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By Felicia A. Petro
Allied News Staff Writer
A proposed 2000 budget for Grove
City would cut taxes by 2 mills, ac-
cording to borough manager Terry
Farren.
Farren and the borough’s finance
committee discussed the projected
budget during a workshop Monday
night.
The spending plan will be two
mills less than this year’s 14 mill
budget, Farren said.
The budget is projected at
$2,661,068, as opposed to this year’s
$2,127,500 figure.
Council will vote on the budget
next Monday at its regular meeting,
Farren said. Until that time, the bud-
get is subject to change if members
meet for another workshop, he said.
At a prior budget meeting, mem-
bers agreed on a 2.5 percent wage
increase for administrators, which is
the same amount given to union
workers, Farren said.
Monday, requests by various de-
partments were discussed, including
police, fire, public works, water and
electric.
One large item denied by the
committee was a $155,000
squad/utility truck for the fire de-
partment that volunteers could sit in
for warmth or to cool down during
rescue operations.
“Before we look at that type of
capital, (the department) should
meet with volunteers to find our
their needs and then attempt to se-
cure a low interest loan,” Farren
said, “which may take a year or
more.”
Mayor Marvin Baker said if fire
departments in Springfield and Pine
townships and Grove City purchased
the truck together, “that would be
nice,” he said.
The fire department wanted to sell
an old pumper and an aerial truck to
help pay for the costs, Farren said.
Equipment items left in the bud-
get for the electric department in-
cluded $237,500 for two new trucks
and a standby generator to use for
storm blackouts and potential Y2K
problems.
Public works requested a $40,000
back-hoe and a $26,500 chipper, Far-
ren said.
Two large requests include
$95,000 to start Phase I of a new
storm drainage system from Madi-
son Avenue to Wolf Creek in order
to offset flooding problems in the 4th
Ward, Farren said.
Phase II would be an extension
from Madison to Forest Drive, which
may be in next year’s budget, he
said.
A second big borough project this
year would be a sanitary sewer line
replacement for $225,000, Farren
said. The line would run from Lin-
coln Avenue through Harvard Street,
and stop at Princeton Street before
going from Lincoln to Bessemer
Street.
Other new items in the budget in-
clude $1,240,000 for construction of a
new water tank on Madison Avenue;
$65,000 to the Grove City Area His-
torical Society; $25,000 to fix the roof
of a main hanger at Grove City Air-
port; and $7,500 to replace carpets in
the office area of the borough build-
ing, Farren said.
Left in the budget for police was
$2,300 for a defibrillation device that
officers can use on heart attack vic-
tims; $20,000 to replace a police
cruiser; and $7,500 for uniforms, Far-
ren said.
To offset costs, councilman Mike
Cooney suggested leasing 26 acres
of unused land at the airport for com-
mercial use. Owned by the borough,
the airport is located in the booming
area of Springfield Township.
Councilman George Pokrant re-
quested having evaluations of key
employees “to have a paper trail to
justify the salary with the work,” he
said. “It could save a lot of
heartache.”
“It can create them too,” Farren
said.
Farren added that the non-union
employee pension fund needs new
language to be transferred into a in-
vestment program designed for the
borough’s needs.
If approved by council and the
employees, the borough would have
to roll over a minimum of $500,000
for a new program, he said.
Farren also recommended that
the recycling fee of $1 be lowered to
50 cents, he said.
The fee was added three years
ago to pay for a grinding machine at
the waste composting site by the
wastewater treatment plant, he said.
The grinder has been paid off.
2 mill tax cut, $1.2 million water tower in borough budget
GROVE CITY
http://www.sharon-herald.com
THE HERALD,
Sharon, Pa.,
Thursday, November 11, 1999
A-3
By Hal Johnson
Herald Writer
An artist carving into a tree along
the street or knifing a declaration of
young love into a tree bark could re-
sult in a fine in Mercer, if council
adopts a proposed revision to its tree
ordinance next month.
Council Tuesday tabled the pro-
posed ordinance for further review. If
adopted, the new law would put
more bite into the bark of the exist-
ing law.
The proposed ordinance would
makes it illegal to maim or carve into
a tree along the right of way of a
street or in a public area such as a
park.
The proposed revision also would
authorize the borough shade tree
commission to assess unspecified
penalties to violators of that or any
other part of the local tree law.
Established in 1992, the commis-
sion is charged with maintaining
trees on public areas in the borough
and enforcing the shade tree ordi-
nance.
Council has been working on up-
grading its shade tree ordinance for
about a year, said James D. Carnes,
council president. He said the addi-
tion of the maiming or carving provi-
sion came after Clyde Daugherty of
Coolspring Township demonstrated
his artistic skills by carving a face
into the side of a tree in front of the
post office during Victorian Days in
July. Although the tree is on bor-
ough property, Daugherty, who un-
derstood the tree belonged to the
post office, was not penalized.
If adopted, the revised ordinance
also authorizes council to give the
shade tree commission the revenue
from 0.1 mill annually for maintain-
ing trees on public property. The
commission has found itself without
funds to pay for necessary tree trim-
ming, Carnes said.
Council plans to bite into tree law’s bark
MERCER