Mandate or Suggestion? State calls on Harrisburg school district to seek new financial managers

June 14, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Members of the district’s business office, from left: acting assistant business manager Regis Barwin, interim CFO James Snell and acting business manager Bilal Hasan.

Soon after wrapping up a protracted debate over its superintendent, the Harrisburg school district may find itself in another personnel battle.

The state Department of Education is asking the district to search for new leadership for its business office, which oversees budgets and financial management.

In a letter to the district on Monday, department Secretary Pedro Rivera said that the district’s chief financial officer and business manager do not meet the criteria set forth in its five-year recovery plan, which calls for full-time, permanent, highly qualified employees to fill both positions.

The school board has final say on all district personnel actions. But board members, who diverged for the past six months over whether to replace or retain Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney, once again disagree on the need to seek new hires.

Board President Judd Pittman interprets the letter as a directive from the state, giving the district no choice but to replace interim, part-time CFO James Snell and acting Business Manager Bilal Hasan. But board Vice President Danielle Robinson thinks the district should keep the current team.

“It’s not a directive, it’s a suggestion,” Robinson said. “The team we have in place is giving us what we need.”

The business manager and CFO are responsible for developing and managing the district’s $156 million budget. This year, the district faces a shortfall of almost $9 million. The business office has proposed bridging it with a $5 million transfer from its fund balance, $4 million in staff cuts, and a 3.6 percent tax hike.

“The people we had in [the business office] before are the reason we’re in the situation we’re in now,” said Robinson. “Hasan and Snell have helped us come out of it.”

The district’s business office has seen a revolving door of interim and acting managers in the past five years. The office had permanent leadership during the 2016-17 school year, when William Gretton served as CFO and Kenneth Medina as business manager.

Gretton resigned last July to take a superintendent position near Philadelphia, and Medina was reassigned to a grants management role in August.

Pittman called the lack of consistent leadership in the business office “a cancer.” He said that, while he appreciates Snell and Hasan’s hard work over the past year, he’s been frustrated with the district’s administration – including the superintendent – during this year’s budget talks.

“I haven’t gotten answers to the questions I’ve been asking this budget cycle,” Pittman said. “I haven’t seen any creativity.”

Pittman said that the administration has lagged on actions that would generate more revenue, such as selling its vacant properties or seeking out payments from tax exempt entities in the city.

Since the state could put the district in receivership once its five-year recovery plan ends on June 30, Pittman thinks it’s imperative that the board act now on PDE’s directive.

Knight-Burney declined to comment on the letter today, but Chief Recovery Officer Audrey Utley said that the district would need to seek new personnel.

“[Hasan] does not have the required experience,” Utley said. “PDE is saying that we need to do a search now.”

Utley was referring to the criteria set forth in the recovery plan, which calls for a business manager with “substantial prior experience and… a successful, documented track record” overseeing a business office in a similar-sized district.

Hasan also lacks certifications from the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials. He was serving as assistant business manager in February when he was promoted to acting business manager at a salary of $113,000.

He was floated as a potential business manager in 2016, according to school board minutes, but passed over in favor of a more experienced candidate (the job ultimately went to Medina.)

Robinson said that she would support Hasan seeking coursework and certifications to become a full-time, permanent business manager.

Separately, the school district announced today the resignation of Percel Eiland as a school board director. The district now must find and appoint a replacement for Eiland, who served just six months of his two-year term.

Feds affirm 6 Harrisburg census tracts as “Opportunity Zones”

June 14, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

These census tracts were approved as Harrisburg’s Qualified Opportunity Zones.

The federal government has approved all of the census tracts nominated for a new program aimed at spurring development in low-income communities, the commonwealth announced today.

Six of those tracts are in Harrisburg.

“Approval of our nominated tracts is an important step in the process of bringing critical investment and development to these areas,” Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement. “Designation as an opportunity zone is one piece of the puzzle that can help many of our distressed communities across the commonwealth.”

In April, Wolf nominated 300 low-income census tracts across the state as Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ), a status created under the 2017 federal tax reform bill. All were accepted.

Six of Harrisburg’s 14 census tracts were included in Wolf’s submission. The potential investment zones encompass the city’s downtown area south of Forster Street, South Harrisburg, South and Central Allison Hill and the neighborhoods along the city’s Cameron Street industrial corridor.

The QOZ program aims to stimulate investment in low-income communities by providing tax breaks to private investors. It’s expected to defer or reduce capital gains taxes to anyone who invests in funds supporting businesses, real estate and other ventures in the zones.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is still in the process of developing the program, and the IRS is expected to provide further information regarding opportunities for investment in zones in the coming months, according to Wolf’s office.

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse previously said that the recommended zones aligned with the city’s current development efforts, including the MulDer Square revitalization project and the Paxton Creek reclamation in the industrial corridor.

To qualify for QOZ status, a census tract had to have at least a 20-percent poverty rate or a median family income less than 80 percent of the statewide or regional median income.

The list of approved tracts, an interactive map and additional information about the opportunity zone program can be found at DCED’s Qualified Opportunity Zones website.

Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

June 14, 2018 | by Sara Bozich

Happy Weekend!

Hi, we have a babysitter on Friday. For real. AND I realized it’s 3rd in the Burg. But first — we have our #HBGBeerWeek check presentation at the Market at 4 p.m. — Join us! We’re presenting Harrisburg River Rescue with a BIG CHECK!

I’ll drop the baby home then I’m thinking dinner at Note. Saturday is Market Day. I didn’t make it last week, and I am thirsty for fresh produce. Is that possible? I deem it so.

And then, Sunday is Andy’s first Father’s Day. He wants a relatively low-key celebration of diner breakfast and a walk along Riverfront Park.

What are you doing this weekend?

(more…)

Click & Toss: Harrisburg announces new recycling, sanitation app.

June 13, 2018 | by Yaasmeen Piper

Sanitation and recycling services in Harrisburg are about to get a little more user-friendly.

The city today announced a new app called Recycle Coach, which allows residents to get the latest information on sanitation services, schedules, what and where to recycle, collection requirements and more.

“[The app provides] details people need to understand, like the way food could potentially contaminate recyclables,” said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. “The app addresses all this, and it’s really interesting, easy to use and fun.”

Already used in other states and countries, Recycle Coach is now available for Harrisburg residents. The app is personalized via language, building type (apartment or home) and address. Using that information, six tabs on the home screen offer users various types of functionality, information and additional options.

The “my schedule” tab is a monthly calendar that indicates when sanitation workers will collect certain items. Icons indicate the type of waste—from regular trash to yard waste—that will be collected on which day. The app also allows users to add reminders for certain collection or disposal days.

The “what goes where” tab helps users find the proper disposal method and location for items they may be unsure about.

“Be a better recycler” is a quiz in which users can discover the rights and wrongs of your recycling habits.

“Communication” allows users to send a report to technical support and to the Department of Public Works. “More resources” has a list of local waste and recycling companies. Under each company, there is a list of which items they recycle, their services and their contact information.

“Collection requirements” provides information on curbside programs and requirements, such as what is collected, information on electronic and large appliance collections and more.

John Rarig, Harrisburg’s recycling coordinator, said that the Recycle Coach app will help the city get sanitation information out to the public quicker.

“This app will allow us to update information as things change [such as] weather problems and things that we can notify the populous about,” he said. “[Recycle Coach] is very easy to work with, and we think this is a great thing for Harrisburg.”

Harrisburg residents can access Recycle Coach not only from their smartphones, but also via computers and voice assistants such as Alexa.

“I feel that [the app] really empowers people to become better recyclers and take a greater interest in what they are doing,” Papenfuse said. “I encourage everyone to download it on their phones. It’s quick. It took just a few seconds to download.”

The Recycle Coach is free and available for Apple and Android users. For the online version or more information visit harrisburgpa.gov

Citizen’s group proposes Riverfront Park monument to honor prominent African Americans

June 12, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Harrisburg’s Riverfront Park is dotted with historical monuments, but none of them honor African Americans.

A group of citizens hopes to change that.

Members of the Peace Promenade Project are asking city hall to green-light Harrisburg’s first monument to African Americans, which they hope to erect near the corner of Forster and Front Streets by June 2019.

Their proposal calls for a life-size tableau of four Pennsylvania abolitionists and voting-rights advocates: Thomas Chester, a Harrisburg-born journalist and attorney; William Howard Day, the first black school board director in Pennsylvania; Jacob Compton, a pastor who drove Abraham Lincoln’s carriage during his visit to Harrisburg; and Frances Harper, a poet and women’s rights activist.

All except Harper lived in Harrisburg and are buried in Lincoln Cemetery in Penbrook.

The monument would testify to the city’s African-American history and honor the 15^th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which granted African-American men the right to vote. (Women would not get the right to vote until the 19th amendment passed in 1920.)

“This is an American monument that represents the continuing struggle for the full fulfillment of the 15^th amendment,” said Lenwood Sloan, leader of the Peace Promenade Project, which aims to rededicate Harrisburg’s public monuments through a yearlong event series.

Kelly Summerford, another project leader, said that the monument would also offer local students an opportunity to learn about abolition and voting rights.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse said he met with the project leaders and enthusiastically supports the project. He also offered to help the group pursue a gaming grant from Dauphin County.

City Council President Wanda Williams also pledged her full support at tonight’s legislative session.

The Peace Promenade group, which counts more than 200 members and 40 supporting organizations, plans to fund the monument through public support, corporate donations and individual giving. They did not announce an anticipated budget.

According to Summerford, the group plans to follow a process used by the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts to commission an artist and develop a design.

They hope to install the monument by “Juneteenth” 2019 – the anniversary of June 19, 1865, the official announcement of the end of slavery in the former Confederacy.

Nick Laus honored by HBG restaurant community; funeral arrangements announced

June 12, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

Nick Laus in front of one of his restaurants, Cork & Fork. Photo by Waxman Photography.

An artist. A visionary. A risk-taker.

Those were among the words used today to describe Harrisburg restaurateur Nick Laus, who died suddenly early Saturday.

Brian Fertenbaugh met Laus 10 years ago, becoming general manager of Level 2, a nightclub that Laus had opened. Fertenbaugh then became manager of Café Fresco Center City, later buying both establishments.

“He was a mentor and a friend,” he said. “He had the vision and the ability to execute, which not many people in our industry have.”

Harrisburg’s tight-knit food community has been in mourning since Saturday, when word began to spread that Laus, 59, had died unexpectedly. An innovative, serial entrepreneur, he started restaurants as varied as Café Fresco, Home 231, Cork & Fork and Burger Yum, in addition to the nightclub, Level 2.

A viewing, funeral Mass and burial will take place on Friday just outside of Harrisburg city (see below for the full obituary).

Fertenbaugh said the news of Laus’ passing shocked those who had worked for him, and many gathered on Saturday night at Café Fresco to share stories and toast the man who had helped so many start and advance their careers.

Laus, Fertenbaugh said, brought a new type of dining to Harrisburg, a more upscale, yet still accessible and affordable product, along with an obsession with customer service and the overall dining experience. He often went on scouting trips to larger cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., to learn about trends he could bring back to Harrisburg.

“Nick saw things in a different way,” he said. “He had the ability to put together the total package, where you have great food, atmosphere and a style that’s popular.”

Food photographer Ali Waxman worked with Laus for the last seven years. He said that Laus spared no effort or expense to ensure that his food looked as good in pictures as it tasted in his restaurants.

“He was such a talent, a visionary,” said Waxman. “He wasn’t afraid to take risks with ideas or concepts.”

He also wasn’t afraid to take risks with people, Waxman said. Laus was able to spot talent in a bartender or server, elevating them and even preparing them to own their own establishments.

“He saw talent in people that others couldn’t see,” Waxman said. “And he gave them opportunities to become managers and even owners.”

Restaurateur Qui Qui Musarra was one of the first to honor Laus on Saturday, sharing her grief with the online community soon after learning of his death.

Today, Musarra and her partners, Staci Basore and Elide Hower, released a statement expressing their sense of loss.

“We here at Mangia Qui, Suba and Rubicon tip our hats to the generosity of spirit he has shared with us,” they said. “He will be greatly missed.”

They added that, often, the public doesn’t witness all the hard work and even anguish that goes into making a restaurant a success.

“The public perception of people involved in the restaurant industry, especially owners, is typically of success and contentment–many times belies the private truths of one’s life,” they said. “So it was with Nick Laus–a professional, a colleague and a comrade-in-arms.”

David La Torre of the Cork & Fork investor group emphasized the impact that Laus had on dining in the Harrisburg area.

“He was more than a restaurateur,” La Torre said, in a statement. “He was an artist who has left an indelible mark on the central Pennsylvania restaurant scene.”

In fact, several restaurateurs emphasized Laus’ influence and impact.

“Once he decided to open downtown, Harrisburg was never the same,” Fertenbaugh said.

Laus’ greatest legacy, said several restaurateurs, was his eagerness to help to others. That sentiment is reflected in his family’s wish that, to best honor his memory, people should not send flowers, but perform “a random act of kindness.”

Obituary for Nick Laus

Nicholas “Nick” Joseph Laus, age 59, died on June 9, 2018 in his home. He was born in Lima, Peru, and immigrated to the United States at a young age, where he became a U.S. citizen. Nick graduated from Bishop McDevitt High School in 1978. He is the son of Doris Soce and brother to Anita (Laus) Chilmaza, her husband Armando Chilmaza, and his brother John Laus.

Nick leaves behind his beloved daughter, Chanelle Laus, who he cherished, and a loving family of nieces, nephews, aunts, cousins and godchildren. He loved his dogs, Rocco and Bruno; they were his constant companions and could often be found patrolling tables at his many restaurants.

For more than three decades, Nick developed a reputation as a visionary in the central Pennsylvania restaurant industry, creating some of the most well-known and popular eateries. His many creations include Cork & Fork, Café Fresco and Home 231, which are still amongst the most frequented dining establishments in the Harrisburg area.

Perhaps an even greater legacy than his business accomplishments is how Nick treated people in his life. He mentored and touched many — believed in them. He often paid it forward and thought nothing of buying the groceries for everyone in line ahead of him. That was Nick. He cared so much for so many. As Chanelle has said: “He was extraordinary, loyal, and strong. He was stern but always kind. He was funny, loved hard and expected little in return. To those who he loved — he gave everything.”

Funeral services will be held on June 15, 2018 with family greeting friends for a viewing at Neill Funeral Home, 3501 Derry St., Harrisburg, from 9 a.m. to noon. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 12:30 p.m. by Father Neil Sullivan at St. Catherine Laboure Church, 4000 Derry St., Harrisburg. Burial will follow at Resurrection Cemetery, 116 South Oak Grove Rd., Harrisburg.

In lieu of flowers, Nick’s family asks that his friends pay it forward by performing a random act of kindness. Through such acts, Nick’s legacy will live on.

Harrisburg school board continues budget talks, but changes to preliminary budget unlikely, CFO says

June 11, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

After five years of state-imposed austerity, the Harrisburg school district doesn’t have many programs left to cut.

That was the message of district administrators to the school board budget committee tonight, as they presented cost-cutting alternatives that could help the district close a $9 million deficit.

The board has already approved a preliminary budget for the 2018-2019 school year, which calls for eliminating 51 positions across the district – most of them teachers. Combined with a 3.6 percent tax hike, the cuts will narrow the district’s deficit to $4.7 million.

Board president Judd Pittman voted to approve the preliminary budget in May. But he also asked the business office to identify other expenditures that the district could trim.

Administrators responded tonight by listing the costs of all the district’s non-mandated programs, which are the only general fund expenditures it can legally eliminate. Those include the $1.2 million full-day kindergarten program, $600,000 of athletics programs and the $8.3 million Sci-Tech Campus of Harrisburg High School.

The business office did not recommend that the board cut any of those programs. The preliminary budget that the board approved in May represents the administration’s official budget recommendations, said chief financial officer Jim Snell.

But at tonight’s committee meeting, many district residents and employees continued to protest the preliminary budget, saying it will strain teachers and worsen learning conditions for students.

The district’s former business manager also accused the administration of obfuscating budget details before the public and the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE.)

State law requires school districts to post their proposed budgets online for 30 days prior to final approval. The revenues and expenditures must be formatted according to a PDE template.

Kenneth Medina, the district’s former business manager, said that the administration had omitted critical information from its budget page, putting it out of compliance with PDE requirements.

“The information the public is working with has been obscured,” Medina said. “It is not correct or validated… and I would like to do my part to make sure the budget we’ve presented is as accurate as possible.”

In past years, the forms the district has presented under the PDE template have been at least 25 pages. This year’s document is only 12 pages and does not include the same detailed revenue and expenditure breakdowns as the budgets posted for past years.

Neighboring school districts – including Central Dauphin and Cumberland Valley – have all posted PDE budget forms that run over 20 pages.

The district’s current business manager said that the omission of the detailed report was an error that will be corrected as soon as possible.

“It wasn’t done on purpose,” said business manager Bilal Hasan. “I’m sure it will be up on the site tonight.”

The school board will hold its monthly meeting on Monday, June 18 in the Lincoln Administration Building. It will vote on its final 2018-19 budget in a special meeting to be scheduled later this month.

Restaurateur Nick Laus has died, opened numerous eateries in, around, Harrisburg

June 9, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

Harrisburg restaurateur Nick Laus died suddenly earlier today, numerous sources have confirmed.

Laus, 59, grew up in the restaurant business, getting his start at the family-owned Italian Pizza and Subs on Derry Street in Swatara Township.

After a brief career hiatus, he returned to the food business, opening Café Fresco on Paxton Street in 2002, then debuting a second location in downtown Harrisburg three years later.

Laus would go on to open the dance club, Level 2, above the Harrisburg location and, a few years later, started Home 231 on North Street in Harrisburg.

Several years ago, Laus sold Café Fresco, Level 2 and Home 231, turning his attention to a new enterprise, Cork & Fork, an Italian trattoria at State and N. 2^nd Streets. More recently, he opened the gourmet hamburger restaurant, Burger Yum, in downtown Harrisburg, and a second Cork & Fork location in Camp Hill.

“The Cork & Fork family is devastated by the loss of our dear friend, Nick,” David La Torre, of the Cork & Fork investor group, said in a statement. “He was more than a restaurateur. He was an artist who has left an indelible mark on the central Pennsylvania restaurant scene. We will continue to carry on his vision for Cork & Fork. We are thinking of his family at this difficult time.”

TheBurg would like to express our sympathies to the Laus family and to his friends, staff and colleagues.

Please click here for funeral arrangements.

Spradley faces residency questions as citizens challenge his school board seat

June 8, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

A group of Harrisburg residents have issued an ultimatum to a school board member—resign your seat or we’ll ask the district attorney to investigate your residency.

Tyrell Spradley, who was appointed to a one-year seat on the Harrisburg school board in January, denies allegations that he lived in Penbrook in the months leading up to his appointment.

But residents say that they have evidence that Spradley failed to maintain a fixed residence in Harrisburg for one year before seeking office and is therefore ineligible for his seat under state law.

Members of a citizen-led school reform group sent a letter making their case to school board President Judd Pittman and board Solicitor Samuel Cooper on Thursday. They say they’re prepared to submit a quo waranto petition to the Dauphin County district attorney if Spradley does not voluntarily resign his seat. That petition could trigger a formal investigation into Spradley’s residency.

“We wanted to put them on notice that we demand better representation, and that includes people who are transparent,” said Kia Hansard, co-founder of the group Concerned About the Children of Harrisburg (CATCH.) “You’re not deserving of the seat if you are not a resident… so we wanted to give [Spradley] the opportunity to be honorable and resign.”

Spradley said on Thursday that he would not give up his seat. He admits to spending time in a Penbrook home that he bought with a former girlfriend in 2010, but insists that his home in Harrisburg has been his fixed, legal residence for years.

County records list him as an owner of both properties.

“I am in my living room [in Harrisburg] right now,” Spradley said by phone on Thursday night. “I’ve offered to have these people come by my house to see that I live here, but they have not.”

Voter registration records confirm that Spradley does vote in Harrisburg. He also has a child enrolled in the Harrisburg School District.

However, court documents from October 2016 list Spradley’s legal address as his property in Penbrook. Those documents include a civil complaint filed by a credit card company seeking more than $3,700 in unpaid balances. Spradley was found liable for the damages and settled in 2017, according to the docket.

Spradley said that he applied for that credit card when he “was residing” at the Penbrook address. But he still denied that the Penbrook home was ever his fixed, legal domicile. He said there was no way to quantify how much time he spent in Penbrook in the year leading up to his appointment.

Spradley said that work and graduate school also took him to Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia for periods of 2017. But the time he spent in those locations has never been scrutinized, he said.

“Since I turned 18 in 2002, I’ve had at least six different addresses,” Spradley said. “I’m not denying I stayed [in Penbrook,] but I never legally lived there.”

CATCH claims that Spradley testified in court this year that his legal address was in Penbrook. Spradley admitted to testifying, but again insisted that spending time at his Penbrook property did not make it his primary residence.

CATCH also plans to submit a notarized statement from a woman who lives next door to Spradley’s Penbrook property, saying that Spradley was residing there through the end of 2017.

Spradley impugned the credibility of that neighbor, saying she was involved in litigation against his former girlfriend.

Harrisburg officials fielded similar questions about Spradley’s residency in 2014, when he was appointed as Harrisburg’s treasurer. He held that position for two years after the city found him eligible to serve.

Spradley says he’s being targeted over his support for Harrisburg Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney. Spradley switched his allegiance to Knight-Burney during a protracted debate over her tenure this spring. Though he initially voted to seek new candidates for her position, he later tried to rescind that vote, and then sided with four other board directors in May to award her a new contract.

“People are grabbing at straws,” Spradley said. “When I changed my vote, all of this started coming out.”

Hansard denies that the challenge to Spradley’s seat is politically motivated.

Pittman said on Friday that the letter from CATCH was not the first time a constituent had questioned Spradley’s residency. He plans to discuss next steps with the board solicitor this afternoon.

“Our solicitor has made it clear that it is hard to prove residency,” Pittman said.

Pittman also said that the challenge to Spradley’s seat could reverberate throughout the board.
Spradley is the second board member who’s been forced to defend his seat this year. In November, the county’s assistant district attorney asked board member Carrie Fowler to step down due to a misdemeanor conviction from the early 2000s.

Fowler has held on to her seat. The DA did not respond to requests for comment on her case.

“We have to do our due diligence to make sure that everyone who is on the board is seated properly, and that means everybody,” Pittman said. “It’s important that we’re equitable.”

Facing ouster by PennDOT, newsstand owner fights for his right to stay in the Harrisburg train station.

June 8, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

In the 1990s, when his lobbyist job had him crisscrossing Pennsylvania by plane and train, Bill Cologie took solace in a newsstand in the Pittsburgh airport that stocked a single shelf of classic literature.

“It was an island of sanity in the insanity that is business travel,” Cologie said on a recent weekday morning, as he unloaded flats of bottled water from his Honda to the Transit News bookstore in the Harrisburg train station.

Since Cologie bought Transit News in 1991, he’s worked to make his own spot of respite for weary business travelers. But as he eyes retirement, he’s taken up a new venture—mobilizing against a PennDOT proposal that could force his thriving business out of its current location.

In March, PennDOT published plans for overhauling the Harrisburg Transportation Center, home to the city’s train station and long-haul bus terminals. The $15 million proposal calls for the addition of a café, restaurant and seating in the station’s main concourse, a new entry plaza from Market Street and the relocation of office space from the first to second floor.

Transit News, which occupies a snug corner of the station’s main lobby, is nowhere to be found in the plans. The proposal calls for relocating all retail to three kiosks in the station’s main concourse and for replacing Transit News with Amtrak’s offices and police station.

According to Cologie, PennDOT officials explained that the Amtrak offices must be relocated to accommodate a renovation to the station’s restrooms, which are not ADA-compliant. While Cologie supports that renovation, he rejects Amtrak’s claim to his shop’s highly visible location.

Transit News serves as many as 10,000 customers a month, Cologie says, peddling snacks, drinks, toiletries, newspapers and magazines that bring in more than $500,000 in annual revenue. The store also boasts a small but well-curated selection of books, which Cologie takes pleasure in choosing himself.

Cologie argues that his shop benefits Amtrak’s own business—which is part of the reason he resents being overlooked in the PennDOT proposal.

“We bust our butts to serve the traveling public to make sure riders have a good experience,” Cologie said. “Ridership on Amtrak is essential to our success. We want to enhance the experience as much as we can.”

Cologie said that he was not included in any of the stakeholder meetings during the development of the plans. When he wrote to PennDOT officials about his potential displacement in April, their response largely overlooked his concerns, he said.

PennDOT told TheBurg on Friday that it planned to continue with the project design, including the reallocation of the Transit News space to Amtrak.

“We encourage local business owners such as Mr. Cologie to take advantage of the [retail] opportunities that would become available at the project’s completion,” said Erin Waters-Trassat, PennDOT press secretary.

In a May letter, PennDOT urged Cologie to set his sights on the three kiosks that will occupy the station’s main concourse. Cologie called those a “dying proposition.” With newspaper and magazine plummeting, he’s doubtful that they could sustain a single kiosk, as the PennDOT plans suggest.

He also argued that kiosks would triple personnel costs for his business. Cologie staffs Transit News with one employee at a time, but each of the three kiosks would require its own staff person.

Cologie doubts he would be able to pay his employees their minimum $10 an hour wage while keeping prices low for consumers.

There’s no guarantee that PennDOT would select Cologie as the tenant at the kiosks. But if they did, he fears, “It would be the end of reasonable pricing for our customers.” It would also constrain the store’s $54,000 worth of inventory.

PennDOT did offer Cologie a vacant space above the bus garage on the northwest side of the building. But Cologie said that the services he provides merit a location closer to the main concourse and questioned why Amtrak needs such a visible location for its training center and security offices.

“I’ve been to the Amtrak police office once during 26 years of business here,” Cologie said. “There’s no need for a place that’s accessible to the public.”

He believes that there is ample office space in the station’s second story to accommodate Amtrak.

Cologie plans to write to lawmakers whose districts border the Keystone train route, which connects Harrisburg to Philadelphia and its suburbs. He also plans to appeal to customers for support. He began distributing fliers in his shop this week with instructions for contacting PennDOT project managers.

“If you would like to see Transit News survive in its current form, then you too are a stakeholder in this project and your comments and concerns should be heard,” the flier reads. “If you are familiar with the wide range of products we offer to meet the needs of travelers, you know this business can’t be conducted from a kiosk, or even three kiosks.”

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse supports Cologie’s right to remain in his current retail space.

“He’s a great tenant, and his lease is valid through 2022,” Papenfuse said. “There are no definitive pans for remodeling the train station yet, [but] we wouldn’t want to see him leave.”

Business traveler Samantha Dawson agreed. Dawson, who stopped in Transit News before catching a train on a recent Thursday morning, said that the shop “has everything you could want.”

“It’s fantastic,” she said. “It would be a shame if it shut down, it’s quite quaint here.”

Waters-Trassat said that the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority currently manages tenant space at the train station. PennDOT and Amtrak are deciding who will manage the redeveloped station, since that entity will have ultimately decide on tenants in the new retail space.

This article was updated on Friday to include comments from PennDOT.

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