Bradford City Council extended the city’s emergency declaration for an additional 30 days during its regular meeting, which was live streamed Tuesday.
The resolution passed unanimously.
In other business, a resolution to recommend Bradford City Fire Chief Eric Taylor to Gov. Tom Wolf for appointment to the position of Emergency Management Coordinator for the City of Bradford passed on a vote of 4-1. The resolution is intended to keep the city in accordance with Pennsylvania Consolidated Statute Title 35 “Health and Safety,” section 7502 Local Coordinator. Mayor James McDonald voted against the recommendation. He did not immediately return a request for comment regarding his vote.
The Habgood Center Roof Replacement Project was awarded to 768-ROOF for $41,500. The bids for this project were opened at the April 14 council meeting.
Council also heard the opening of bids for the Congress Street-Pine Street Streetscape Project. Five bids were received as of Tuesday afternoon: Glenn O Hawbaker for $683,760.50; M&B Services for $471,000; Lakeshore Paving in Jamestown, N.Y., for $357,212.75; Bob Cummins Construction for $493,215.30 and Gleason Masonry and Construction for $542,146.75. The bids will be considered and the project will be awarded at a future date.
Council voted to approve an ordinance for “Downtown Small Business Micro Grant,” which was “intended to establish and approve an historic downtown new business micro grant program for eligible applicants for business opening or relocating to the downtown Bradford Historic District,” according to a reading by City Administrator Chris Lucco. The vote was 5-0 in approval of the ordinance.
In other business, council approved the appointment of Evan Piganelli and Alex Coppella as temporary firefighters/EMTs, effective May 1 to Sept. 1, 2020. These appointments were made necessary due to the absence or illness of one of the city’s full-time firefighters. Council also approved the appointment of Joshua Frederoski to a permanent full-time police officer for Bradford City Police, as he has successfully completed a one-year probationary period with the department.
A resolution to authorize the proper officers of the City of Bradford to establish a small business emergency loan fund for those businesses affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic was approved 5-0. The measure states the city of Bradford has loan funds available, which will be made available to qualified businesses located within the City’s Enterprise Zone in amounts up to $10,000 at a 1% interest rate for a period of 36 months.
There were no visitors’ emails received during the public comment portion of the meeting, which was between 7 and 7:10 p.m.
During the meeting, the mayor and each member of council was seen wearing masks and utilizing social distancing measures.
