Taking a solemn moment at the beginning of the Bradford City Council meeting Tuesday, Mayor Tom Riel read a proclamation naming Jan. 27 “International Holocaust Remembrance Day.”
“On Jan 27, 1945, Soviet soldiers opened the gates to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest and deadliest concentration camp, and liberated more than 6,000 prisoners, most of whom were ill and dying due to the horrors they were subject to by their captors,” Riel read.
In 2005, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Jan. 27 as remembrance day, “a time to remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution,” according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The resolution for the city of Bradford indicated, “Activities will be to light up the buildings across Pennsylvania by placing a yellow light in the windows.”
Council adopted the proclamation unanimously.
In other business, council approved an administrative agreement between McKean County, the Bradford Office of Economic and Community Development and the University of Pittsburgh. The university wants to obtain Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program funding from the state to assist in renovations at the Hanley Library at Pitt-Bradford.
The OECD will assist with the preparation of a business plan and application, and provide grant administration throughout the project.
Seven parcels from the McKean County Tax Repository were approved to be sold, on Maplewood and Jackson Avenues and North Bennett Street.
Council also
appointed Timothy Roff and Fred Proper to the Bradford Sanitary Authority, and Ron Orris to the Bradford City Water Authority;
approved an agreement with Jay Bradish- Bradish Associates to provide fire investigation services in the City of Bradford for 2025;
refunded $12,505.91 in city taxes to Zippo Manufacturing Co. for overpayment of taxes based on a clerical error by the McKean County Assessment office; and
approved payment to Jude Dach Painting for mold removal and prevention at the East Bradford Fire Station.
The next council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 28.
