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News Around The Burg
January

Harsco Injects New Life into Harrisburg Steel Site

Jan. 28 -- The number of jobs may be small, but the symbolism is high, as Harsco Corp. plans to revitalize its original Harrisburg Steel site just east of the state Capitol complex.
Harsco said today that it would turn the under-utilized, 21-acre site into its northeast and mid-Atlantic regional center for storing and distributing infrastructure used in large-scale construction, including scaffolding, shoring and forming equipment. Harsco rents out the equipment for building and maintenance projects throughout the region.
About 20 jobs will be created as a result, mostly for inventory handling and equipment maintenance, according to the company. Harsco currently is in the process of a $2 million site upgrade, including preparation, modernization and security. The site is expected to be fully operational in April.
The company also is bringing 35 senior-level executive and management positions to the Harrisburg area from throughout the world, so that several business groups can better operate as a unified global team. To support the employees, it has secured about 10,000 square feet of additional space in an office park near its Camp Hill headquarters.
Harsco began life in 1853 as the Harrisburg Car Manufacturing Company, building industrial and passenger cars for the booming railroad industry. It later became the Harrisburg Pipe & Pipe Bending Company before evolving into the Harrisburg Steel Company in 1935. In 1956, it renamed itself Harsco and, today, is a global, diversified industrial company.


Harrisburg Council OKs HACC Law Enforcement Center

Jan. 25 -- Harrisburg Area Community College plans to break ground in March on a new law enforcement center after receiving the blessing tonight of the Harrisburg City Council.
The council unanimously approved the land development plan for the center, a single-story, 49,600-square-foot building that will contain classrooms, offices and an indoor firing range for law enforcement personnel.
The project is expected to be completed in June 2012. 
HACC long has hosted the Shumaker Public Safety Center, a 12-acre facility that helps train firefighters, police, emergency medical technicians and other public safety personnel. It is located just north of HACC's main campus in Harrisburg near N. Cameron Street and Route 81.
In addition to the new law enforcement center, the $15 million project will substantially upgrade the existing Public Safety Center. Outdoor improvements will include a driving track to teach emergency driving and a drill field and physical training track.


Council Majority Refuses Private Meeting with Act 47 Team

Jan. 25 -- Harrisburg's financial recovery process got off to a bumpy start today, as a majority of the City Council refused to meet with the state-appointed Act 47 team.
Four council members -- Susan Brown-Wilson, Brad Koplinski, Eugenia Smith and Wanda Williams -- declined to attend an initial introduction because it was to be held in private, before tonight's legislative session. They insisted it should be conducted at the public meeting.
“The Act 47 coordinators have been invited to council’s legislative session, and that is where I believe they should present their credentials and open a dialogue," said Brown-Wilson.  "There is no difference in any of my questions or answers on any issue, whether meetings are held in public or private."
The council members' refusal to meet re-asserts the split in city government between the Thompson administration and a majority on the council.
The administration hopes that the Act 47 team, led by Cincinnati-based Novak Consulting Group, will allow Harrisburg to manage its way out of fiscal chaos, the result of vast cost overruns and botched fixes over more than a decade to the city incinerator. In contrast, a solid, four-member block on the council is seeking advice on financial restructuring from the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which is providing counsel and services at no cost.
The Cravath firm is due to issue a report on alternatives, which may include filing for municipal bankruptcy, by March 31. The Act 47 team has until mid-April to make its own suggestions on resolving the city's financial crisis.
Ultimately, the council has the power to accept or reject any Act 47 recommendations, to declare bankruptcy or to take other actions.
Council members emphasized that they don't wish to thwart the Act 47 team, but don't want meetings to be held in private when they easily could be held in public.
“The team of coordinators is going to be receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money," said Koplinski. "I would think that they would be comfortable having a meeting in which taxpayers can attend and find out more about them.”


Thompson Lambastes Budget; Lets It Take Effect Anyway

Jan. 18 -- After more than two months of heated debate, Harrisburg’s 2011 municipal budget took effect with a whimper today, as Mayor Linda Thompson allowed the $56.3 million spending plan to become law without her signature.
Thompson didn’t veto the budget, but she didn’t sign it either, refusing to endorse a plan that she said endangers the residents of Harrisburg. After 10 days of inaction, Thompson returned the budget to the City Council unsigned, meaning it automatically went into place.
“I firmly believe that the 2011 budget ordinance, as amended by Harrisburg City Council, will endanger the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Capital City and therefore I could not sign it as is," said Thompson in a statement.
She lambasted the budget for, she said, not funding nine firefighter positions, refusing to fund mandatory police training, ignoring contractual obligations and shortchanging numerous city departments. She did not state why, given her grave concerns, she did not reject the plan, though a council majority was ready to override a veto. 
In the waning hours of 2010, a divided City Council passed the budget, which did not raise property taxes or water/sewer rates, but did increase parking fees. The 5-2 vote followed weeks of late-night hearings, as the council struggled to slash about 10 percent of expenses from Thompson’s initial proposal. To raise extra money, the council decided to sell about $1.3 million in tax liens.
The budget does not include $51.2 million in debt service payments that come due this year tied to the city’s incinerator.
Council members who supported the budget disagreed with Thompson's assessment, saying that the spending plan is balanced and responsible. They said that, if the budget does shortchange any critical function, they will act to correct the flaw through the budget re-allocation process.
The budget could change later this year after the state-appointed Act 47 team makes recommendations as part of its comprehensive financial recovery plan for the city. 


Susquehanna Art Museum to Build in Heart of Midtown

Jan. 14 -- The Susquehanna Art Museum’s long search for a permanent home has ended in Midtown, along the “Corridor of the Arts,” as Gov. Ed Rendell today called N. 3rd Street between Forster and Maclay streets.
The governor, along with museum board members, announced a $5 million state grant, which requires matching funding, for SAM to purchase the empty, historic Keystone Bank building at N. 3rd and Calder streets and expand it with a modern, two-story addition in the adjoining parking lot. The building most recently housed a Fulton Bank branch.
“This is going to be something very special, literally for decades to come,” Rendell said.
Stephen A. Moore, the museum’s board president, said the site was chosen because the building and property, which allows for expansion, meets the museum's space needs of more than 20,000 square feet.
“We married the best of the past with what I believe is the cutting edge of the future,” he said.
Moore said Midtown was selected because it has become a corridor of the arts, with many galleries and the monthly 3rd in The Burg arts event.
“It’s a growing, but thriving area, where there has been significant investment,” Moore said, citing Harrisburg Area Community College’s Midtown campus, WCI Partners' residential developments, Midtown Scholar Bookstore, a new federal courthouse and a condo/commercial project planned by The Vartan Group.
Noting the proposed and completed projects in a city struggling with its finances, Rendell said, “I think it means the sky’s the limit for Harrisburg.”
Though Rendell has approved the grant, the incoming administration of Gov.-elect Tom Corbett must give final approval. Museum board members said they are hopeful, but Rendell said unequivocally that the Corbett administration will support the project.
“The contract has been signed, and it will be honored,” the governor, who leaves office on Tuesday, said.
If all goes as planned, SAM expects to break ground on the project later this year and complete it in 2012.
The building and property are currently owned by GreenWorks Development, the Midtown company that has completed several large projects, including the HACC’s Midtown campus and the Campus Square building.
The museum’s board and GreenWorks are now in the process of negotiating the sale of the property, Moore said.
GreenWorks Vice President Matt Tunnell said he is confident that Corbett will sign the contract allowing for the project to move ahead.


Budget "Endangers" Harrisburg Residents, Says Mayor

Jan. 13 -- Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson denounced the City Council-endorsed 2011 budget today, calling it unbalanced and potentially dangerous to residents, charges quickly refuted by several council members.
In a press conference, Thompson claimed that the $56.2 million spending plan, passed on Dec. 30, is $3.9 million in the red and that it shortchanges the fire and police bureaus, doesn't fund some contractual line items and ignores certain professional mandates, particularly for firefighter and police training.
"This budget endangers the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Harrisburg," she said.
Thompson stopped short of vetoing the budget, stating that she would make her decision on Tuesday, after meeting tomorrow with Council President Gloria Martin-Roberts and Vice President Patty Kim. If Thompson does not sign or veto the budget by Tuesday, it automatically takes effect.
Thompson repeated her stance that the council should endorse her plan to sell the land beneath several parking garages, which could raise as much as $11 million, according to the administration.
Immediately, Councilman Brad Koplinski, who was instrumental in drafting the council-passed budget, questioned Thompson's position. He said that, while he was open to listening to the administration's stance, the council took great care to ensure that the budget was in balance.
"I can't imagine that there are cuts we made that would go to the detriment of the people to do their jobs and keep our citizens safe," he said.
He added that no budget is perfect, which is why several re-allocations are made during the year. If critical public safety or public works functions end up under-funded, money would be found to support them, he said.
"In the re-allocation process, we take millions of dollars that are underspent and put it where there is over-spending," he said. "It happens every year."
If Thompson vetoes the budget, the council would need a five-vote majority to override her decision.


Act 47 Coordinators Named for Harrisburg

Jan. 12 -- A team that includes former Pennsylvania House Speaker Bob O’Donnell was appointed today to help lead Harrisburg out of financial chaos.
Cincinnati-based management consulting firm Novak Consulting Group will act as lead coordinator under Act 47, a state-sponsored program to assist financially distressed cities. The group also includes the Reading-based law firm of Stevens & Lee and the public policy specialists, Pennsylvania Economy League. All have previous Act 47 experience.
O’Donnell, who provides a local presence, has been acting as a financial adviser to Harrisburg since November.
The team has until mid-April to draft a comprehensive financial recovery plan for Harrisburg. Once the plan is completed, it will be open for public hearing and comment, and the City Council will have the authority to accept or reject its recommendations.
“This team will bring objectivity and experience to the city of Harrisburg,” said Austin Burke, secretary of the state's Department of Community and Economic Development. “Each member brings their own area of expertise to address Harrisburg’s complex and unique financial issues and, together, their knowledge of municipal financial expertise will be a great asset to the city.”
Harrisburg is some $288 million in debt after backing bonds issued by the Harrisburg Authority for numerous upgrades, some botched, over a dozen years to the municipal incinerator.
Both the city and the Authority defaulted on several debt payments last year, and they have been sued by the insurer of the bonds.
"My administration will work closely and cooperatively with the coordinators as we develop a comprehensive recovery plan," Mayor Linda Thompson said in a statement. "Even though I know there are hard decisions yet to be made and more pain to be endured, I’m confident that we can succeed on behalf of the residents of the city and of the region.”


HMAC Off Sheriff's Sale List; Investors Help Arts Center Buy Time

Jan. 10 -- Last week, the not-yet-completed Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center was headed for the auction block. This week, the owners, with help from “angel investors,” bought time on their debts and are moving ahead on borrowing $4.3 million to complete renovations in the 20,000-square-foot, 19th-century structure along N. 3rd Street.
John Traynor, one of HMAC’s owners, said Monday they had successfully negotiated with their lender, Susquehanna Bank. Stephen Trapnell, the bank’s spokesman, confirmed the property is no longer scheduled for a sheriff’s sale on Thursday, but declined further details citing client confidentiality.
For months, HMAC’s owners have been working to settle the $667,000 debt and obtain financing in a banking environment that some businesses claim has become overly strict in determining whether to make loans.
Dauphin County worked with Traynor to help secure private bond financing. However, Traynor said he decided it would be too costly and instead sought help from five people who provided 100 percent financing to serve, in addition to the HMAC property, as collateral, which apparently satisfied Susquehanna Bank.
“They realized the Herculean effort that we made,” Traynor said. “That’s the only way to get things done in this banking environment.”
With $1.6 million already invested in the project, HMAC’s owners will begin negotiating with banks to secure $4.3 million in loans, $1.8 million of which would come through the Small Business Administration Loan program.
“Now, our funding is 100 percent private funding,” Traynor said, responding to critics who complained he was seeking public financing. “No public monies,” he said.
Once the loans are secured, construction crews would begin work almost immediately to finish the project, Traynor said.  
Plans include a huge, second-floor auditorium for plays and concerts, an indoor pool with saunas, art gallery, restaurant and bar. All of this is in addition to HMAC’s Stage on Herr, a live music venue that opened in 2009.


Reminder: Trash Schedule Changes Tomorrow

Jan. 3 -- Harrisburg's new trash collection schedule takes effect on Tuesday, with residents and businesses located downtown, much of Allison Hill and some of Midtown slated for the first day of change.
Tuesday collection includes all of downtown, Allison Hill bounded by Paxton, State and 17th streets and Midtown up to and including Reily Street.
Wednesday collection covers all of Midtown and Uptown Harrisburg north of Reily Street. Thursday collection includes streets between Route 22 and the railroad tracks north of State Street, as well as areas east of 17th Street and north of Rudy Road. Friday collection includes most of south Harrisburg to the city line.
There is no regular trash pickup on Mondays, a day reserved for holiday weeks, leaf collection, bulk collection and city clean-ups.
For detailed maps listing collection days by street, go to www.harrisburgpa.gov.