Set to Sail: Pride of the Susquehanna ready to launch for 31st year

April 29, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

The Pride of the Susquehanna riverboat at its City Island dock

An annual rite of spring in Harrisburg is slated to take place on Wednesday, as the Pride of the Susquehanna Riverboat launches for its 31^st season.

The riverboat typically leaves dry dock in April, but the launch was delayed due to continuing high water on the Susquehanna River, said Jason Meckes, executive director of the Harrisburg Area Riverboat Society.

“We were a little bit extra cautious after last year,” Meckes said today. “But now we an see that the water levels have tapered off.”

According to the National Weather Service, the water level at Harrisburg should be about 6-feet in depth on Wednesday, far below the 8 to 9 feet that begins to cause problems for riverboat operations.

Last year, the Pride lost about one-third of its sailing days due to high water, which both flooded its docking area and made sailing conditions dangerous.

With so much lost revenue, Riverboat Society members questioned whether they could continue to operate. Therefore, they repeatedly appealed for financial support and, according to Meckes, the community responded, donating nearly $90,000 to ensure that the Pride would continue to sail.

“People stepped up to the plate and made a difference,” he said. “A lot of people love this riverboat and wanted it to return. It means a lot to a lot of people.”

That level of giving was far above average, as one-time donations ordinarily range from $16,000 to $20,000 a year, he said.

Meckes hopes for a more normal season this year, with a minimum of lost sailing days.

Dinner cruises and special events begin this weekend, with daily public sightseeing cruises starting over Memorial Day weekend. Right now, some 400 cruises are planned for the season, Meckes said, and advanced bookings already have exceeded last year’s level.

In addition, the Riverboat Society is working to expand its educational outreach, with hundreds of students from the Harrisburg school district signed up for free River School educational voyages, Meckes said.

“All indications are that it’ll be a heckuva year,” he said.

The Pride of the Susquehanna is located on City Island, Harrisburg. For more information, call 717-234-6500 or visit https://harrisburgriverboat.com.

Context of Cardboard: New exhibit emphasizes crisis of homelessness

April 28, 2019 | by Robert MacGinnes

Cardboard is a material with many uses. It can be used for packaging, for storage, even as a plaything.

When adults and children living on the street rely on that same cardboard for shelter, it also becomes a home, which too often is the harsh reality in our society.

This weekend, an art exhibit began its run at the Carlisle Arts Learning Center employing cardboard as a way to emphasize the cultural crisis of homelessness, a national dilemma that also strikes close to home. On Friday, the exhibit in the Upstairs Gallery opened to a packed house of caring, compassionate citizens, nonprofit organization board members and art patrons alike.

Carrie Breschi is not your typical artist. Her installation demonstrates this in its unique take on the subject. Humankind, the exhibit demonstrates, is universal. We are all one people in that we live and breathe, yet life can impose hardships that, for some, are temporary and, for others, can last forever.

Breschi’s exhibit offers thought-provoking commentary, making the plight of homelessness all the more poignant as it is delivered with no photography or paintings but solely with the power of cardboard.

Facts aligned by each installation share the ramifications and realities of life within a box, on a box and outside the box. A stenciled park bench denoting “Home Sweet Home” sets the tone for the art display under the cardboard banner of “The Faces of Homelessness.”

The exhibit bleakly shows the ever-growing group of humanity who, out of dire necessity, has become scattered survivalists across America. A geographical map of the United States depicts detailed numbers state by state, chronicling the alarming rate of homelessness stretching from coast to coast.

Another vignette features discarded sleep mats of foam cushion, seven years old, donated by Community CARES, stacked like fallen soldiers one atop the other on the battlefield of life. Miniature cardboard houses form a birdlike phalanx of a migratory miasma as if a stiff wind could scatter them to the vagaries of fate.

Yet another installation spotlights a pup tent entitled “affordable housing,” which brings attention to a Florida program that determined that a basic housing unit cost $10,000 annually, far less than the $31,000 needed to keep a person on the streets.

In a chilling nod to Banksy, the maestro of graffiti art, a child’s silhouette in black and white shines a spotlight on the staggering number of homeless youth. All of this needs not only to be seen but digested, discussed and disentangled for the present day and into the future.

One of the agencies instrumental in aid to the homeless is Community CARES in Carlisle, under the direction of program director Beth Kempf. Their efforts currently house 39 women and children, as well as 35 men, both numbers beyond their capacity. Local churches have stepped up to accommodate the overflow. In the exhibit, ladders propped against a wall beg the question—what is the underlying meaning here? Are the homeless able to rise above their plight? The answer is a resounding “yes,” with organizations like Community CARES and Family Promise offering help and a start at a new life.

Thanks to Carrie Breschi, a topic that is often cast in the shadows of consciousness has been lifted to the foreground and main stage. So meaningful in its delivery, it is both translucent and transcendent. Who would ever think cardboard could pack such a wallop? When art connects with social commentary, the impact goes far beyond the exhibit itself and cuts to the very heart of why art exists in the first place.

“Home Sweet Home: The Real Face of Homelessness” runs through June 1 in the Upstairs Gallery at the Carlisle Arts Learning Center (CALC), 38 W. Pomfret St., Carlisle. For more information, visit www.carlislearts.org.

Harrisburg school district vows “full compliance” with state audit

April 27, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

The Harrisburg school district’s Lincoln administration building

The intergovernmental dispute that has rocked the Harrisburg school district may be coming to close, as the district on Friday night vowed to “fully comply” with a state-mandated financial audit.

James Ellison, the district’s newly appointed solicitor, sent a letter to state Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera vowing to offer “read only access” to the district’s eFinance financial system.

“To be clear, the District understands its statutory and regulatory obligations to fully comply with the audit process,” stated the letter from Ellison. “Indeed, we respectfully submit that compliance to date with 99% (313 of 314) of the auditor’s information requests evidences the District’s commitment to fulfilling those obligations faithfully.”

The audit was prompted by several recent incidents, including questions about the use of federal funds, the district’s unbudgeted hiring of 37 teachers and the continuation of health care coverage for 54 former employees. Moreover, the state’s less rigorous annual audit for 2017 identified numerous issues and deficiencies, including a budget forecast that was incorrect by some $4 million.

Earlier in the week, Rivera had threatened to cut off the district from $10.9 million in federal funds unless the district fully complied with Johnstown-based Wessel & Co., the department’s outside auditors, which wants remote access to the financial system.

The district had balked at the request, claiming that doing so would expose sensitive employee information. Later, union representatives said that they supported a full audit of the system, which, according to the letter, relieved the district of liability.

The letter, attached below, also laid out the district’s version of events, in which Ellison claims that school administrators have always tried to comply with the department’s demands. Nonetheless, a majority of the school board recently refused to endorse a resolution requiring district compliance.

The dispute has led some community and government leaders to call for state receivership, in which the state would take direct control of the district. Meanwhile, the issue has become the latest hot topic in the race for school board. In that race, eight challengers and four incumbents are vying for five seats in the Democratic primary, which is slated for May 21.

Letter to Secretary Pedro Rivera dated April 26, 2019

The Week That Was: A summary of news and events around Harrisburg.

April 26, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

What happened around Harrisburg last week? Here’s a summary of news and events that you may have missed.

Harrisburg Beer Week kicked off with the “First Sip,” launching a host of events that runs through May 5. So, what is Beer Week all about? What’s their signature “717 Collab” beer this year? Click here for the full story.

Harrisburg City Council officially approved a three-year renewal of the “Free After 5” downtown parking program. For the past year, the Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District, Dauphin County and the city have chipped in to offer free street parking in most of downtown after 5 p.m. Click here for the full story.

Harrisburg School Board hired long-time city operative James Ellison as its in-house solicitor. A split board opted for Ellison, who has served as district solicitor twice before. Click here for the full story.

Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (ICA), Harrisburg’s new state-appointed financial oversight board, has named Jeffrey Stonehill as its executive director. The ICA also appointed counsel and a website developer. Click here for the full story.

Midtown Harrisburg is about to bear the full brunt of roadwork, as the 3^rd Street project hits the intersection with Verbeke Street. Motorists and pedestrians can both expect inconveniences over the next month in the heart of Midtown at the Broad Street Market. Click here for the full story.

Pennsylvania STEAM Academy has filed a court petition to try to overturn the decision of the Harrisburg school board, which rejected its charter school application in February. A court decree would send the issue to the state Charter School Appeal Board. Click here for the full story.

TheBurg published two editorials this week concerning the Harrisburg school system. The first criticized incumbent school board members for not participating in a series of candidate debates. The second urged immediate change in the district, given the recent vote to hire James Ellison as solicitor and the ongoing dispute between the district and the state over a financial audit.

Vivi on Verbeke is a must-stop in Harrisburg to enjoy pottery, photography and other art, as well as meet the fascinating couple that runs the shop. So says our arts columnist after a 3rd in the Burg visit. Click here for the full post.

What’s going on around Harrisburg this weekend? Check out the weekend roundup from Sara Bozich.

PA STEAM Academy files court petition in effort to overturn rejection by Harrisburg school board

April 26, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

The Midtown 2 building in Harrisburg

The board of a proposed charter school in Midtown filed a court petition on Friday to try to overturn the Harrisburg school board’s denial of its application.

The filing by the Pennsylvania STEAM Academy contains 1,844 signatures, far exceeding the 1,000 signatures required to appeal the denial, said Carolyn Dumaresq, president of the charter school board.

“We feel very confident that we have the sufficient numbers,” she said. “We are very pleased with the outreach and the response from the community.”

If the Dauphin County Court of Common Appeals validates the signatures and issues a decree, the matter will go to the state Department of Education’s seven-member Charter School Appeal Board, which will make a decision to affirm or overturn the school board’s decision.

Dumaresq said that she hopes that PA STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) will get on the state appeal board agenda in June or, at the latest, July. At the hearing, representatives from both the proposed charter school and the Harrisburg school district will get a chance to make their cases for and against, respectively, the PA STEAM application.

“I’m confident that we have a strong application and will get a fair hearing,” said Dumaresq, who served as state education secretary under former Gov. Tom Corbett.

In February, the Harrisburg school board voted down PA STEAM’s charter school application. So, for almost two months, school supporters have been gathering signatures at city events, the Broad Street Market and other gathering places.

One thousand valid signatures of city residents, 18 and older, were required to show sufficient community interest in the public charter school.

PA STEAM hopes to open in time for the fall semester with 120 students, grades K-2, in Midtown 2 at N. 3rd and Reily streets in Harrisburg. The 115,000-square-foot building is currently occupied by HACC, but the college’s lease expires in 2022, and it is slated to begin moving programs out of the building.

If they’re able to open, PA STEAM plans to expand on an annual basis, adding a grade level each year until it becomes a K-8 school. It also expects to grow horizontally, so that each grade level eventually would have 80 students.

Dumaresq said that the charter school plans to hold informational meetings in June and July for parents of prospective students. It also will begin to recruit faculty and staff, in the expectation that the state appeal board will rule in its favor.

“We’re proceeding as if we’ll get approved because the clock is running,” she said.

Burg Blog: Time Has Come

April 25, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

The scene at a recent Harrisburg school board meeting

“The state must be getting pretty tired of Harrisburg.”

So said a friend after I bumped into him yesterday downtown on 2^nd Street, as our conversation turned to the Harrisburg school district.

I couldn’t disagree with him.

In 2000, the state placed the district into a type of receivership, and, a dozen years later, did the same with the city government. And now, like a recurring nightmare, it may be the school district’s turn again.

Our conversation happened in the midst of the latest escalation in the month-long battle between the school administration and the state Department of Education over a financial audit of the district. School administrators claim they’re cooperating with the audit; the state says they’re not.

On Monday, state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale threw down hard, threatening an undefined “new course of action” unless the district complied. Then, according to PennLive, state Sen. John DiSanto and Rep. Patty Kim came out in favor of receivership. And, yesterday, the state education department sent a letter to the school district, saying it was withholding nearly $11 million in grants until the district fully complies with the audit.

So, do we residents now face a massive property tax hike to cover for the cast of characters roaming around the Lincoln Administration Building?

Not surprisingly, then, support seems to be growing around town for another round of receivership.

About that.

First, be careful what you wish for. Back in 2000, the state turned the district over to former Mayor Steve Reed, who promptly did what he always did—lustily eyed all the beautiful new money he controlled, planned a few “special projects” and piled on the debt.

Moreover, the district has been in “receivership light” for years now, in the form of the state-appointed chief recovery officer, who was supposed to stop the incompetence and shenanigans. Then where was she when the district hired 37 teachers it hadn’t budgeted for or when an employee embezzled a boatload of public money? Meanwhile, student academic performance remains, on average, abysmal.

So, yeah, the state doesn’t have a commendable history when it comes to oversight of the Harrisburg school district.

Having said that—the current situation is ridiculous and unsustainable.

Monday’s appointment of James Ellison as solicitor was the proverbial final nail. For months, it’s been clear that the administration, and the school board majority in its thrall, have been hell-bent on hiring Ellison, perhaps the most controversial pick they could make. By doing so, they knew they were courting disaster, and yet they plowed ahead and did it anyway.

To me, the question has been—why? Why do something so provocative when you already have the state, the city and so many residents hot down your neck? Why do this when your very actions have served as a recruiting tool for a slate of fired-up school board candidates?

This obsession with hiring Ellison makes no logical sense, except in one way—another link in the chain of enablers. Maybe it’s as simple as that.

At some point, there comes a time when you have to change course, when the status quo has become intolerable. Whether through state action or through the ballot box, that time has come.

Lawrance Binda is editor-in-chief of TheBurg.

Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

April 25, 2019 | by Sara Bozich

Happy Weekend! Well — it’s here! Harrisburg Beer Week kicks off on Friday for 10 days of craft beer + community. Be sure to check out our top picks for the Week, and don’t forget to hunt down the #717Collab! And don’t worry, if you’re -gasp!- not into beer, there are a ton of spring-filled events going on now through Sunday. Read on.

What are you doing this weekend?

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Harrisburg’s financial oversight board names executive director, attorney

April 24, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Harrisburg’s state-mandated financial oversight board completed its organizational phase on Wednesday, appointing an executive director and legal counsel.

The board unanimously named Jeffrey Stonehill (pictured) as its executive director, meaning that he will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (ICA).

Stonehill accepted the part-time, $50,000-per-year position pending the approval of his “loan” from Chambersburg, where he serves as borough manager, a position that he said he would retain.

““I think it’s important when you have two municipalities cooperating together,” he said. ”I believe as strongly as possible that I can help the city of Harrisburg. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Stonehill said that he became interested in the job because he has worked extensively with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, which oversees the state’s Act 47 program for financially distressed municipalities.

Last year, the state legislature agreed to let Harrisburg retain its current, elevated levels of taxation for five more years, which will allow it to exit Act 47. However, the legislature also mandated the creation of the ICA to oversee the city’s finances and its continuing recovery process.

In addition to Stonehill, the ICA board appointed Jeffrey Engle of Harrisburg-based Shaffer & Engle as legal counsel and Dave Robertson, the owner of Harrisburg-based Factory 44, as its website developer.

David Schankweiler, ICA chairman, said that Stonehill had the best mix of knowledge and experience from the applications the board received for the position.

“We needed a good backroom guy who could get all the pieces together for us, and we then could lead out front,” he said. “Jeff can do that.”

Also at the meeting, Bruce Weber, the city’s budget and finance director, completed a presentation that he began at the prior meeting, recounting the city’s recent financial history and the challenges it faces going forward.

Harrisburg, he said, was in solid financial shape, due, in part, to careful budgeting and management, but also because, under Act 47, it has been allowed to impose higher earned income and local services taxes than otherwise would be allowed. Under current legislation, the city can only retain those taxation levels for another five years.

“The city operates very lean,” Weber said. “It doesn’t spend money on anything considered unnecessary or extravagant.”

Harrisburg, he added, is on track to present a draft five-year financial plan to the ICA board next month, a plan that must be finalized by late August.

Construction Ahead: Road, sidewalk closings, detours coming to heart of Midtown

April 24, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

The intersection of N. 3rd and Verbeke streets in Harrisburg

Big changes are coming to the heart of Midtown Harrisburg, but first residents, visitors and motorists will have to endure a month of considerable inconvenience.

Starting next week, the 3^rd Street project will hit N. 3^rd and Verbeke streets, necessitating road and sidewalk closures and detours.

“This is going to be a major disruption in many respects,” said Mayor Eric Papenfuse today.

For more than a year, crews have been working on a two-mile stretch of 3^rd Street, replacing sewers, improving intersections, replacing streetlights and redoing curbs. Construction on the $5.5 million project should wrap up late this year with a road resurfacing of the entire stretch.

The work near the Broad Street Market will begin on Monday, closing Verbeke Street at the intersection of N. 3^rd Street. One side of the street, which is split by the market, will reopen on Thursday for the weekend market hours.

The following week, starting May 6, the entire intersection of N. 3^rd and Verbeke will close from Monday through Thursday. Work at the intersection will continue through about May 23, though it could be extended in the event of substantial rain or other unexpected delays.

“The reason that Verbeke gets closed is that the dig is deep,” said city Engineer Wayne Martin. “We can’t have traffic with that deep of excavation.”

Besides road and sidewalk delays, the construction will affect access to the three main buildings at the intersection: the Broad Street Market, Midtown Scholar Bookstore and the Historic Harrisburg Resource Center, Papenfuse said.

The new intersections, which will include significant bump-outs into the current street area, will require construction work to the edge of the existing buildings so that they conform with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, he said.

The projected N. 3rd/Verbeke construction timeline

Martin said that the general contractor, Elizabethtown-based Doug Lamb Construction, could have had a less ambitious schedule, but that would have drawn out the period of construction.

“We could have prolonged the agony, or we could rip the Band-Aid off all at one time,” he said.

Papenfuse said that he believes the end result will be worth the temporary inconveniences to motorists and pedestrians.

The intersection, he said, will have a totally different look—with more green space—and be far more pedestrian-friendly.

“It’s going to be great once it’s done,” he said.

Good news for diners, drinkers, as Harrisburg council approves, extends free downtown parking program

April 23, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

With Tuesday’s City Council vote, the “Free Parking” sign will remain on the meter for another three years.

If you liked the past year of free evening parking in downtown Harrisburg, you’ll love this—City Council has approved renewal of the program for three more years.

Council unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday night that will allow for free street parking in most of downtown after 5 p.m. through April 2022.

“Overall, customers and restaurants are receiving positive outcomes from the 5 to 7 program,” said council President Wanda Williams, before casting her “yes” vote.

The “Free After 5” program has been in effect for the past year, with the city, Dauphin County and the Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District (HDID) splitting the $270,000 price tag.

That money is paid to Trimont Real Estate Advisors, the asset manager for the parking system. Trimont, along with operator SP+ (locally, Park Harrisburg), took control of the city’s municipal parking system as part of a debt-restructuring plan in 2014.

The $270,000 sum represents the total revenue that SP+ had collected from meters and enforcement fines between 5 and 7 p.m. in the HDID zone, which ranges roughly from State Street to Chestnut Street.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse has said that the city’s portion for this year has already been budgeted for, with the money coming from the city’s share of parking revenues. The county still must approve the three-year term, which, according to city Solicitor Neil Grover, should happen on Wednesday. The county had already OK’d a one-year renewal.

According to HDID Executive Director Todd Vander Woude, businesses, especially restaurant owners, have reported increased sales since the program began in April 2018.

During last week’s council work session, Steve Weinstock, owner of Stock’s on 2nd and Carley’s Ristorante, reported much higher dinner receipts over the past year, crediting the free parking program.

Notably, council on Tuesday did not approve another request from Trimont, which wants $90,000 a year to continue the program that has offered four free hours of parking on Saturdays by using the LUV HBG code through the ParkMobile app.

“Council has not received any documents to prove [Trimont’s] statement,” Williams said of the request for $90,000.

Instead, council authorized the administration to negotiate with Trimont in the hope that the company will continue to allow use of the code at no cost to the city.

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