The Downtown Bradford Revitalization Corp. met Thursday
afternoon and isolated some problems that need to be addressed in
downtown Bradford.

Chairman Chris Hauser shared communications he had received
about the revitalization of downtown, and said the main points fell
into two categories – long-term and short-term problems.

Issues in the short-term division included the cleanliness of
downtown, public safety/crime prevention, code enforcement, the
involvement of downtown groups and merchants and public
relations.

Those in the long-term category included code enforcement, the
future of the Bradford Area Business Group, activities for the
residents of downtown and the mercantile tax.

Hauser clarified the code enforcement issue, by saying there is
code enforcement for residential properties, but not commercial
entities.

He went on to say later in the meeting that he felt the group
should decide what area they want to focus their energies on at
this point in time.

Brian MacNamara, local businessman and chairman of the
Historical Architectural Review Board, said he would like to see
the group focus on a broader scale – to include not only downtown
around Main Street, but also East Bradford and out West Washington
Street.

Several other members, however, thought it would be more
productive to focus on a small, core surrounding Main Street.

Main Street Manager Diane DeWalt pointed out the East Bradford
Business Association and the downtown organizations have started
working together more in recent years, but the focus should be
around the Central Business District.

“I’m not sure that they (the EBBA) want to be part of a bigger
group like this,” Bradford City Clerk John Peterson said.

Councilman Dan Costello said that he understood the reason the
DBRC was even meeting was due to a recent sample survey conducted
by Councilman Tom Riel, and that the survey pertained to
downtown.

Hauser said he felt the DBRC should not “ignore” East Bradford,
but agreed their focus, at least for now, should surround Main
Street.

After some discussion, the group decided it would focus on Main
Street and one block surrounding it in every direction.

Issues the group talked about tackling included the cleanliness
and care of the sidewalks, benches and planters downtown; placing
more trash receptacles downtown; using new and different signage;
conducting a traffic-flow study; trash pick-up; police presence
downtown; and the apparent “apathy” of downtown merchants and
residents.

Costello said he was working with Mayor Michele Corignani on a
plan to have a police officer walking the beat on Main Street. He
said it would not be a full-time situation, but added “police
visibility” on Main Street and at Veterans Square will
increase.

Glen Washington told the group that he understood the BABG,
which was considering dissolving, was reluctant to do so, and
wanted to instead re-evaluate their purpose and mission, and iron
out its leadership issues.

Washington also shared that at least one class of students at
the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford was doing a statistical
survey that would yield useful data for the DBRC.

The group agreed to hold another meeting at a date to be
announced to discuss ideas for action plans and “do-able projects”
to address some of the issues outlined at Thursday’s meeting.