Workers with the City of Bradford Department of Public Works are asking city council to make some changes to the ordinance regulating yard waste in an effort to eliminate some unwanted surprises.
Councilman Brad Mangel read a letter at Tuesday’s council meeting outlining what all has been found inside bags of yard waste picked up by city workers — garbage, rocks, flower pots, animal feces, broken glass and more.
“They empty the yard waste bags into a compost pile,” Mangel explained. “This is not only a safety issue, it becomes time consuming when you have to start sorting it.”
DPW head Chip Comilla and foreman Jim Copeland asked if council would consider changing the ordinance to make it so yard waste must be disposed of in clear plastic bags.
“How about clear, biodegradable bags so they don’t have to empty them?” Mayor Tom Riel suggested, before saying council would discuss the matter further and consider making a change.
Also at the meeting, council approved change orders for two projects, decreasing the cost of the renovation of the Callahan Park ice rink and increasing the cost of an engineering contract for the downtown gateway and streetscape project.
The installation of a gas line was eliminated from the ice rink project, saving $2,200. The total cost of the project was $1,812,400.25, according to the resolution passed by council.
The gateway and streetscape project contract was increased by $4,000 to prepare a right-of-way plan for the Davis and Elm streets intersection. The plan was not part of the original contract with EG&G (now known as CT Consultants), according to the resolution passed by council. The total cost for the engineering contract will be $85,342.50. The cost of the additional design and survey work is funded through Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.
Council also authorized the filing of an application to the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission for a certified local government grant in the amount of $2,500 to “perform an adaptive re-use/repurpose study of 14 Pine Street,” the resolution read. It would be a matching grant.
Council passed on second reading a measure to delete an ordinance that had listed pit bulls as a dangerous breed of dogs.
The next regular meeting of council is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 25.
