A 62-year-old Oil City agency charged with overseeing parking issues is on its way to dissolution.
At a meeting Thursday, Oil City Council gave its tentative approval to terminate the Oil City Parking Authority. The move comes after Parking Authority members asked council last April to dissolve the panel.
Barb Crudo, Fred Weaver and Daryl Hicks, all authority members, submitted their resignations to the city.
At one time, the Parking Authority, created in 1957, was an active and functioning agency of the city. The authority worked with city officials to construct the $1.8 million, 500-space city parking ramp on the city’s North Side, established free parking periods for the holidays, set limits for parking hours, decided where metered parking would go, conducted parking surveys and set up parking fees and penalties.
Council will formally terminate the authority at a December meeting.
City street change
City Manager Mark Schroyer said PennDOT has proposed turning over a half-mile section of East Second Street to the city with a provision that calls for a full reconstruction of the roadway, now owned by the state.
“They would reconstruct it, going deep,” said Schroyer. “The timing is excellent for us, with replacing sewer and water lines, plus getting future maintenance money from PennDOT.”
The street has an underlayment that includes a brick surface plus old streetcar tracks, he said.
“Bricks and trolley tracks as a subsurface – that’s not good,” said Schroyer.
Schroyer said PennDOT estimated the project could cost $1 million with studies done in 2020 and work starting in 2021.
“Obviously, it would be a major (traffic) disruption and that’s the downside,” said Schroyer. “But it would be a nice corridor for the city once it’s done.”
The highway project would also fit well with a city proposal to install new water and sewer lines, described by Jason Herman, city water director, as “built in 1872, the city’s oldest line,” along that city street.
“That would open up new business opportunities there,” said Schroyer, adding that the city’s Redevelopment Authority is eyeing that neighborhood for potential development.
In other matters:
Fire chief Mark Hicks said the last time the outline had “a major overhaul” was in 2007. One change is the relocation of the emergency operations center from the city police department to the fire station on Central Avenue.
— The city firefighters will again sponsor a Toys for Tots collection, known as Fill the Firetruck, from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, during the Christmas Past kickoff at the Central Avenue plaza.
Hicks said the firefighters will collect new and unwrapped children’s toys as well as monetary donations.
— The Elm Street entrance to city hall will be closed next week to allow for interior painting of the lobby area. Entry to city hall as well as the police department will be through the front door.
— City Hall will be closed Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
— Council gave its tentative approval to renewing the city’s cable franchise contract with Comcast.
The resolution will be formally adopted in December.
