Oil City Council members on Thursday gave their support to a plan by the Oil City Junior Baseball Association to use the Hasson Heights softball field for its leagues.
Paul Myers with the Junior Baseball Association told council the field, which has lights, is no longer used for softball except during the Oil Heritage Festival tournament.
Myers said the Junior Baseball Association would like to do work on the field and would be willing to pay the electric bill to power the lights.
He asked that the city put up signs to remind people that dogs aren’t allowed on the field, which is a city ordinance, but he said that since the field has been used so little the last two years it has become “a dog park.”
Last year, the association had 221 kids involved and this year enough 15- and 16-year-olds have registered to form a senior league, Myers said.
City manager Mark Schroyer asked Myers to work with other leagues and teams who will also want to use the field this year, and Myers said he would be happy to do that.
Council members were all in favor of the plan and commented about what a good thing junior baseball is for the community.
In other business at Thursday’s council meeting, Schroyer gave a brief update on the East Second Street project, which is scheduled to begin in the spring.
Schroyer said that during an earlier meeting Thursday, someone from Verizon suggested a “simple redesign” for the sewer lines on East Second that won’t require several telephone poles to be moved, which had been the plan.
The change is “to our benefit” and will save the city money, Schroyer said.
The funds are about $6,900 more than the city budgeted, city finance officer Michele Hoovler said.
In another matter, Schroyer wanted to remind residents about where signs are allowed and not allowed in the city.
Signs are prohibited in Town Square without permission from the city, and no signs for businesses are allowed in right of ways, though in the case of signs for non-profits and churches the city “looks the other way”, Schroyer said.
“On private property, you can have political signs up all year round if you want,” Schroyer said, adding that even in the case of “very profane” political signs there is almost nothing the city can do about them if they are on private property.
“City owned property should never have political signs on it. The city should not dabble in politics,” councilman Ron Gustafson said.
In other business, Hoovler said public works director Howard Faunce found online that the city had unclaimed property held by the Pennsylvania Treasury, and the city received a check from the Treasury for $8,260 for the property.
Schroyer said two new full-time firefighters have joined the Oil City Fire Department — Christopher Heusey and Paul Johnson. They were not at the council meeting to be introduced because they were likely battling a house fire on Central Avenue that broke out about an hour before the meeting, Schroyer said.
The two had previously worked part time at the fire department.
Council also approved a facade grant request for lighting and signs at Core Goods on East First Street.
Schroyer said he expects to have the lists of streets that will be paved this year at council’s next meeting March 9. And he also noted that proposed changes to the city’s swimming pool passes will be presented to council.
