Local News
UPDATE: Parking fines could be lowered by $10
Meeting is Tuesday
GREENVILLE — Greenville council members are considering reducing parking fines for spots with time limits by $10, but they seem divided on the issue.
Lowering the fines from $25 to $15 would give people more incentive to shop downtown, said Alfred “Skip” Peden, chair of the street committee, at Thursday’s work session.
Council and committee member Theodore Jones agreed, saying he made the same recommendation when he served on council a few years ago, and the change will help businesses.
“And businesses pay taxes,” he said.
Council member Pamela Auchter had concerns about keeping up with the salary of the part-time parking enforcement officer, Michael Black, if fines are reduced.
Dennis Stephens, chief of Greenville-West Salem Township police, said that’s a good question and he’ll have figures on Tuesday regarding how much money the fines bring in. He estimated it’s at least a few thousand dollars.
When people pay fines for parking in a spot longer than the posted time, their main complaint is the high amount, Stephens said.
Greenville’s parking fines are higher than most western Pennsylvania communities and the borough needs to give people a break, Jones said.
Council is also considering revising an ordinance that will increase parking time in certain spots from one to two hours, and that could cut back on people exceeding the time limit, Mrs. Auchter said.
“I see no reason to change it,” she said of the fine.
Councilman Stephen May agreed with her and said the length of time you can park in a spot is a law that just needs to be enforced. It’s his humble opinion not to change the fine, he said.
“I think we change it because it’s the right thing to do,” Jones told May.
Council President Brian Shipley said nearby towns were surveyed and their parking fines are similar to Greenville’s.
Smaller fines could bring in more money because people would take more of a risk when parking if they were ticketed for only $15, Jones said, adding council needs to do what’s best for the residents, businesses and visitors.
If council votes Tuesday to lower the fines, the change won’t take affect immediately.
They’ll first have to advertise the revised ordinance listing the new time limits on parking spaces and order new signs for those spots.
- Local News
-
-
Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
State Superior Court has denied a local judge’s request to issue a precedential opinion in a rape case.
Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge John C. Reed had ruled that Chad S. Thompson, 24, formerly of Stoneboro, is a sexually violent predator, but Superior Court said in a 2-1 decision July 8 that an expert’s testimony was insufficient to back that declaration.
-
Stacey wants to continue fight over razed home
Raymond Stacey has requests pending in three courts as he presses his long-running attempt to prosecute the city of Hermitage and those he believes are responsible for illegally demolishing his parents’ house.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, on April 29 quashed an appeal because Stacey did not file his argument brief and appendix of supporting documents.
-
Burglars strike while residents sleep
Several Shenango Valley residents’ homes were broken into overnight Tuesday and Wednesday while they slept.
Two burglaries in Sharon involved people entering open windows.
-
Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
Hermitage commissioners introduced an ordinance Wednesday to increase sanitary user fees.
Residents tapped into the Hermitage Municipal Authority lines now pay $95 a quarter. That rate will bump up to $105 a quarter on Jan. 1, under the proposed rate hike.
Two more hikes on Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 1, 2013, will result in the rates increasing 50 percent from the current fee. -
Water is on at Forrest Brooke
Water service has been restored at Forrest Brooke Manufactured Home Community after well problems left the 165-unit complex dry Tuesday.
A boil and conserve water advisory has been issued by the DEP and will remain in place until tests confirm the water is safe to drink, Forrest Brooke’s manager Pete Havens said.
-
Storm damages trees, wires
Thunderstorms ripped through parts of Mercer and neighboring counties Wednesday night, downing trees and wires and keeping rescue workers on their toes.
A Mercer County 911 dispatcher shortly after 8 p.m. said they were busy with calls across the northern part of the county. He said there had been a few reports of trees falling on homes.
-
City leaders open to talks
Sharon officials aren’t opposed to sitting down with their counterparts in Farrell to revisit the idea of combining the two struggling cities.
“It never costs a penny to talk and there’s no (idea) that’s not worth looking at,” Sharon councilman Ed Palanski said. “I think it would be foolish to oppose looking at the idea.”
-
Murphy’s Law doesn’t faze regional planners
A complicated, two-day public meeting blitz in 32 counties ran headlong into Murphy’s Law in Mercer County on Tuesday.
The group Power of 32 are looking to re-write the regional map and create a grand, 15-year strategic economic plan for the 32 counties in four states that make up the Ohio River basin and greater Pittsburgh area.
-
Forrest Brooke copes with water outage
Residents of Forrest Brooke Mobile Home Community in Jefferson and Lackawannock Townships woke up Tuesday morning to find they didn’t have any water.
Managers of the park could not be reached for comment, but residents said they were told they won’t get water service back for at least another month.
-
City facing bleak financial reality
LaVon Saternow has been Farrell’s city manager since 1992. Shortly after she took the job, Sharon Steel, the city’s economic engine, officially closed down.
Since, the city has struggled to remain solvent and Mrs. Saternow said it is facing its worst financial crisis in her tenure.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
