2,400 customers.

“The purchase not only provides financial benefits and rate stability for Steelton, but it also aligns perfectly with our existing water service territory here in the midstate,” said company President Mike Doran, in a statement.

The Hershey-based company, a subsidiary of American Water, serves customers in numerous municipalities in the area, including in Camp Hill, New Cumberland and Lemoyne, and is one of the largest water providers in the state.

Last month, Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that PA Water was one of four companies that responded to a city-issued request for information (RFI) and that the administration planned to interview. The other three companies are Aqua America, Suez North America and Veolia American Water.

Papenfuse has repeatedly stressed that the city has reached no decision on whether to privatize its system, but is in an information-gathering stage. Currently, the municipal utility Capital Region Water (CRW) serves 20,300 water customers and 17,000 wastewater connections in and around Harrisburg.

The Steelton sale included only drinking water, not wastewater or sewer, assets, said Maggie Sheely, PA American Water’s external affairs manager. CRW treats wastewater from Steelton.

“Pennsylvania American Water’s investment in our system brings Steelton into the 21^st century and ensures customers will have reliable, high-quality water service into the future,” said Allan Ausman, chair of the Steelton Water Authority.

With the sale, the authority’s seven workers are now employees of PA American Water, according to the company. In addition, the company said that it has adopted the borough’s existing water rates.

For more information on Pennsylvania American Water, visit the company’s website.

Vote Where? Many polling places in Harrisburg area about to change.

October 11, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Actually, don’t vote here, as this Ward 4 polling station in Harrisburg is switching to city hall.

Many Harrisburg voters will need to cast their ballots in a new polling place next month, as Dauphin County had made numerous location changes to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

For the Nov. 5 general election, voters in seven Harrisburg polling stations, and two more outside of the city, will have new locations, said Gerald Feaser, director of the county’s Bureau of Elections and Voter Registration.

In several other locations, the building will remain the same, but the room or entry point will change.

“We had to make these changes to comply with the law,” Feaser said. “We had no choice.”

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice surveyed a portion of the county’s polling stations, finding “many” to be difficult to access for people with disabilities. Then, last year, the county and the department reached an agreement meant to increase accessibility.

“The county shall select facilities to be used as polling places that do not exclude individuals with disabilities from or deny them the benefits of the polling place, or otherwise subject them to discrimination,” according to the settlement agreement.

As a result, the following polling stations are changing:

Harrisburg 1-1
Old: Comfort Inn/Passage to India, 525 S. Front St.
New: UPMC Pinnacle/Life Team Facility, 1000 Paxton St.

Harrisburg 4
Old: St. Michael Evangelical Lutheran Church, 118 State St.
New: MLK Jr. City Government Building, 10 N. 2nd St.

Harrisburg 7-2
Old: Capital Presbyterian Church, 1401 Cumberland St.
New: Downey Elementary School, 1313 Monroe St.

Harrisburg 9-4
Old: Bellevue Community Center, Briarcliff & Oakwood Rds.
New: John Harris High School Field House, 2451 Market St. (S. 25th Street side)

Harrisburg 10-1
Old: Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, 2121 N. 3rd St.
New: Goodwin Memorial Baptist Church, Family Life Center (rear entrance), 2430 N. 3rd St.

Harrisburg 10-3
Old: Hadee Mosque, 245 Division St.
New: Scottish Rite Cathedral (west side of ballroom), 2701 N. 3rd St.

Harrisburg 10-4
Old: Teamsters Local #776, 2552 Jefferson St.
New: Scottish Rite Cathedral (east side of ballroom), 2701 N. 3rd St.

In addition, for Harrisburg 6 (Susquehanna Art Museum) and Harrisburg 9-3 (Edison Village), the building will remain the same, but the polling location in the building will change.

Elsewhere in Dauphin County, two polling locations are changing:

Londonderry 1
Old: Middletown Hunters & Anglers, 1350 Schoolhouse Rd.
New: Living Hope Church, 3030 Schoolhouse Rd.

Swatara 10
Old: Waterford at Summit View, 8201 President’s Dr.
New: Vietnam Veterans Bingo Hall, 8000 Derry St.

In addition, Lower Paxton 24 (Linglestown Elementary) and Swatara 7 (Lawnton Elementary) will remain in their buildings but change the entry point and room, respectively.

Several of the new polling stations are located just outside of their ward or precinct boundary: Harrisburg 1-1, Harrisburg 4 and Harrisburg 9-4. Feaser said that this is permitted if a suitable location can’t be found within the district boundary itself.

The county also changed several polling places for May’s primary election. However, those changes were made mostly because the former locations either didn’t want to serve, or no longer could serve, as a polling station.

Feaser said that he wanted to make the bulk of the changes this year, in the typically lower-turnout, off-year election. However, he still may need to make additional changes to polling locations next year, when a larger turnout is expected for the presidential election cycle.

“This is an ongoing process, and we’re probably halfway there,” Feaser said.

Click here for a complete list of polling locations in Harrisburg.

Lower mortgage rates push home sales, prices up in Harrisburg area

October 10, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

A row of houses in Midtown Harrisburg

Harrisburg area home sales jumped in September and prices also rose thanks to a drop in mortgage rates, according to the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors (GHAR).

In the three-county region, home sales increased to 607 units, a jump of 18.1 percent over September 2018, while the median home sales price rose 5.1 percent to $181,000, GHAR said on Thursday.

In Dauphin County, 292 housing units sold versus 254 in the year-ago period, and the median sales price increased to $167,500 compared to $164,900. Cumberland County saw home sales increase to 286 units from 233, while the median price rose to $209,950 from $189,000 in September 2018.

In Perry County, home sales increased by two units, to 29, while the median price was unchanged at $149,900, compared to the year-ago period, according to GHAR.

Overall, housing inventory was down by about 10 percent compared to September 2018, GHAR said.

“The sharp drop in mortgage rates over the past year has created additional demand,” said GHAR, in a press release.

Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

October 10, 2019 | by Sara Bozich

Happy Weekend!

It’s Très Bonne Année weekend, pretty much the only thing I do for myself that isn’t somehow work-adjacent, at least not presently. Tonight, we’re off to the Vintner’s Dinner, which is a really cool wine dinner held on the stage at the Whitaker Center.

Friday, TBA has its Vintner Tasting nights, and I’m staying home but sending the crew — Jimi, Hope, Lena, and Corinne will be sampling Verity wines all night!

Saturday is the Gala! Fingers crossed my Rent the Runway gown fits or I’ll be scrambling for a dress.

For family-related fun, we may take the kiddo to the Lower Allen Township Touch a Truck on Saturday and Pennsboro Pumpkin Festival on Sunday.

What are you doing this weekend?

(more…)

Harrisburg Council refuses to confirm housing director; mayor says programs now threatened

October 8, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Franchon Dickinson, center, as she and Mayor Eric Papenfuse accepted a check for the city’s lead abatement program on Tuesday morning.

Harrisburg City Council on Tuesday rejected a top administration appointment, with the mayor stating that the decision imperils key city housing programs.

By a 4-2 vote, council turned down the appointment of Franchon Dickinson as the city’s new director of building and housing, the second time this year council members had refused to confirm her appointment.

Following the vote, Dickinson, who was serving as interim department director, resigned her job with the city.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse railed against the vote, saying that Dickinson’s departure endangers two critical housing programs—the annual Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and the city’s Lead Hazard Reduction Program.

“There is no way this can be understood as anything other than pure dysfunction on the part of City Council,” he said, following the meeting.

Council members Ben Allatt, Ausha Green, Danielle Bowers and Dave Madsen voted against the appointment, while council President Wanda Williams and Councilman Westburn Majors voted in favor. Councilwoman Shamaine Daniels was absent from the meeting.

In June, council voted 4-3 against the appointment.

Just hours earlier on Tuesday, Dickinson had hosted a city hall ceremony in which she accepted a check for $5.6 million from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to continue the city’s lead abatement program for five years.

Papenfuse said that Dickinson was fundamental in securing both CDBG funds and the federal lead abatement grant and that, without her leadership, both programs were at risk.

“This puts our HUD funding in jeopardy,” he said. “I don’t feel we’ll be able to implement that grant or even our CDBG funding right now.”

City Business Administrator Marc Woolley also condemned the council vote, saying that Dickinson proved her value by securing the lead program funds and rescuing the CDBG program following mismanagement.

After the meeting, Bowers said that she couldn’t discuss the issue, which she considered a confidential personnel matter. But she said that the next move is up to the mayor.

“I would hope that the administration and City Council can find some resolution to this issue, but it would be up to the administration to determine a next step to fill the role on an interim basis,” she said.

Harrisburg Mayor: PennDOT may be receptive to changes for proposed I-83 redesign

October 8, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Aerial view of I-83 in Harrisburg from 19th Street to the Susquehanna River. A PennDOT proposal would double the width of this segment of the highway.

The PA Department of Transportation might consider making changes to its design for the widening of I-83 that would reduce the project’s impact on the community, Harrisburg’s mayor said on Tuesday night.

At a City Council legislative session, Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that PennDOT officials seemed receptive to the preliminary findings of the city’s transportation consultants, Kittelson & Associates, during a Sept. 16 meeting.

“It was a robust discussion of Kittelson’s findings,” Papenfuse told council members.

In June, the city hired the company for $72,500 to conduct a traffic and community impact study of the commonwealth’s proposal to double the number of lanes running through the city.

The study analyzes PennDOT’s widening plan, which envisions as many as 12 lanes and new interchanges, and is determining whether alternatives exist to reduce the project’s footprint and the impact on the community.

Kittelson is expected to release its final report in December, but shared its preliminary findings during the September meeting with PennDOT, Papenfuse said.

Kittelson believes that the footprint of the project can be reduced to lessen the impact on numerous homes and businesses in south Harrisburg threatened by the expansion, and PennDOT seemed receptive to the firm’s ideas, the mayor said.

Following Tuesday night’s council meeting, city Engineer Wayne Martin explained that Kittelson is recommending reducing the size of the project from 12 to 10 lanes by eliminating two collector/distributor lanes, which are lanes that parallel and connect to the main travel lanes.

Other recommendations include redesigning the proposed 19^th Street and Paxton Streets ramps to further reduce the impact on the neighborhood.

“PennDOT is committed to doing what it can to minimize the footprint,” Papenfuse said. “It seems encouraging at this point. It’s been a good dialogue and a good discussion.”

In other meeting news, City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution to pay former Jump Street Executive Director Melissa Snyder $10,000 to serve as a consultant for one year as the city takes on organizing the annual Artsfest celebration. Council also passed a resolution applying for a grant for an extension of the “Urban Meadow” in Midtown.

Also at the meeting, Papenfuse introduced Amma Johnson as the new director of the city’s Department of Community and Economic Development and Jamal Jones as the new director of business development and LERTA administrator.

Harrisburg to continue, accelerate lead abatement program with new federal grant

October 8, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Uptown Harrisburg resident Joanne Chisolm spoke at a press conference today on lead abatement funding.

Harrisburg’s lead abatement efforts got a huge boost today, as the city announced a major federal grant.

In a press conference at city hall, federal, state and local officials joined together to announce that Harrisburg will receive $5 million from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction grant program and $600,000 from its Healthy Homes Supplemental program.

“With the aging housing stock we have in Harrisburg, we have a lot of lead paint,” said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. “But now with the assistance of HUD, we’ll be able to move our lead abatement efforts forward for years to come.”

The funding covers five years of lead paint analysis and removal throughout the city, Papenfuse said.

The city’s program is open to residents who meet certain conditions, including income requirements. It’s been show that children who eat chipped, lead-based paint can experience learning disabilities and behavioral problems.

HUD’s Joe DeFelice, Harrisburg Building and Housing Director Franchon Dickinson and Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse pose with a ceremonial check.

HUD recently announced $319 million in funding throughout the country for its Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction grant program and supplemental program, including $22 million for six jurisdictions throughout Pennsylvania.

Locally, besides Harrisburg’s funding, Lancaster is receiving $9.1 million through the grant program and another $600,000 through the supplemental program.

The grant marks the return of federal funds for lead abatement in Harrisburg. The city’s previous federal grant of $3.7 million expired last December. This year, Harrisburg has continued its program though a one-year, $986,245 state grant.

“The funding will enable professionals to evaluate the living conditions in the house and then address the lead hazards found there,” said Joe DeFelice, HUD’s Mid-Atlantic regional administrator.

Speaking at the event, city resident Joanne Chisolm said that Harrisburg’s program has allowed lead to be removed from her Uptown house, where she also runs a part-time daycare center.

She said that her house first was analyzed for lead and that, when it was discovered, she was put up in a hotel for 1½ weeks while the remediation took place, all at no cost to her.

“It was a wonderful experience,” she said. “The work was professionally done.”

Click here for more information on Harrisburg’s Lead Hazard Reduction Program.

Patients in need get their fill(ings) on Free Dentistry Day

October 7, 2019 | by Maddie Conley

Dr. Gilbert Carney provides dental care for a guest on Free Dentistry Day.

Doctors, hygienists and staff at Mechanicsburg Family Dentistry took care of patients on Friday, just like any other—except all cleanings, fillings and extractions were free of cost.

Just one of the 24 offices from across the country participating throughout this month, Free Dentistry Day is a chance for practices to help those in need of dental services.

“We try to give back to the community,” said Dr. Gilbert Carney of Mechanicsburg Family Dentistry. “Our office has always tried to help out where we can.”

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the state meets only 39 percent of the dental care need, a 5,000-to-1 population-to-dentist ratio. This workforce distribution disparity, they say, contributes to the access care crisis in the state. In addition, only about one-third of U.S. dentists accept public insurance and in 2016, about 2.8 million Pennsylvanians were enrolled in Medicaid.

Many of the people visiting Mechanicsburg Family Dentistry on Friday lacked insurance.

“In Cumberland Valley, there is a disparity and a need,” Dr. Eric Solberg said. “We can’t address it all, but we can help some.”

Solberg also explained the importance of oral health to overall health, saying these free dentistry days can be life changing for people.

The Mayo Clinic supports Solberg’s claim, noting that emerging research has linked poor oral health to conditions like cardiovascular disease, endocarditis, birth complications and pneumonia. Oral disease, the PA Department of Health says, could be prevented through routine check-ups with a dentist.

Regular check-ups are something Brooks Bello is used to going into Mechanicsburg Family Dentistry for. But, just recently, her insurance stopped covering dental work, so her dentist suggested she come to the free day to avoid paying out of pocket.

Solberg explained that money for the free day comes completely out of the practice’s funds. In the previous three years of participating, they’ve donated an estimated $20,000 to $30,000 in supplies and voluntary work.

“We get as much physical work done as we can,” Solberg said.

Returning free day customer Michael Ruggles appreciates this, as he doesn’t have the insurance or funds to receive regular dental work.

“I miss that […] having dental cleanings,” Ruggles said.

Oral disease can often be treated and managed before severe complications develop, reported the PA Department of Health, however without the means to get check-ups, many people find themselves in the ER with high cost treatment.

For patients like Dwayne Smith, free dental day is his chance to get care he wouldn’t otherwise be able to receive. Without dental insurance, getting oral health care is too expensive.

“Dentistry is vital to overall health issues,” Smith said. “It’s one of the most vital things out there, but also one of the most expensive.”

Mechanicsburg Family Dentistry is located at 4824 E Trindle Rd, Mechanicsburg. More information can be found at https://www.mechanicsburgfamilydentistry.com/. To learn more about Free Dentistry Day, visit https://www.freedentistryday.org/.

Dog’s Life: Author Garth Stein shares life, Hollywood lessons in book talk

October 7, 2019 | by Diane McNaughton

Author Garth Stein speaks at Market Square Presbyterian Church.

The heavy mist that descended upon the capital city last Thursday evening was a fitting backdrop for bestselling author Garth Stein’s inspiring words to a captivated crowd of about 200 book-lovers at Market Square Presbyterian Church.

As the charismatic author of “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” now a major motion picture starring Milo Ventimiglia and Amanda Seyfried, the Seattle-based writer proved to be as insightful as the heart-tugging book’s narrator, a wise dog named Enzo. The memorable book was a fixture on the New York Times bestseller list for a remarkable 156 weeks.

Stein spoke with self-deprecating humor and fluidity, offering simple life lessons and inspirational wisdom as he shared anecdotes about his rocky journey to publication and beyond. He also spoke about the movie-making experience in Vancouver “(“Hollywood is so weird”), his love of race cars and dogs, his task-master/“muse” wife and their three sons, his devotion to the Seattle Seahawks football team, the desperate need for civil discourse, and much more in an hour-and-a-half.

Even TheBurg magazine drew praise from the author for its excellent writing and promotion of local bookstores and businesses in the city.

“You want Main Street to be a vibrant place,” he said, in praise of libraries, local bookstores, teachers, small businesses and community publications like TheBurg. “We want to make sure our communities are rich places.”

Sponsored by the Dauphin County Library System, Stein’s talk was offered free to the community. Goodwill donations will help support the library’s “Paws 2 Read” program, which allows children to gain better literacy skills by reading aloud to dogs, who would never judge a stammer or a struggle.

It is a program Stein would embrace.

With his stylish salt-and-pepper hair, dusting of a goatee, dark jeans and casual suit jacket, Stein could pass for one of the movie stars he has come to know on a first-name basis: “Milo” and “Amanda” (Ventimiglia and Seyfried), Kevin Costner and Patrick Dempsey (Dr. McDreamy), who was interested in making the movie in early discussions.

His blockbuster book is narrated by a soulful dog, and that was the intellectual hurdle that his first agent could not scale.

“Who would read a book narrated by a dog?” the cynical agent kept asking.

Stein wound up firing that skeptical agent, prompting his kids to ask, “When are you going to get a real job like the other dads?” His wife started demanding 40 pages a day.

Later at a book club, Stein shared his “fired agent” story. A fellow writer revealed that his book was narrated by a crow, and it managed to get published. Stein sent his book to that writer’s agent, who called him crying. So, bingo: Stein found his new agent, and it is an understatement to say that the rest worked out well.

His book reflects the uncommon wisdom and old soul found in man’s best friend, drawing comparisons to “Marley and Me,” “The Alchemist” and “Jonathan Livingston Seagull.”

The idea for the book came from Stein’s time after graduation from Columbia University in New York City working as a documentary filmmaker. He helped distribute a film about Mongolia, where they believe dogs are reincarnated as people. He was also inspired by a clever poem by Billy Collins called “The Revenant,” which is “written” by a dog in heaven. That is when the lightbulb went on in his head.

He had to continually remind filmmakers: “This not a book about a family and their dog. It’s about a dog and his family.”

He laughs when recalling a T-shirt he saw that read, “Never judge a book by its movie.”

Now that the movie is made, he has returned to Seattle.

“My chariot has turned back into a pumpkin,” he said.

He is working on a graphic novel and a novel inspired by –but not about, he laughs–his spunky 89-year-old mom, “A Couple of Old Birds.”

“A writer’s job is not just to write books,” he said. “It’s to get people to read books.”

One patron commented on Stein’s talk, saying, “The library really hit a home run with this one.”

In taking questions from the audience, Stein left with this thought: we place such low expectations on our dogs—don’t pee on the floor, don’t puke on the carpet. We should place far fewer conditions on our loved ones.

“We need to treat humans more like dogs, in a good way,” he concluded.

The Week that Was: News and features around Harrisburg

October 4, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

These empty lots in Harrisburg may be rezoned.

Summer quickly turned into fall this week around Harrisburg, and the news was just as varied as the weather. Throughout the week, we reported a mix of city news, community developments and events. If you didn’t have time to read our stories as they happened, now is your chance to catch up.

2^nd Street in Harrisburg has a final redevelopment plan as the city decided on the winning design for converting much of the main artery back to two-way traffic. The plan includes a turning lane and medians, but not a protected bike lane. Read the details in our news story.

Fall art season is here, and our arts writer has the lowdown on the new exhibits throughout central PA. Click here to fill up on new art shows.

Harrisburg Planning Commission gave the nod to a proposal to rezone a swath of Midtown Harrisburg. A split commission approved the proposal, which would allow larger, denser development in the area. We have the details here.

Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC announced the recipients of its 2018 Catalyst Awards. In all, eight awards will be handed out, led by Eric Darr, who will receive the Catalyst Award for his work heading up Harrisburg University. Find out who won and why here.

Harrisburg’s finances are stable, with revenue projections about in line for the first half of the year, the city reported. In other news, the city announced a major lead abatement grant and the start of leaf collection. Read up on the recent city news.

Harrisburg’s music scene gets atmospheric this month, with a number of bands heading to town emphasizing experimental and improvisational styles. As always, our music writer features the best of the best in her monthly column.

Heartshine is coming to Midtown Harrisburg, a combination of community space and pay-what-you-can restaurant. The new venture on N. 3^rd Street is slated to open, of course, on Feb. 14. Find out what it’s all about.

“Mamacha Carmen,” a new photography exhibit, opened in the Paper Lion Gallery in Lemoyne. Our visual arts writer tells us about the show and the fascinating ceremony behind it.

Sara Bozich has your plans for the first feels-like-fall weekend of the year. There may be a slight chill in the air, but it’s still plenty comfortable to get out and about for events like the 2019 Harrisburg Book Festival. Get the skinny on all your weekend activities.

TheBurg’s editor has a question for Harrisburg this month: “what’s up with that?” He takes a look at the city’s redevelopment, focusing on a key block of historic buildings in Midtown. Click here to read his October column.

TheBurg’s October issue dropped this past week, showcasing some great ideas for “fall fun,” in addition to our regular heavy does of community news and features. Pick up your copy at more than 500 locations in the area and/or visit our website.

Young conservationists are in the spotlight in TheBurg’s October issue, as we feature several environmental stewards in their teens and 20s. Meet these young people and learn about their projects by reading our feature story.

Do you receive TheBurg Daily, our daily digest of news and events? If not, subscribe here!

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