CLARION, Pa. — It appears as though the Miles Brothers and Clarion Borough will be teaming up to create a private/public partnership to secure grant funds to improve the roads in the area of the proposed Glassworks Business Park.

(Photo: Intersection of Sheridan Road and U.S. 322 around 6:50 p.m. Tuesday)

Theron Miles, representing the brothers who are building the Business Park, brought the idea of the partnership to the Clarion Borough Council’s monthly meeting on Tuesday at the Clarion Free Library a month after Tom Miller brought concerns to the borough about trucks damaging his property on the corner of Sheridan Road and Route 322.

Miles said that not only is Sheridan Road a failing street so is Grand Avenue, which currently houses warehouses in parts of the old Owen-Illinois building and Heidrick Street, which connects Greenville Avenue to Grand Avenue.

“They are failing streets,” Miles said of the roads that are used heavily by 18-wheelers. “The infrastructure is collapsing. There is no safety for pedestrians.”

Miles said the issues of the intersection of Sheridan Road and Route 322 are worse.

“There is a tight turning radius, and trucks have to swing wide to make the turn,” Miles said. “The chances are there for a head-on collision, and students use that as a shortcut from campus to Sheetz.”

Miles said he and his brothers knew this was going to be an issue when they first proposed the Business Park, so they took matters into their own hands and applied for a grant that would help the brothers redo the roads for the borough.

“We want to make them safe,” Miles said. “We also want them to be able to support the weight of the big trucks. We wanted to take the pressure away from the borough in doing this.”

According to Miles, the brothers applied for a grant that is specifically for freight traffic and public safety, and the grant would have helped redo the storm system under the roads, allow the roads to have a subbase that would be designed for something like Interstate 80, and also improve the lighting along the streets making it safer for pedestrians.

“We found out last July we were unsuccessful in getting the grant,” Miles said. “But, they really liked our proposal, and it brought a lot of attention to Clarion.”

“The grant, though, is more for a public entity than a private one. That is why we think we should apply for it in a public/private partnership with the borough.”

Miles said that the borough’s Todd Colosimo is one of the best grant writers around.

“He could use our paperwork and engineering and apply for the grant for the borough,” Miles said. “It would be used to improve all the street, put in new sidewalks and street lighting.”

Borough Council President Carol Lapinto said she was thrilled with the idea.

“It’s very wonderful,” Lapinto said. “You have our blessing.”

Later in the meeting Council Members Ben Aaron and Earl Zerfoss commended the Miles brothers for wanting to be so active.

“The Miles brothers are really showing an example of what a community member is supposed to be,” Aaron said.

“We are very fortunate to have the Miles brothers in the Borough of Clarion,” Zerfoss added. “They are willing to help the borough in any way they can.”

COUNCIL AGREES TO CLOSE SIDEWALK ON SIDE OF TIPPIN; PECK EXPRESSES SOME SAFETY CONCERNS

The council agreed to close the sidewalk that runs parallel to Greenville Avenue next to Tippin Gym for the renovation of the gym, which has recently started.

But, the closure didn’t come without Borough Police Chief Bill Peck expressing his concerns about people having to cross over Greenville Avenue and then back across.

“Why does the sidewalk need to be closed?” Chief Peck asked.

Frank Connelly, Clarion’s newly hired Director of Facilities, Planning, and Management, responded that the Pennsylvania Department of General Services has requested the closing of the sidewalk for safety reasons.

“The college doesn’t own the building, it is now owned by DGS,” Connelly said. ‘They are in control, and this is what they want done. DGS is very definitive that they want the sidewalk covered up.”

Connelly said having been on the job for just five weeks, he wasn’t aware that the borough needed to give its permission to close the sidewalk, which is already closed.

“I found out when Scott (Sharrar, the Borough’s Zoning Officer) came up on Monday,” Connelly said. “So, I went to all of the vice presidents, and we are going to meet tomorrow (Wednesday) about this. If I hadn’t seen Scott Monday, I wouldn’t have known nothing about it.”

The idea of temporary sidewalks — the sidewalk next to Tippin will be closed for at least 18 months, until September of 2019, for the completion of the project — was discussed with different ideas being tossed out as to what the best way to proceed would be.

Council member Rachel Roberts said she was at a play at Marwick-Boyd Auditorium (across Payne Street from Tippin — Payne is also closed) recently and saw people crossing pretty much wherever they wanted.

“Someone is going to get hit,” Roberts said.

Before the council voted to allow the closing of the sidewalk, it was agreed that the university and representatives from the borough would meet in the near future to figure something out.

BUCKET TRUCK, LAWN MOWER PURCHASED FOR PUBLIC WORKS

Authorization to purchase a bucket truck and a new lawn mower for the Public Works Department was given.

The bucket truck, a 1997 Ford Super Bucket Truck, will be purchased from Ferringer Painting in Knox, Pa., for $12,000.00. The truck will be used to put up and take down the various banners along Main Street, according to Lapinto.

The new lawn mower will be purchased from W&W Equipment of DuBois at a cost of $9,966.03 with the borough needing to go to DuBois to pick up the mower. W&W would have delivered it to Clarion at a total price, including mower, of $10,116.03.

Council member Rose Logue asked why the borough was going outside of Clarion to buy the mower when it could be purchased locally from Terry Kahle in Knox or Tom’s Sales & Services in Shippenville.

It was said that there has been a great turnover in Kahle’s mechanic’s staff, and the borough wouldn’t know how long the mower would be out of service if it went into the shop. It was also noted that Tom’s Sales & Services didn’t have weights for the mower, which would be needed because the borough is getting a bagger with the mower.

Lapinto pointed out that the bids all went through the Commonwealth’s co-stars program, which is a cooperative program that serves as a conduit through which registered and eligible public procurement units and state-affiliated entities are able to leverage, according to its website.

OTHER BUSINESS

In other business, the council:

• Was informed that all of the flyover data for the stormwater authority project had been collected and that HRG would now start working on how much impervious surface was in the borough. That information will be the basis for the new stormwater rates the borough would like to enact
• Was as told by Aaron that Keaton MacBeth has resigned from the Storm Water Authority. The Authority is now looking for a replacement. Anyone interested should contact the borough office at 814-226-7707
• Approved a request from First Baptist Church to close Seventh Avenue from 649 Main Street to Madison Road from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. from July 16 to July 20 for its annual Bible School.
• Approved a request from Clarion County Broadcasting to hold River Days June 16 and June 17 at the Toby Boat Launch. The launch must remain open for public access and any solicitation permits must be obtained prior to the event.
• Approved a transfer of an Importing Distributor License from Clarion Township to Clarion Borough. This is for the area below Clarion Fruits that has housed many bars over the years, including Hamburger Bills and The Cell Block in the last 15 years.