Oil City Council Takes Formal Step to Dissolve Parking Authority

| June 14, 2019

OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) – A week after the Oil City Parking Authority voted to disband, the Oil City Council took the first necessary step to make that official at its June 13 meeting.

According to City Solicitor Robert Varsek, now that the parking authority has voted to disband, the city must pass an ordinance and submit it to the Department of State Corporations Bureau to receive notification of termination of the parking authority. Once that notification is received, the city then needs to file that notification with the Venango County Register and Recorders office.

Barb Curdo, a member of the parking authority, told exploreVenango’s Aly Delp last week that the decision to eliminate the authority was one that had been under consideration for some time, and in fact, Curdo had addressed the Oil City Council about dissolving the authority at a meeting in April.

Councilmember Ron Gustafson said, at the June 13 meeting, this is the second time council has dealt with this issue in recent years.

“There is not much of a workload for the parking authority as there once was in the community,” Gustafson said.

An ordinance officially dissolving the Parking Authority will now be advertised and voted on at a future Council meeting.

CITIZEN BRINGS COMPLAINT BEFORE COUNCIL

Oil City resident Tiffany Oliver brought a complaint before council concerning how she was treated over an incident about trash on a property that didn’t belong to her between her house and her detached garage.

Oliver said on April 10, Oil City Code Enforcement Officer Curt Greene cited her for trash on the property between her house and her garage.

The issue, according to Oliver, was the property on which the trash was on didn’t belong to her.

“I don’t own the property between the house and the garage,” Oliver told the council. “I don’t understand how I can be charged for something happening on a property I don’t own.”

Oliver said it took 50 days to resolve the issue, and that Greene was unresponsive to her concerns during that time not returning phone calls and in general not being very helpful.

“It was a very inefficient process,” Oliver said while noting the process reached all the way to District Magistrate Andrew Fish’s office. “(Greene) was really (hard) to get ahold of.”

Oliver said that the $200.00 cost to appeal the original notice didn’t seem fair and that in the end, before the issue was resolved, she paid almost $500.00 to have the trash removed from the property she didn’t own.

Because of the civil action hanging over her, Oliver said she had to delay an application to the border patrol because they do a background check and the issue could have affected that check.

Mayor Bill Moon asked Oliver if she had paperwork documenting everything, and she said she did. She gave that paperwork to the council, which made no further comment.

OTHER BUSINESS

In other business the council:

  • Authorized the partial closure and temporary restriction of The Veterans Memorial Bridge from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Saturday, August 17, 2019, for BridgeFest activities. This is the second year for BridgeFest, which will be held August 16-17.
  • Heard from Fire Chief Mark Hicks that the June 1 “Sound the Alarm” event was a success with 203 smoke detectors installed in 81 homes by 49 volunteers.
  • Approved a request from the Oil City Arts Council to hold the 2019 Jolly July 3rd Festival at Justus Park from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. The festival will include children’s activities, live music, food vendors, fireworks and more. The council also approved the use of the Public Works Department to help with event setup.
  • Promoted firefighters Derek Long (Captain) and Dennis Cherish (Lieutenant) and ended their probationary periods upon the request of Hicks.
  • Approved a request from the Oil City Library Advisory Council and the Oil City Main Street Program to close Central Avenue Plaza between 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 25, for a “Touch-a-Truck” event that will be held in conjunction with the Oil City Farmer’s Market at the beginning of the Oil Heritage Festival.
  • Gave permission for the church group Ignite, out of Cranberry to use Lot 11 behind the Oil City United Methodist Church for a car wash on Saturday, July 6. The car wash will run approximately between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and will benefit 25 individuals on a mission trip to Jamaica later in the month.
  • Set a public hearing for 4:00 p.m. July 11, to modify the 2016 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for street reconstruction activity. The modification would change the reconstruction of Wabash Avenue, Oak Grove Street and Glenview Avenue to the reconstruction of Orchard Street (between Petroleum Street and Division Street). The reason for the change is the Wabash Avenue, Oak Grove Street, and Glenview Avenue projects were all completed as part of the 2018 paving season.
  • Heard from City Manager Mark Schroyer that the first page of Mitchell Avenue Playground project was nearing completion and from both Schroyer and Hicks that the roof replacement on the Central Avenue Firehouse was complete.

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