The bid for the Callahan Park water spray park project was
awarded during Tuesday’s Bradford City Council meeting.

The bid was awarded to M&M Contractors in the amount of
,62,725, the lowest of seven bids submitted for the project.

Other bids were received from Daghir Construction Inc. for
75,700; Bob Cummins Construction Co. for ,78,784; Glenn O. Hawbaker
Inc. for ,82,660; Duffy Inc. for ,97,260; Carl E. Swanson &
Sons Inc. for ,99,600 and Highlander Energy Products Inc. for
,106,622.

City Parks Director Chip Comilla noted the project has been in
the works for two and a half years and he hopes it will be ready
for this summer.

In other business, a facade improvement grant was awarded to
Nancy Graham, owner of 51 Main St., to match half the cost of
replacing the sign, awning, outdoor carpeting and repainting the
exterior of the building.

Also, a sign permit was issued to Kelly Martin for a sign
reading “Kelly’s Main Street” for 27 Main St. Colors for the sign
were chosen from historic color charts and the permit issuance was
recommended by the Historical Architectural Review Board
(HARB).

In other news, Mayor Tom Riel reported during the meeting that
citations were issued as a result of the feature photo printed in
Tuesday’s edition of The Era.

Riel noted his zero tolerance policy for residents riding
all-terrain vehicles on the streets in the city, pointing out “It
makes the town look trashy with people riding four-wheelers through
town. Residents are urged to contact police whenever they see
people riding four-wheelers on city streets.”

Also, Riel reported the new landlord ordinance is marking
success, having discovered 30 new landlords who were not on the
city books and 33 apartments that had never been inspected.

In a comment related to housing in the city, Councilman Ross
Neidich noted that some residents who hope for the demolition of
blighted properties don’t realize the properties, despite an
unappealing appearance, are benefiting the city.

“Some citizens believe that everything blighted needs to be torn
down. Some do not realize that even though some places are
dilapidated, those properties are, to varying degrees, paying
taxes,” Neidich said. “The more properties that are torn down, the
less that are being taxed and the more the people working bear the
burden. Realistically, Sara’s (Andrews) office has done a good job
over the past years with housing rehabilitation.

“If we can garner more stimulus money to put into housing
rehabilitation, we can get the salvageable properties back into
better condition. If we tear down all the properties that are
blighted, we would not have much left.”

In the course of the last two weeks, Councilman Rick Benton
explained he was out having petitions signed and had been listening
to residents’ comments on various city situations. Among those
situations highlighted were the Kennedy Street Bridge and why it
can’t be a two-directional one-way bridge.

City Clerk John Peterson explained that prior to the beginning
of the project, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was
consulted and would not permit the bridge to be a stop-yield
intersection allowing two-way traffic.

Peterson explained the bridge is tentatively scheduled for work
in 2010 under the Transportation Improvement Program.

Sara Andrews, executive director of the Office of Economic and
Community Development, noted the project has been moved up from
previous plans to begin work in 2011 as a result of stimulus funds
financing projects higher on the list.

Another topic commented on was the number of cars on sidewalks
and in yards throughout the city.

Peterson said the police department has been alerted to the
situation, but any resident who notices a car on the sidewalk or in
a yard should contact the police.

“The community needs to be our eyes and ears,” Peterson said.
“As our number of employees decrease, the community needs to be
more helpful (in pointing out issues as they occur).”

Compliments were also received on how polite and helpful city
workers are, on the work done by the OECD, the Elm Street Project
and the parks and the increase in drug enforcement.

It was also announced that council would hold an executive
session immediately following Tuesday’s meeting for personnel
reasons.