Construction starts on new Bethesda Mission community center

August 20, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

Artist’s rendering of the new Bethesda Mission community center, showing all phases complete.

Construction has begun on Bethesda Mission’s community center expansion project in Harrisburg’s north Allison Hill neighborhood, mission officials said today.

The 9,000-square-foot facility, located at 1438 Herr St., will house programs for children, teens and families, doubling the size of its current location next door.

“Our donors and the local foundations have really rallied around this project,” said Cindy Mallow, director of development. “We are all thrilled to be able to offer the Herr Street community a true community center for kids, teens and families that need a safe place to learn and grow.”

Bethesda Mission has operated its teen center from a former fire station at 1428 Herr St. since 1990. It purchased the property next door, the former Kurzenkabe Press facility, for $275,000 in 2015, according to Dauphin County property records. City Council approved the project in February.

In the coming weeks, a crane will remove the steel beam atop the former printing company building to make room for a full-sized gymnasium, according to the mission. The building will include a multi-purpose room, kitchen, community rooms, classrooms and a state-of-the-art computer lab. Outdoor play space also will be added.

The first phase of the project, overseen by Pyramid Construction, is expected to be completed in December.

Originally, Bethesda Mission had expected to renovate the existing youth center, housed in the old Shamrock Fire Station, and connect it to the addition. However, it later determined that it would be more cost-effective to demolish the existing firehouse building and construct a one-story structure in its place, with plans to add a second story later on, said Katie Andreano, manager of communications.

Therefore, Bethesda Mission now is raising another $800,000 for the second phase, which it hopes to complete by the end of 2019.

“What a difference this community center has made in the northern section of Allison Hill,” said Executive Director Scott Dunwoody. “For nearly 30 years out of an old firehouse, Bethesda has been fireproofing kids and their families to succeed in life. It is our strategy to prevent these children and teens from becoming adults coming into our shelters, and we have and will continue to help them succeed.”

For more information on donating, visit BethesdaMission.org/fireproof or contact Cindy Mallow, director of development, at 717-257-4442 x233 or [email protected].

High water forces Pride to extend service suspension

August 16, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

High water has cut off the Pride of the Susquehanna dock from City Island.

The Pride of the Susquehanna will be out of service through the weekend, as high water continues to plague its operations.

Originally, the Harrisburg Area Riverboat Society had hoped to sail again on Friday. But continued high water has made that impossible, forcing a schedule suspension through Sunday, according to the society.

The Susquehanna River peaked at about midday on Thursday at 13.63 feet at Harrisburg, according to the National Weather Service. At 7 p.m., it stood at 13.1 feet.

However, the Pride’s dock still was submerged early Thursday evening, and, to ensure its safety, the riverboat itself remained docked at Sanctuary Island, upriver from its base on City Island.

The Pride has lost some six weeks of sailing since its season began in April, placing its finances in a precarious position. To book a future cruise or make a donation, visit the Pride’s website.

Bishop McDevitt building gets several “offers in writing,” despite auction bust

August 16, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

The old Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg

There are numerous “prospective offers” to purchase the building that long housed Bishop McDevitt High School, according to an official of the company trying to sell the property.

Robert Dann, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co., declined to disclose the potential buyers or the offer prices. However, he said that he felt optimistic that the building would sell in the near future.

“We do have offers in writing that were made before the auction,” he said. “We’re going to negotiate with them and get the deal done.”

Dann said he expected a final sales agreement in “the next week or two.”

Meanwhile, today’s live auction for the property at the Hilton Harrisburg was sparsely attended and did not yield any in-person bids. The reserve, or minimum, acceptable price was set at $400,000.

The Diocese of Harrisburg is selling the sprawling property at 2200 Market St. after moving the school to a new building in Lower Paxton Township in 2012.

The building has been on the market for years, but, despite several potential offers, has never sold. The property comes complete with the 115,000-square-foot, 1930s-era building and the surrounding grounds, including the former football field and a large parking lot, sited on just over eight acres.

Dann said that most of the offers do not propose an educational use for the building, but a conversion to some type of residential housing, either apartments or senior living.

“Some of the proposals are local, and some are from the Philadelphia area,” he said.

Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

August 16, 2018 | by Sara Bozich

Happy Weekend!

Saturday is VeggieFest or Bust! Do you have your tickets yet? Other days, we’re talking happy hour, 3rd in the Burg, preseason football, and like, a bunch of other things.

What are you doing this weekend?

(more…)

Harrisburg School District asks 65 teachers to take pay cut, pay back wages in grievance settlement.

August 15, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

HEA union leaders address the grievance settlement proposal from the Harrisburg School District.

The Harrisburg School District made a big accounting error when it offered dozens of teachers inflated salaries in 2016, and administrators are now asking them to pay for it.

Two years after it violated a collective bargaining agreement by hiring 65 teachers at the wrong salary level, the school district is asking them to take a pay cut and give back the wages they were overpaid.

The recouped wages would total almost $500,000, with individual teachers accountable for amounts ranging from $600 to $12,000, according to Harrisburg Education Association leaders.

HEA says the offer violates the contracts of the teachers being asked to take a pay cut and insults 79 longtime teachers who are currently being underpaid. They fear it will lead more teachers to resign from the district.

“It’s ridiculous,” said union President Jody Barksdale. “We’re in a position where we will lose dedicated people because of the lack of promise. When you say you’ll pay someone a certain amount of money, they budget their life around that amount of money.”

HEA uses a pay schedule to determine salary levels for employees based on experience. Teachers who remain employed with the district will advance up “steps” on the salary schedule as they accrue years of experience.

However, an ongoing pay freeze has prevented some teachers from moving up in the salary schedule.

Under a collective bargaining agreement that went into effect in June 2016, any new district employee must be placed on the same salary step as existing HEA employees with the same level of experience.

But when the district hired teachers amid an aggressive recruitment effort in 2016, the new hires were put on the pay schedule based on total years they’d worked in the industry, not at the steps occupied by similarly experienced HEA counterparts.

An employment contract shared with TheBurg shows that one employee, an ESL program specialist at Rowland School, was offered a $77,792 salary starting in August 2016.

According to salary data the TheBurg obtained via Right to Know, teachers who were hired at a $77,792 salary in 2016 are making as much as teachers who have served in the district for 20 years. Some of the highest-paid teachers in the district – those making almost $80,000 – have worked in the district for less than a year.

Meanwhile, a teacher who has served four years in the district – the median length of service – makes between $52,000 and $56,000.

HEA filed a grievance against the district in 2016, asking administrators to either reduce the new teacher salaries or promote HEA teachers who had been frozen on the salary schedule. They put forth a $320,000 proposal to bring 79 underpaid employees up to their rightful pay grade, Barksdale said.

Now, the district is fulfilling one of their requests. They’ll cut the new salaries to match HEA pay levels, but they want the teachers they overpaid to give back their wages.

The proposal would bring in half-a-million dollars for the district, even though administrators set aside $1.9 million for the grievance settlement in the 2018-19 budget that was approved by the board in June.

Barksdale said that HEA wants underpaid teachers to be brought up to step instead. She also said the whole fiasco could have been avoided if the district’s Human Resources Department had worked with them in 2016.

“Our counsel tried to explain the language in the bargaining agreement to new personnel in the HR office,” Barksdale said. “It’s like they didn’t believe us or trust us.”

A visibly frustrated Barksdale said that the district’s administration is driving away talented teachers and hurting children.

“The only way this district will move forward is if the district sits down and has honest, transparent conversations with us,” Barksdale said.

She said that 90 teachers resigned from the district during the 2017-18 school year and 30 more have resigned this summer. What’s more, Barksdale worries that reneging on 65 salary offers will open the district to costly legal fights.

Barksdale said that neither the district administration nor the school board has shown leadership ability. But when asked if the Pennsylvania Department of Education should appoint a receiver, she took a long pause.

“I have thought about it,” Barksdale said. “But I’m not going to say it’s something I support. But the administration that’s in place… they’re not making very good decisions. The decisions they’re making are hurting our district and hurting our kids. When you can’t keep a certified, dedicated teacher who wants to be here, it hurts our kids.”

Harrisburg School Board must reconsider action on former business manager, judge says.

August 15, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

The Court of Common Pleas in the Dauphin County Courthouse. (File photo)

A former administrator who appealed to the Harrisburg School District to get his job back received an assist this week from a Court of Common Pleas judge, who overturned a prior ruling in his case.

Following the judge’s decision, the Harrisburg school board will have to rehear the case of former Business Manager Kenneth Medina, who says that his abrupt reassignment and pay cut in August 2017 violated school district policy and Pennsylvania law.

The school board approved Medina’s reassignment in an October 2017 hearing. He appealed the decision to the court this May.

Following a hearing in July, Judge John Cherry vacated the board’s vote, remanding it back to the board for rehearing.

Sean Fields, the attorney representing Medina, said he has contacted school district officials to initiate next proceedings, but has not yet received a reply.

If the district wishes to avoid another hearing, it could appeal Cherry’s decision to the Commonwealth Court, Fields said. But he hopes the administration will reinstate Medina to his former role instead.

“Mr. Medina is ready and willing to return to work,” Fields said. “He’s been clear that he has wanted to remain as the business manager, and that’s the primary reason he pursued his rights under the law.”

Under the school district’s new budget, Medina’s reinstatement as business manager could save him from potential unemployment. His current role, program grants administrator, was one of the 52 positions that the district eliminated in June while trying to bridge an $8 million budget gap.

Medina received a termination of benefits notice in July, but says it was addressed to another district employee. He does not know if he has a job with the district.

District Solicitor Samuel Cooper declined to comment on the case this morning. A district spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry about Medina’s employment status.

According to the petitioner’s brief, Medina was hired as business manager in April 2016 at a salary of $120,000. He received a satisfactory performance review in February 2017 and a got a raise to $121,898 that June.

But just 10 days later, according to the brief, Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney placed Medina on administrative leave due to allegations of professional misconduct. According to Knight-Burney, Medina had failed to notify the district of a vehicle loss, submitted budgets to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) with incorrect figures, failed to schedule building inspections at John Harris High School, and failed to make arrangements for mail service at district properties.

A district lawyer questioned Medina at a due process hearing in August 2017 and found the allegations against him credible. He was reassigned to the role of program grants manager at a salary of $60,000 per year.

Medina then requested a personnel hearing before the school board. Five members of the board voted to support Medina’s reassignment and three abstained according to the brief. One member was absent.

Medina petitioned the Common Pleas court to review the board’s decision in December.

Medina’s case argues that his reassignment constituted a removal from his old position, and that the district administration did not follow the procedure for removing a business manager as set forth in the Pennsylvania School Code.

School code requires administrators to present the business manager with a formal list of charges ahead of any personnel action, according to the brief. Fields says that the district’s initial allegations do not constitute a list of charges.

“Because Medina was never presented with a statement of charges, the school district did not meet the burden of proof required for the removal of a business manager under local agency law,” the brief states. “The administration also presented evidence [in hearings] that differed considerably from the original allegations.”

Fields also argues that his client’s salary cut is void under state law. Medina did not receive any evidence that the board voted to reduce his salary – only that it had voted to reassign him. State law requires a majority affirmative vote by the board to change an employee salary, according to the brief.

Furthermore, the district business manager is a statutorily recognized position that carries specific job protections, Fields said. He claims that the district did not account for these safeguards when reassigning Medina.

“Under the school district’s interpretation of [School Code,] it would have unlimited power to reassign Medina to a custodial staff position at a salary of $10 per hour,” the brief states, calling such logic “absurd.”

Fields also says that the lack of a performance evaluation prior to Medina’s reassignment violates district policy. Medina never received any warnings or progressive discipline before being placed on leave, according to Fields. He also did not receive a performance review at the end of the district’s fiscal year.

Fields cited a policy that sets standards for employee evaluations, but does not stipulate how often they must take place. Knight-Burney testified that Medina received a formal mid-year evaluation, but no end-of-year performance review.

Assistant business manager Bilal Hasan replaced Medina as acting business manager in February 2018. A June 2018 letter from PDE Secretary Pedro Rivera asked the district to find a new, more qualified candidate for the role.

Rivera said that Hasan did not have the professional certifications or experience mandated in the district’s five-year recovery plan. He also asked the district to replace part-time CFO James Snell with a full-time employee.

Grounded Again: High water halts Harrisburg’s riverboat for third time

August 14, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

The Pride of the Susquehanna riverboat churns past the city.

Once again, the Susquehanna River is rising in Harrisburg, which means the Pride of the Susquehanna has been forced out of service.

The iconic red-and-white riverboat today was moved to Sanctuary Island north of its home on City Island to wait out the high water.

“Words cannot express how disappointed we all are over this latest bout with flooding,” said board Chair Deb Donahue. “This is the third time this year that all scheduled cruises have had to be cancelled.”

Late Tuesday, the water level rose above the “action stage” of 11 feet as measured from the gauge in Harrisburg. The National Weather Service forecasts the river to peak at nearly 15 feet around midday on Thursday before falling back again. In Harrisburg, the flood level starts at 17 feet, but the Pride’s dock on City Island is inundated well below that mark.

The Harrisburg Area Riverboat Society, which operates the riverboat over its six-month season, has now lost six weeks of sailing since April. Donahue said that the loss of revenue, as well as dock repairs, has put a tremendous financial strain on the nonprofit organization.

Donahue said she hopes that the Pride will be able to resume scheduled cruises and sightseeing tours for the weekend. For more information on cruises or to make a donation, call 717-234-6500 or visit website.

Burg View: PennDOT must act to improve HBG road safety–today

August 14, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

And, like a recurring nightmare, it happened again.

The loud bang, the emergency lights, the crushed vehicles.

On Tuesday morning, the scream of sirens wailed near my house then suddenly stopped. For those of us who live in this part of downtown Harrisburg, this halting sound typically means only one thing—yet another accident on Forster Street.

Sometimes, it’s 3^rd and Forster, sometimes Green and Forster. But, most frequently, it’s Front and Forster, right at the foot of the Harvey Taylor Bridge, the result either of an illegal left-hand turn or, more often, speeding motorists trying to beat the light at the intersection. You can see the result in the accompanying photo above, taken by our reporter Yaasmeen Piper.

Over the years, we’ve taken pictures like this countless times, though this one is perhaps more vivid than most.

We’ve also written stories and editorials, pleading with the state Department of Transportation, which owns both Front and Forster streets, to do something about the clear and immediate danger to motorists and pedestrians.

Over the years, we’ve suggested simple, low-cost solutions like better signage, a lower speed limit, flashing lights and a speed strip to slow down motorists screaming off the bridge then losing a bad bet with the changing light. As a pedestrian, I personally have almost been hit there several times.

In addition, in order to calm down the raceway that is Front Street, we’ve suggested an additional traffic light, more enforcement, differentiated pavement, or, at the very least, better signage. Passing by the state Capitol, I’ve often wanted to take those yellow “pedestrian crossing” signs, meant to protect our delicate state lawmakers from almost no traffic at all, and move them into the new crosswalks on Front Street, where speeding cars nearly plough down pedestrians daily (and sometimes succeed).

To date, as far as we can tell, nothing substantive has been done.

How do I put this politely? It is far, far past time for PennDOT to get off its collective bureaucratic behind and take action. Right now. Today. Before another horrible crash and another heinous injury. Because, mark my words, the next terrible accident is not far off.

To date, the degree of apathy shown by PennDOT to its own state capital has been shocking. Up on State Street, another state road, four pedestrians and a bicyclist have been killed over just 20 months, making it, by one account, the most deadly stretch of road in the nation. In the nation.

Yes, PennDOT has joined the city in its Vision Zero pedestrian-safety initiative and, as we reported in this month’s magazine, a major study is underway examining the entire perilous stretch from Camp Hill to Allison Hill.

However, what do you do when you’re in charge of—responsible for—the most deadly segment of road in the country, as well as other, nearby streets that have proven profoundly dangerous? You don’t sit on your hands and patiently await the results of some study. You take action. You do what you can do today, using simple methods you know will make a difference, until you can implement larger, more permanent and more costly structural changes.

In Harrisburg, we have a serious crisis on our hands. It’s a crisis that cannot wait another moment to be solved. The galling part is that there are numerous ways to enhance safety along these dangerous streets, ways that any traffic engineer could rattle off in a few minutes, if only PennDOT would listen and implement them.

Lawrance Binda is editor-in-chief of TheBurg.

Detour Ahead: PennDOT begins work to replace Herr Street Bridge

August 13, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

Workers took measurements tonight as preparation began for replacing the rusty Herr Street Bridge in Harrisburg.

Harrisburg drivers should brace themselves for some short-term pain, as PennDOT soon will replace a small, but well-traveled bridge over Paxton Creek.

Preliminary work began on Monday night to remove and replace the rust-marred Herr Street Bridge that passes over the creek between N. Cameron and N. 9^th streets near the Subway Café. That portion of Herr Street averages more than 12,300 vehicles a day, according to the state Department of Transportation.

For the next three weeks, motorists should expect delays along the road, with single-lane restrictions, as crews drive in micro-pilings to prepare for the actual replacement of the 98-year-old single-span, steel-girder bridge.

Then, on Sept. 7, weather permitting, Herr Street, between Cameron and N. 7^th streets, will close entirely for as many as 10 days so that crews can remove the existing bridge, replace it with a precast concrete superstructure and rebuild the roadway.

A detour will route motorists around the work zone using Cameron, Maclay and N. 7^th streets, said PennDOT.

Atglen, Pa.-based J.D. Eckman is performing the design and construction work under a $3.2 million contract, which includes building the precast superstructure in a nearby lot along Herr Street.

PennDOT said that it expects the entire project, which also includes utility, pavement and signage work, to be finished by mid-October.

Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

August 9, 2018 | by Sara Bozich

Happy Weekend!

Our plans include the Harrisburg Senators game, dinner at newly renovated The Left Bank, and my usual market/baby-related things. Much like the stock image below, I’m becoming overrun with tomatoes, so perhaps I’ll make some sauces to freeze.

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