Community Corner: Notable December Events

November 30, 2018 | by Missy Smith

December Community Corner

Christmas Trains
Dec. 1-15: 29th Street United Methodist Church, 750 S. 29th St., Harrisburg, will host a Trains of Christmas Open House, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring model train layouts with food available. On Dec. 8 and 15, the church will host extended hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., for the public to see the model railroad club at work. www.29thstumc.com

Wreath Workshop
Dec. 1: Make an evergreen wreath out of natural materials and sip hot chocolate at Wildwood Park, 100 Wildwood Way, Harrisburg, at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. Cones, berries, nuts and seed pods provided. Participants may bring other items. Cost is $20. www.wildwoodlake.org

Santa’s Workshop
Dec. 1: Take the kids to Foundation House at New Cumberland Public Library, 1 Benjamin Plaza, to experience the magic of Christmas, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Children can shop for their family members and should bring a list and money. Items are reasonably priced and wrapped. Proceeds benefit the library. www.newcumberlandlibrary.org

Holiday Flea
Dec. 1: HBG Flea will host a holiday market of local art, vintage treasures and curated curios that are perfect for gift giving, Strawberry Square, 320 Market St., Harrisburg, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. www.hbgflea.com

Market of Curiosities
Dec. 1: Miss Ruth’s Time Bomb hosts the 5th annual Market of Curiosities at Carlisle Expo Center, 100 K St., 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. This circus of imaginative holiday gifts will feature more than 65 independent artists, vintage dealers and DIY creators, along with micro-brews, food and live music. www.marketofcuriosities.com

Merry Mechanicsburg
Dec. 1: Join Mechanicsburg businesses for food, drink, entertainment, specials, giveaways and more, during Merry Mechanicsburg, 1 to 5 p.m. Seasonal tree lighting at 5:15 p.m. www.downtownmechanicsburg.com

Greens Sale
Dec. 1-2: Head to Fort Hunter, 5300 N. Front St., Harrisburg, to purchase boxwood trees, pine centerpieces, arrangements, candle rings and more, handmade by Friends of Fort Hunter, Dec. 1, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Dec. 2, 11 a.m. until sold out. www.forthunter.org

Snowball Saturdays
Dec. 1-15: Kids can participate in friendly indoor snowball fights, meet the Hershey Bear’s mascot and listen to stories at The Hershey Story, 63 W. Chocolate Ave., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on December Saturdays. www.hersheystory.org

Fort Couture
Dec. 1-16: View Christmas tree dresses created by Fort Hunter friends and neighbors on Saturdays and Sundays, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., at Fort Hunter Mansion & Park, 5300 N. Front St., Harrisburg. Enjoy imaginative displays with one-of-a-kind dress forms adorned in Christmas decorations and vote for your favorite. www.forthunter.org

Winter Fun
Dec. 1-31: Whitaker Wonderland offers indoor winter fun for the family at Whitaker Center, 222 Market St., Harrisburg. Take laps around the sock skate rink and dive in the snowball pit. Festive activities are included with Harsco Science Center admission. www.whitakercenter.org

Cars and Christmas
Dec. 1-Jan. 6: The AACA Museum will feature themed Christmas trees, unusual vehicles, vintage toys and cars, a Hess Truck display, model train exhibits, Sammy the snow plow, a Grinch scavenger hunt and more. Bring a toy or non-perishable food item for the Central PA Food Bank and Toys for Tots. www.aacamuseum.org

Clear Toy Candy
Dec. 2: Head to Fort Hunter Mansion, 5300 N. Front St., Harrisburg, for a toy candy making demo with candy makers George Kopp and Gina Napoli, 1 to 4 p.m. This Pennsylvania-German tradition involves molding sugar into hard-candy sculptures. Demonstration and candies for sale. www.forthunter.org

Concert Fundraiser
Dec. 4: Join Pollock Preforming Arts Center at 7 p.m. for the 29th Annual Eaken Trio Holiday Concert, a night of classical music to raise money for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Harrisburg Area. Tickets are $15. www.harrisburghabitat.org

Fundraiser
Dec. 8: Wildheart Ministries, 333 S. 13th St., Harrisburg, will host an Open House Fundraiser, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., to celebrate the past and dream for the future of Allison Hill. www.wildheartministries.net

Holiday Trivia
Dec. 8: Have fun in the upper atrium of Fredricksen Library, 100 N. 19th St., Camp Hill,
at the Trivia After Hours Holiday Pop Culture & Ugly Sweater Contest, 7 to 9 p.m. The library will provide popcorn, corkscrews, bottle openers and prizes. Ages 21 and older. www.fredricksenlibrary.org

Christmas Fest
Dec. 8, 9: Bethesda Mission hosts “A Tremendous Christmas” festival at Italian Lake, 3rd and Division streets, Harrisburg, 12 to 5 p.m. Enjoy photos with Santa, horse-drawn carriage rides, ice skating, local choirs, a petting zoo, food vendors and a holiday market. A tree lighting ceremony is on Dec. 8 at 5 p.m. www.bethesdamission.org

Candlelight House Tour
Dec. 9: Historic Harrisburg hosts the 45th annual Candlelight House Tour, 1 to 6 p.m., highlighting homes and businesses in Harrisburg’s Capitol and riverfront neighborhoods. Tickets are $20 in advance through Dec. 8 or $25 at the door. www.historicharrisburg.com

Teen Gingerbread Houses
Dec. 9: Fredricksen Library, 100 N. 19th St., Camp Hill, invites teens to its annual Gingerbread Extravaganza, 1:30 p.m. Teens can make a gingerbread house with kits and extra details to make a unique creation. Enjoy holiday movies, hot cocoa and prizes. Cost is $3. www.fredricksenlibrary.org

Seasonal Concert
Dec. 9: Market Square Presbyterian Church, 20 S. 2nd St., presents the Sanctuary Choir and Market Square Ringers, with director Tyler Canonico, Susquehanna Youth Chorale soprano Max Davis and organist Ellen Landis Hunt. Audience will join in singing carols. Prelude music at 3:30 p.m. Service at 4 p.m. Parking offered in the adjacent Market Square garage. www.marketsquarechurch.org/concerts

Holly Luncheon
Dec. 11: Enjoy a “Holly Luncheon” and music presented by Bob Philips at Foundation Hall of New Cumberland Public Library, 1 Benjamin Plaza, starting at 10:30 a.m. Reservations and payment of $10 should be made at the main desk. Proceeds benefit the library. www.newcumberlandlibrary.org

Mansion Christmas
Dec. 11: Historical Society of Dauphin County hosts “Christmas at the Mansion & Holiday Market” at Harris-Cameron Mansion, 219 S. Front St., 1 to 6 p.m. Tour the house, view an antique toy exhibit, visit Santa, and shop a holiday market. Suggested donation is $5. Children, members and House Tour ticketholders are free. www.dauphincountyhistory.org

Connect Mixer
Dec. 13: Meet, mingle and have some fun at “Make The Connection,” hosted by Vera Cornish, publisher of The Urban Connection, at Best Western Premier, 800 E. Park Dr., Harrisburg, 5 to 8 p.m. Enjoy heavy hors d’oeuvres, a meet and greet and a concert with Slam Allen. www.urbanconnection.us

Holiday Reception
Dec. 13: Join West Shore Chamber of Commerce for a holiday networking mixer at UPMC Pinnacle’s Fredricksen Outpatient Center, 2015 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Free event is open to chamber members. Potential members may attend up to three per year. www.wschamber.org

Army Heritage Dinner
Dec. 13: Army Heritage Foundation hosts an evening with Gen. David Petraeus at West Shore Country Club, Camp Hill. Cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m., with dinner and a presentation starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are $125 per person. Contact Amanda Neal at 717-258-1102 or [email protected].

Holiday Gala
Dec. 14: Harrisburg Young Professionals will host a holiday gala at Federal Taphouse. 234 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $15; members are free. Enjoy hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar and entertainment. Take unwrapped, new and unused toys to donate. RSVP required. www.hyp.org

Candlelight Concerts
Dec. 14-16: Susquehanna Chorale will hold its evening Candlelight Christmas concert series, with pre-concert recitals by Messiah College Faculty Brass and organist Daniel Dorty. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door and $5 for students. www.susquehannachorale.org

Holiday Breakfast
Dec. 15: Paxtonia Fire Co. will host a holiday breakfast, 8 to 11 a.m., with all-you-can-eat pancakes, eggs, sausages, bacon, drinks and more. Adults are $8; children ages 4 to 12 are $5; kids under 3 are free. Each child has a chance to win a gift. Kids can enjoy a craft table and get photos taken with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. www.paxtoniafire.com

Bell Ring
Dec. 15: Central PA Handbell Festival presents The Jingle Bell Ring, a massed ringing event, 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. and 1 to 1:30 p.m., at Marriott at Penn Square and Convention Center, 25 S. Queen St., Lancaster. There is no admission fee, but non-perishable food items will be collected. Interested ringers can contact [email protected].

Christmas Concert
Dec. 15: Join Harrisburg Gay Men’s Chorus as they offer glad tidings, great music and entertainment at Unitarian Church of Harrisburg, 1280 Clover Lane, Harrisburg, 7 to 8:30 p.m. They’ll tell the story of Frankie, a gay elf who gets stuck on the same shelf every year, even though he dreams of becoming a singer. www.harrisburggaymenschorus.org

Holiday Benefit
Dec. 15: Open Stage of Harrisburg and LGBT Center of Central PA host a special night of holiday cheer to benefit the center, 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $28; VIP tickets are $45. Admission includes a swag bag, free drink and general admission ticket to see “A Very Court Street Cabaret Christmas.” www.openstagehbg.com or www.centralpalgbtcenter.org

Curiosity Kids
Dec. 20: Kids ages 3 to 6 and families can enjoy an “Old Fashioned Christmas” at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, 300 North St., Harrisburg, 11:30 a.m. Learn how children celebrated Christmas in Pennsylvania’s early history and make a Christmas craft. www.statemuseumpa.org

3rd in The Burg
Dec. 21: Enjoy the best of Harrisburg during 3rd in the Burg, the monthly arts and culture event at galleries, restaurants and art spaces throughout downtown and Midtown, 6 to 9 p.m. www.thirdintheburg.org

Noon Year’s Eve
Dec. 28: State Museum of Pennsylvania, 300 North St., celebrates the New Year with its annual “Noon Year’s Eve” for young children and families, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included with museum admission, the celebration features dancing, crafts, snacks, seasonal planetarium show and the museum’s firefly and balloon drop. www.statemuseumofpa.org

Kids’ New Year
Dec. 31: Children can count down to noon with a balloon drop at the Popcorn Hat Players’ 26th annual New Year’s Eve party and performance of “Hansel and Gretel,” beginning at 11 a.m. at Whitaker Center, 222 Market St., Harrisburg. Tickets are $12 per person. Reservations recommended. www.gamuttheatre.org

Countdown
Dec. 31: Families are invited to celebrate New Year’s Eve at The Hershey Story, 63 W. Chocolate Ave., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Kids can make some noise with Hershey product characters and “bubble-wrap stomps” at 11 a.m., 1.p.m. and 3 p.m. www.hersheystory.org

Harrisburg New Year
Dec. 31: Harrisburg will ring in the new year with fireworks and a celebration at MLK Government Center, 10 N. 2nd St., and in downtown Harrisburg, 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. Watch the strawberry drop at midnight outside of the Hilton Harrisburg. www.harrisburgpa.gov

Mystery Unwrapped: Need a break from holiday banality? “Capernaum” is for you.

November 30, 2018 | by Sammi Leigh Melville

As we get closer and closer to the holidays, it becomes harder and harder for the general audience to sit through films with heavier subjects.

The holidays are a time for happy-go-lucky romantic comedies and blockbusters that will lift the audience’s spirits. But some films defy those limitations. Their true purpose is to tell a story, and sometimes that story won’t be happy or inspirational.

“Capernaum” is one such film. Director Nadine Labaki brings us a thought-provoking, visceral look into familial neglect (happy holidays!), and it’s getting some Oscar buzz for the foreign film category.

Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) is 12. We think. We’re not entirely sure because his parents don’t know his date of birth or have any birth records for him. Zain is maybe 12, lives in Lebanon, and is in court. Not for the violent crime he committed, because there is not any question of that. This trial is to sue his parents. Why? “Because I was born,” he says. He has a strong case for neglect and does not want his parents to continue having children.

What begins to unfold onscreen is Zain’s life leading up to the trial, interspersed with tidbits from the case against his parents. We meet his parents (Kawsar Al Haddad and Fadi Yousef) and his sister, Sahar (Haifa “Cedra” Izzam), to whom he is very close and of whom he is very protective. We meet Tigest (also called Rahil, played by Yordanos Shiferaw), the Ethiopian immigrant that Zain meets after he runs away from home, before his crime, and her toddling, adorable son, Yonas (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole). Every character that Zain meets throughout the film adds another gritty layer to his experience, whether in his home life or out on the streets.

While what we are watching would not categorically fall into the “mystery” genre, with a detective finding clues and solving a crime, it is certainly shrouded in mystery. The slow-burning plot gives us clues about the horrors of Zain’s upbringing only after we see their context in his life on the streets. We know, for example, that Zain has committed a crime, but we don’t know what that is until we are well into the plot. And, even then, the characters hem and haw about it, giving basic information and no more.

This reviewer’s goal is honestly to give you as little of the plot as possible, for that is what makes the film so gripping. It is a journey of discovery, of desperation, of a little boy who is forced to skip over childhood and be mature beyond his years.

Al Rafeea will draw you in with his performance. It is a daunting role for such a young actor, and yet he sets the mood for the entire piece, playing the father, the son, the protector, where others fail to fill these roles throughout the story. Such a serious, weary face on such a young boy. Shiferaw will break your heart with her supporting performance, though “supporting” seems unjust, given the portrayal she gives for her story.

As difficult as the subject matter is—most people prefer their family drama to be wrapped up with a big, red bow by the end of the film during the holiday season—“Capernaum” should not be overlooked this holiday season.

“Capernaum” plays this month at Midtown Cinema, 250 Reily St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.midtowncinema.com.

December Events
At Midtown Cinema

National Theatre Live presents
“The Madness of George III”
Dec. 9, 3 p.m.

Down in Front!
Comedy improv panel riffs on
double Santa feature
Dec. 14
8 p.m., “Santa Claus” (1959)
9:30 p.m., “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” (1964)

“It’s a Wonderful Life”
Dec. 20, 24 & 25, 7 p.m.
Dec. 22, 12:30 p.m.

3rd in the Burg $3 Movie
“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”
Dec. 21, 9:30 p.m.

Moviate presents
“Holly Jolly Film Shorts”: 16mm rare holiday movies
Vintage fun for the whole family
Dec. 23 at 7 p.m., $5

Sights & Sounds: Assistive tech allows more patrons to enjoy films at Midtown Cinema.

November 30, 2018 | by Ann Beth Knaus

Movie lovers know what a treasure Harrisburg’s Midtown Cinema is.

Screening independent and art-house films since 2001, the intimate theater on Reily Street offers patrons a unique viewing experience that cannot be duplicated in larger venues.

For patrons with a hearing or vision impairment, however, even this smaller, up-close space can be a challenge for taking in a show. But now, thanks to new technology acquired by the Midtown Cinema earlier this year, these moviegoers can enjoy the same theatrical experience as other guests, with comfort and ease.

Assistive and accessibility devices acquired through California-based QSC help to bring the movies to life for patrons with hearing or visual challenges.

Stuart Landon, director of community engagement for Midtown Cinema, said that even though the technology has been available for only a couple of months, patrons are catching on and coming in more to take advantage of it.

“We had been doing a lot of research into this technology,” Landon said. “And as a member of the Arthouse Convergence, a national group of arthouses, we have been following what our sister theaters are doing and acquired the technology.”

Open caption programs on Mondays have been standard offerings at Midtown Cinema for many years. Not unlike subtitles, open captions appear on the movie screen where they are visible to the entire audience. Although the open captions did attract a select crowd, the one-day-a-week offering was limited.

Through the acquisition from QSC, the cinema now has six assistive and accessibility devices. Moviegoers simply need to provide their ID for a deposit to use the device for any movie they plan to see.

Closed-caption devices receive and display captions via infrared energy. Infrared comes from the booth and then transmits to the device. The receiver is attached to an angled flex arm, which is adjustable to accommodate a person’s height, with a base and built-in cup holder that fits into the theater seat arm. Guests can select up to four caption languages delivered with the movie.

Two-channel headphones also are available with either HI (hearing impaired) or VI-N (visually impaired narrative) audio options. Headphones with the visually impaired narrative are comparable to listening to the screenplay, Landon said. Not every film comes with all the narratives, but more and more films are adding this feature.

The captions and subtitles can be open or closed. And with the captioning devices, those with hearing or visual impairment are at an advantage.

“What’s also neat about it is, when you use the closed captioning, you will get information sooner than patrons who aren’t using it,” Landon said. “They have the inside scoop, almost like holding a script.”

Guests who are unfamiliar with the technology simply need to ask for assistance from one of the cinema’s staff, which is trained in use of the technology.

Landon said that Midtown Cinema has reached out to members of the hearing-impaired community to let them know about the devices and hopes more and more people will take advantage of them. Each evening, two devices per screening room will be available.

“Over the holidays and during Oscar buzz season, I hope more people will take advantage of it.” Landon said. “I hope more people will feel at home at the movies.”

Midtown Cinema is located at 250 Reily St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.midtowncinema.com.

Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

November 29, 2018 | by Sara Bozich

Happy Weekend!

We’re going to go out to dinner on Friday! Together! It’s wild.

Then, Saturday is Market + FLEA (#shoplocal for the holidaze, folks)., then helping friends move, by which I mean bringing them snacks and booze. And Sunday, the Steelers are playing under the lights. It’s funny the difference a year makes. Last year I wouldn’t have been able to stay awake long enough to watch an 8 p.m. game, and this year, I’m like score, I can actually watch the game because the baby will be in bed.

What are you doing this weekend?

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Nonprofit brings 570 free winter coats to Scott Elementary students.

November 29, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Students from Harrisburg’s Scott Elementary School received new winter coats this morning thanks to a partnership between a nonprofit and an electric supplier.

Christmas came a few weeks early for students at Harrisburg’s Scott Elementary School this morning.

All 570 students at the K-5 school received a new winter coat today from Operation Warm, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that distributes jackets to children in need.

The giveaway was jointly sponsored by IGS Energy, a natural gas and electricity supplier with offices in Harrisburg.

Starting at 9 a.m., students filed into the Scott gymnasium to claim their new jackets. Local and out-of-town volunteers from IGS and Operation Warm helped them choose among different sizes and colors.

IGS provided funding for the coats, which are manufactured by Operation Warm under their own proprietary clothing line, according to Operation Warm projects manager Gabrielle De Leo.

The coats were provided at no cost to the children or the school. The Harrisburg giveaway was one of five that Operation Warm has hosted throughout the Northeast and Midwest this season, and will also be one of its largest.

Operation Warm fields partnership requests from businesses across the country that want to distribute coats to local children, De Leo said.

They then identify eligible school sites, based on criteria including school size, the diversity of the student population, and the number of students who receive free and reduced lunch.

Like all schools in the Harrisburg City School District, the high rate of low-income students at Scott School mean that every student qualifies for a free or reduced lunch.

Many Scott students also walk to school, according to principal Eugene Spells, making it all the more important that they have warm coats in the coming winter months.

“Knowing they’ll have a coat to put on every morning to get to school, it might not seem like a big deal to all of us but it’s a big deal to them,” Spells said.

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Capital Region Water sets 2019 budget, will increase water, sewer rates

November 29, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

Capital Region Water replaces sewer infrastructure in Harrisburg.

Water and sewer rates will rise for many people in the Harrisburg area, as Capital Region Water last night set its rates for next year.

Under the 2019 budget, CRW’s drinking water customers will pay $9.65 for 1,000 gallons, an increase of 19 cents, or 2 percent, over the 2018 rates. These customers also pay a $7.62 “ready to serve” charge.

Sewer, or wastewater, rates will go up more substantially. For 2019, these customers will pay $7.65 for 1,000 gallons, an increase of 66 cents, or 9.4 percent, over the 2018 rates.

An average, full-service residential customer who uses 4,500 gallons of water monthly will pay an extra $3.98 per month, according to CRW.

CRW stated that the rate increases were necessary, in part, to fund ongoing capital improvements in its service area. The company has committed to some $40 million in capital projects to repair and replace its aging infrastructure.

For 2019, CRW’s water projects include lining a major water main on Cameron Street, replacing several aging water mains, and evaluating the DeHart Dam spillway. Wastewater capital improvements include updating treatment systems at the wastewater treatment facility and repairing major interceptor sewers along Paxton Creek and the Susquehanna River, according to the company.

“Capital Region Water has and will continue to make prudent financial decisions to reduce costs and limit the burden placed on our customers while investing in the water and wastewater infrastructure essential for everything we do in life from taking a shower to fighting fires,” said CRW board chair Marc Kurowski, in a statement. “Large, multi-year investments are needed to address aging infrastructure and a partial consent decree for combined sewer overflows requiring gradual rate increases over time.”

CRW has increased its water and sewer rates for several years in a row. For 2018, drinking water rates went up by 7.5 percent and wastewater rates by 7.1 percent.

A 12-lane highway in Harrisburg? It’s possible in PennDOT plan for I-83.

November 28, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

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. Photo courtesy of PennDOT.

A state proposal to widen a segment of I-83 in Harrisburg to 12 lanes is causing concern among some city officials, who say it will increase noise and traffic congestion while costing the city tax revenue.

Concept drawings from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) published in October reveal plans to double the width of I-83 between 19th Street and the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg, bringing the six-lane highway to 12 lanes of mainline and local traffic.

PennDOT predicts the new lanes would displace as many as 28 city residences and 20 businesses, mostly in low-income and minority neighborhoods.

The proposal, part of a larger plan to improve traffic flow and repair roads on the I-83 Capital Beltway, is still in the preliminary engineering phase, according to PennDOT community relations manager Greg Penny.

PennDOT developed the current concepts based on 20-year traffic projections and conversations with local stakeholders, including the city of Harrisburg. The project is still in its preliminary engineering phase, and construction may not begin until 2022.

But Harrisburg officials worry that current proposals will generate noise and congestion, eliminate taxable properties, and counteract local efforts to make Harrisburg friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists.

“Harrisburg’s street network can’t support what PennDOT will force into the city,” city Engineer Wayne Martin said. “The vision of Harrisburg as a state capital surrounded by a parking lot is not working. That’s not a sustainable future for us.”

The proposal would increase the number of mainline traffic lanes — those running the length of I-83 — from the current two lanes to three in each direction. It would also add two local “collector distributor” (CD) lanes on both sides for motorists traveling short segments along the highway, as well as exit lanes.

The intent of the CD system is to separate local traffic from mainline motorists, Penny said, and improve safety for local traffic merging on and off the interstate.

The result would be a 12-lane highway running from South Allison Hill to Shipoke. From 19th Street to 29th Street, the road would narrow again to four lanes in both directions.

Image source: PennDOT

PennDOT traffic studies also identified a need for an interchange at Cameron Street, a major north-south route through Harrisburg. Preliminary plans call for eliminating the current interchange at 13th Street and replacing it with a new one on Cameron.

Martin said that he’s not opposed to the Cameron Street interchange, which would take traffic away from Foose Elementary School on 13th Street.

But he and Mayor Eric Papenfuse balked at the proposal to double the width of the highway, especially at a time when the city is trying to reclaim road space from motorists and prioritize multi-modal infrastructure.

“It’s just too wide,” Martin said. “With that many lanes, bridges are twice as costly, roads are twice as costly to maintain. PennDOT is ignoring what the market is saying—that not everyone will be driving cars in 10 to 15 years.”

Martin fears the PennDOT traffic models ignore the phenomenon of induced demand—the idea that increasing road capacity will encourage more people to drive, negating any efforts to improve congestion.

“If you make the road wider, people will fill it with cars,” Martin said. “Instead of driving through New Jersey, they’ll drive through Pennsylvania. If you build it, they will come.”

Martin also said that larger roads would separate communities in Harrisburg and increase traffic and noise. The 1-83 Master Plan study concedes that neighborhoods along the highway may need noise walls after the expansion.

Harrisburg officials were also troubled by the project’s potential to displace dozens of businesses and residences, including the city’s public works facility on Paxton Street.

Harrisburg Finance Director Bruce Weber couldn’t estimate how much taxable property the city would lose to the lane expansion. But any revenue loss is significant to the city, he said.

The expansion could potentially affect historic homes in the area, including those adjacent to the 19th Street ramp and in Shipoke.

Despite the negative externalities, Penny said the current proposals represent the best options PennDOT could find during its preliminary planning effort.

“Right now, this is the best thing we’ve got,” Penny said. “It is subject to revision, but these were the best alternatives after weighing all the input.”

Martin said Harrisburg officials submitted comments to PennDOT, sharing their concerns about the project. Residents can view the entire plan and submit their own comments by visiting I-83beltway.com.

Mayor proposes 2019 budget with no tax hikes, slight spending decrease from current year.

November 27, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Harrisburg’s mayor tonight presented a proposed 2019 budget that calls for slightly less spending and no tax increases in the new year.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse appeared before city council tonight to propose a balanced budget with $70.8 million in expenditures and revenues, including $6.8 million in capital improvement projects.

The budget does not radically alter any city programs, but does propose the reorganization of personnel into a new departmental structure.

Capital spending is down by $500,000 from the 2018 budget, and the $64 million operating budget decreased by almost $700,000.

That brings total spending down by a total of $1.2 million from 2018, but it won’t require the city to cut any programs or staff.

The decrease is also a far cry from the $12 million in cuts Papenfuse feared he would have to make back in June, when the state legislature denied Harrisburg a special provision allowing it to keep its current tax rates.

The legislature ultimately passed a similar measure for Harrisburg in October, which will allow the city to exit the Act 47 oversight program for distressed municipalities. Officials expect the exit will be complete this spring.

The legislation will let Harrisburg to retain its current local services tax and earned income tax rates, which both brought in more revenue in 2018 than in the previous year. Indeed, all revenue sources except for property taxes showed marginal year-to-year growth since 2017, Papenfuse said.

Local services tax and earned income tax revenues are projected to increase again in 2019, thanks to a growing workforce and wage gains.

Parking revenues have also been steady, and Papenfuse said he received assurances from parking officials that they will not increase meter rates in 2019.

Capital projects

The mayor’s proposed capital improvement budget calls for $4.8 million in spending from the Neighborhood Services fund, including:

$2.5 million for the acquisition of a new public works building
$250,000 to outsource the demolition of abandoned buildings
$2 million in new equipment for parks maintenance.

Papenfuse said that the city has spent more than $1 million enhancing its parks this year, with hopes for more projects in the future. New equipment will help maintain the park investments for years to come, he said.

An additional $2.5 million in proposed spending will allow the city to finance its share of grant-funded transportation projects. Among them are:

$517,000 to construct new sheltered bike lanes and a traffic circle on N. 7th Street
$345,000 to repave two miles of Riverfront Park’s lower riverwalk, a segment stretching from Maclay Street to Shipoke.
$270,000 for landscaping and construction to complete the MulDer Square revitalization project.
$250,000 to complete the 3rd Street repaving project, which was delayed this year by heavy summer rains.

Papenfuse also proposed dipping into Harrisburg’s general fund to cover new equipment in other city departments. Those expenditures include $700,000 for the IT department to replace aging infrastructure and purchase off-site data storage.

The police bureau will also receive $150,000 for the purchase of body cameras, a figure that includes $70,000 in unspent funds for the same purpose in this year’s budget.

Papenfuse said the city can expect to see body cameras in 2019, despite initial promises they would be rolled out this year. Police said this fall that it took longer than expected to identify what kind of equipment they wanted.

Operating expenditures and reorganization

As always, the city’s largest operating expenditure — $32.7 million — will be on personnel. Debt service and healthcare will eat up $9.8 million and $11 million from the operating budget, respectively.

Even though personnel expenses increased by $500,000 from 2018, Papenfuse said a priority for the 2019 budget is to maintain Harrisburg’s current staff capacity, which his administration has rebuilt after years of austerity.

“We’ve done a lot of growing in the past year, but we’ve gotten to a point where we have a critical mass,” Papenfuse said.

Rather than add new personnel in 2019, the mayor proposes reorganizing the city’s departments to more closely align with the city council committee structure.

A new organizational chart calls for creating seven city departments to correspond with the seven council committees. The chart would dissolve the current Department of Community of Economic Development and replace it with the Department of Engineering and Development.

The reorganization was due in part to the resignation of Community and Economic Development Jackie Parker, who left the city in September for a new job in the private sector.

The reorganization would eliminate Parker’s old position, which has not been filled since she left. Instead, city engineer Wayne Martin would oversee the department of Engineering and Development.

The reorganization would also make the bureau of housing and development its own department, led by the bureau’s current director Franchon Beeks.

The reorganization also calls for the elimination of some obsolete, currently vacant positions and the creation of new ones, mostly at the management level.

Next steps

Council members will discuss the budget at two public hearings on Dec. 11 and 12, slated for 5:30 p.m. in council chambers.

They did not have detailed questions for the mayor tonight, but president Wanda Williams and Public Works chair Westburn Majors expressed concern about the absence of a community and economic development director in the mayor’s proposed reorganization.

Council is scheduled to vote on the budget at its Dec. 18 legislative session. As in past years, the budget will need final approval from Harrisburg’s state-appointed Act 47 coordinator.

The 2019 budget will also be the first step in a five-year financial plan for the city, which will be adopted by a newly created, five-member intergovernmental cooperation authority (ICA) in the new year.

Members of the state legislature are expected to make their appointments to the ICA by the end of the month.

Harrisburg to absorb new costs of recycling starting in 2019.

November 27, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Penn Waste employees sort recycled material at the company’s Materials Recovery Facility in York County. Harrisburg will start paying $40 per ton of recycled goods it sends there in 2019, up from $0 per ton in 2018. (Photo courtesy of Penn Waste.)

Disruptions in the global recycling market mean that Harrisburg will start paying a new fee for single-stream recycling in 2019, but ratepayers won’t see any changes to their municipal waste bills.

Beginning in January, Harrisburg will pay trash collector Penn Waste $40 for each ton of recycled paper and plastic taken to its materials recovery facility (MRF), where refuse is sorted, baled and prepared for export.

City Council will get its first look at the new contract with York County-based Penn Waste at a legislative session tonight.

They’ll also hear Mayor Eric Papenfuse present the first draft of the city’s 2019 budget, which will include a new, $400,000 expenditure item for recycling services, he said.

Harrisburg has used Penn Waste’s recycling facility since 2014 but did not previously pay for recycling.

Due to recent trade disputes with China, however, consumers across the country are now paying for a service that waste management companies traditionally offered for free.

As the world’s largest importer of recycled goods, China took the American waste industry by surprise earlier this year when it announced a temporary ban on all American imports, claiming that they contained too many contaminants — non-recyclable plastics and food waste that made their way into recycling bins.

The country later imposed new contaminant standards that all but disqualified American recyclables from import.

The announcement led to a meltdown in the American recycling industry, as waste companies began hemorrhaging money on a previously profitable service.

Until last year, the revenues from exporting recycled waste always exceeded the cost of transporting, processing and packaging it, Jim Warner, co-CEO of the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority (LCSWMA), told TheBurg in May. This allowed municipalities, including Harrisburg, to haul away residents’ recyclables without charging them.

But the new Chinese contaminant standard closed the United States out of the largest and most profitable market for recycled goods.

Penn Waste recouped some of its loses this spring by imposing a sustainability fee on its commercial accounts. It also announced it would renegotiate municipal contracts as they expired.

Penn Waste spokesperson Amanda Davidson said today that municipal recycling charges are now commonplace throughout the country.

Many cities will likely pass the new costs on to residents, who could see increased waste bills in the new year. Harrisburg is a rare exception.

The city already pays $190 per ton to dispose of waste at the Harrisburg incinerator, which it sold to LSCWMA in 2013.

That fee, which is the highest in the region due to terms of the incinerator’s sale, will increase to $195 in 2019 per Harrisburg’s contract with LCSWMA.

Since Harrisburg’s tipping fees are so high, the city has an incentive to divert as much waste as possible into recycling streams, Papenfuse said.

The $40 tonnage fee that Harrisburg will pay to Penn Waste is still much lower than the cost of dumping waste at the incinerator. As a result, the city will absorb the new recycling costs without passing any fees on to residents.

The city will defray its $400,000 recycling budget with grants from the state Department of Environmental Protection, Papenfuse said. Any remaining expenditures will come from the neighborhood services fund.

City Council will meet in its chambers at the MLK Government Center at 6 p.m. tonight to hear the mayor’s budget full presentation.

Planning Commission needs $50,000 and a few more months to finish Harrisburg comprehensive plan.

November 21, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Concept drawings for Harrisburg’s comprehensive plan on display in consultant Bret Peters’ office.

It’s been one year since Harrisburg saw the first draft of the city’s new comprehensive plan, but officials now say they need more time and money to shepherd it to final approval.

The city Planning Commission, a seven-member volunteer body that has spent the last nine months line-editing the preliminary plan, intends to apply for a state grant and hire a new consultant to assemble the final draft.

They will request up to $50,000 from a state Act 47 grant fund, according to planning commissioner and City Council member Ausha Green.

The final document, which must be adopted by council, will guide development in Harrisburg for decades to come. The city’s current plan has not updated since the 1970s.

It’s unclear whether the city’s anticipated exit from the Act 47 financial recovery program will disqualify its grant application. City officials plan to petition the state to leave Act 47 in 2019, thanks to legislation passed this fall that grants Harrisburg special taxing authority.

According to Green, that’s all the more reason to finish a grant application soon.

“We’re trying to move forward as quickly as possible to make sure we can get the best results for the people of Harrisburg,” Green said. “We don’t want the plan to be tied up in limbo for years and years, because the data we currently have will be outdated.”

The commission would use the money to hire a planning consultant, who would provide technical assistance and implement the edits the commission has already made.

The commissioners also want to reformat the draft document in a more user-friendly template.

“In order to take it from where it is now and include all the comments, additions, deletions that we’ve made, we need labor to do that,” Green said.

Green did not know if the project would require the purchase of software. She expects most of the funds to be used for labor and said that the budget was based on the estimated time the commission has already spent editing the draft chapter by chapter.

Green estimated that the commission could submit a final plan to City Council in as many as six months if the commission receives the grant.

As a volunteer board, the commission cannot receive or manage funds. Any grant they obtain must go to the city.

The city’s planning bureau received a $10,000 allocation in Harrisburg’s 2018 budget to hire a new contractor for the comprehensive plan. Mayor Eric Papenfuse said on Wednesday that none of that money had been spent.

The mayor has previously laid blame for the stalled project with the planning commission, and said earlier this year that he intends to replace all seven of its members.

Green could not be reached today for additional comment.

It’s been three years since Harrisburg launched its comprehensive planning process, a $200,000 endeavor that was derailed due to disputes between a planning consultant and the city.

The city awarded the planning contract in 2015 to Bret Peters, owner of the Harrisburg-based Office of Planning and Architecture. He clashed with city officials when he failed to produce a draft plan by deadline; Peters later said the city’s timeline was too aggressive.

Peters asked for an additional $20,000 a month over an unspecified timeframe to complete the project.

Negotiations between Peters and the city devolved in 2016, when the city terminated his contract. Peters insisted that the contract could not be terminated because he had followed its terms.

Peters published a draft comprehensive plan in November 2017. Papenfuse called the document “unsalvageable,” saying its specificity would stifle development in the city.

Papenfuse had the planning bureau prepare a separate draft document for the Planning Commission’s consideration.

This year, the commission decided to use Peters’ draft as the city’s working comprehensive plan. Commission members must approve the document before sending it to city council, which will vote whether to adopt it.

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