From Nov. 23 through Dec. 28, those shopping in downtown Bradford will not need to play Monopoly to get free parking.
At Tuesday evening’s Bradford City Council meeting, the council approved a motion to grant free parking to shoppers in the business districts. Mayor Tom Riel and council members Brad Mangel, Terry Lopus, Tim Pecora and Dan Palmer also heard a proposal by Paul Rankin, vice president of retail marketing at Country Fair, for the transferring of a restaurant liquor license from Eldred Township to Country Fair in Bradford.
Approval of the license calls for Country Fair to undergo renovations to meet building requirements.
Rankin said customers could drink up to 40 ounces on the premises but must order a food item in order to do so.
Riel had some concerns regarding locals lingering around Country Fair late at night, but Rankin explained that Country Fair would recruit additional help and require employees to undergo monthly training.
Rankin explained one method of disrupting people from lingering outside of their locations.
“We’ve gone to playing classical music on the outside of our facilities,” he said. Riel replied that he likes classical music, and Ranking added the he also likes the genre.
“But the crowds don’t like it as much. It seems to move people out. From a crowd control standpoint, it’s funny but it has been very effective,” Rankin said.
Rankin and a coworker also presented renderings of the proposed renovations of Country Fair to the council.
Mangel brought up that after a recent meeting with landlords in Bradford regarding renter registration fees, he announced that the city has agreed to increase the fees in increments, rather than impose the original increase of fees from $35 to $45. Mangel said the first year will have an increase of six dollars, or 50 cents per unit; and the second year will see an increase of four dollars, or 33 cents per unit.
“The 2019 rental registration is a total of $41 and the 2020 (fee) is a total of $45. This particular ordinance was passed Oct. 23 and will be amended to show these changes,” Mangel explained.
