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February 21, 2018

Ellwood City Borough Council February Meeting Brief [Updated 8 p.m.]

The following is a brief summary of the Ellwood City Borough Council meeting held on Feb. 19, 2018. **Updated Feb. 21 at 8:00 p.m. Visitors Brian Bush, of the Ellwood City Revitalization Committee, presented council with a check for $200,000 from the Hoyt Foundation. Connie MacDonald, current member of the Lawrence County Housing Authority and previous council president, protested the current council’s decision to stop the planned construction of a new electric building, claiming at least $120,000 in bond money had been “thrown away.” [see correction] Resolutions A motion was adopted amending the costs of street opening permits and curb…

February 13, 2018

Visitors Bring Concerns Regarding Beechwood Boulevard Address Changes

At yesterday’s Ellwood City borough council agenda meeting, several residents expressed concerns regarding a proposed change to Beechwood Boulevard street addresses. The change would affect 38 properties, many on Beechwood Boulevard. All of the addresses were identified by Lawrence County Emergency Services as potentially difficult for emergency personnel to find due to confusing street numbers. David High presented council with a petition signed by 10 residents addressing multiple concerns over the changes. Several of the affected addresses are in Beaver County, and High questioned how a Lawrence County agency could request a change in another county. In addition,  the petition…

February 2, 2018

Yesterday’s Special Council Meeting Recap

Thursday evening council called for a special meeting to discuss and vote on the Electric Department construction and to extend the bidding time frame for the construction of the new Public Works Building. All council members were in attendance, as was Mayor Anthony Court and Borough Solicitor Ed Leymarie. After much discussion, council passed the motion to cancel the construction and bidding for the new Electric Department Building in a 5-2 roll call vote. Michelle Lamenza and George Celli were the two council members to vote against the cancellation, stating they stood by their previous vote. “The building may be…

February 1, 2018

Council to Hold Special Meeting Tonight

Tonight at 5:15p.m. at the Ellwood City Municipal Building, council will be holding a special meeting to discuss the outcome of the public works and electric buildings. Council will be discussing the possibility of deadline extensions for bidding on the construction of the public works building and to entirely revoke the plan to create a new facility for the electric department. Several council members, including the new elects Rob Brough and Lisa Guerrera, councilwoman Marilyn Mancini, and Council President Judy Dici, have previously stated they are not in favor of rebuilding the electric department. The projects in total are expected to…

January 31, 2018

Previous Council President Appointed Chairman on Housing Authority Committee

Previous Council President, Connie MacDonald, was appointed yesterday to an open seat on the Lawrence County Housing Authority committee – filling the unexpired term of authority chairman William Betz, who has moved out of the county. MacDonald, who lost Ellwood City Council reelection in 2017 – ending his Council term officially in December, joins four other members, Rev. David Young, Debby Hennon, Lee Ann Fulena and Holly Girdwood, and will now represent Ellwood City Borough on the housing committee. Out of six letters of interest, MacDonald was chosen after being nominated by Commissioner Bob Del Signore, who vouched for MacDonald’s…

January 25, 2018

Bernstine Announces Scholarship Awards to Local Teachers for Innovative Learning Projects

ELLWOOD CITY – State Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) today announced four local educators who work at schools in the 10th Legislative District were awarded scholarships to help implement innovative, career-oriented classroom projects. The scholarships were personally funded by Bernstine as a result of his annual mandated cost-of-living adjustment from the state House of Representatives, which he received Jan. 1. “I have always believed in being a good steward of taxpayer dollars,” Bernstine said. “We hear all the time that there’s not enough money going to our classrooms, so I thought our local classrooms would be a great place to reinvest…

January 23, 2018

Community Development Grant Survey Form

The Borough of Ellwood City is trying to utilize grant funds for street improvements on Franklin Avenue from Second Street to the dead end (heading west). A “Community Development Block Grant Survey Form” was hand-delivered to the residents living within this targeted area. It is imperative that the surveys are completed and returned to the Borough as soon as possible. As a condition of the grant the residents living in this area have to meet a certain income guidelines. Hence, the reason for the survey. Failure for the Borough to obtain this necessary information will prevent the project from being…

January 18, 2018

Bernstine, Local Mayors Issue Letter Encouraging Relocation of Businesses to 10th District

Ellwood City- Citing a recently passed storm water management tax as motivation, Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) today issued a letter to business owners in the City of New Castle inviting them to consider relocating to municipalities in the 10th Legislative District. Ellwood City Mayor Tony Court, Beaver Falls Mayor George Quay, New Brighton Mayor Tom Albanese and Slippery Rock Mayor J.D. Longo also signed the letter, which cited lower property taxes and no wage tax on employees as reasons to relocate to their municipalities. “We know that keeping property taxes low and creating an environment where you can work effectively…

January 16, 2018

Ellwood City Council Raises Firefighter Pay

Yesterday the Ellwood City Borough Council voted to raise the part-time firefighter hourly wage from 11.40/hr to 15.00/hr, “a far more competitive salary,” according to Councilwoman Lisa Guerrera. While council voted in favor of raising the firefighter wage, the majority voted against raising the other non-union employee wages. Guerrera released the official statement: “Several raises for 2018 for the Non-Union employees were in an original motion to be voted on. After much discussion, it was decided in a 6-1 vote, to keep all non-Union employees wages at the rate they were being paid in 2017, with the exception of the…

January 3, 2018

Bernstine Bill Would Stop Life Insurance Payouts to Terrorists

HARRISBURG – A recent terror attack on police at the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex prompted state Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) today to unveil new legislation, which would limit life insurance payouts of individuals who die committing acts of terrorism. The proposal also calls for a portion of the terrorist’s life insurance benefits to be redirected to victims. “I don’t believe you deserve to keep your life insurance benefits if you intentionally steal the lives of innocent Americans,” Bernstine said. “We shouldn’t allow terrorism to be rewarded.” House Bill 1996 would allow insurance companies to limit payouts to beneficiaries named on…