The Pennsylvania Downtown Center Board of Directors met on March 14, 2018, after being rescheduled due to weather issues in February. Among the work conducted by the board at the meeting were the following items:
Outreach Policy: The board began a discussion that should lead to the crafting of a formal outreach policy for PDC. Current DCED funding limitations occasionally place restrictions as to whether, when or how often PDC can visit a “new” community to provide introductory revitalization information under the DCED-PDC contract. PDC Executive Director Bill Fontana stated that “the PDC staff believes that such outreach visits are a critical element in fulfilling PDC’s mission and charitable purpose. At the same time, we have to be good stewards of the limited resources we have available to conduct discretionary visits to non-designated communities.” The staff and the various board committees of PDC are all expected to provide input to the PDC Board into a crafting an acceptable policy.
Amicus Brief: The PDC Board has authorized the PDC Executive Director to file an Amicus (Friend of the Court) Brief with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in support of the City of Lebanon in a lawsuit before the Supreme Court relative to the recently established Lebanon Business Improvement District (BID). The suit, filed by a downtown Lebanon property owner, contends that the City of Lebanon was in error when it allowed all properties, not just assessed owners, within the boundary of the Lebanon BID to be eligible to cast a negative vote. The effect of the City of Lebanon’s allowance is to effectively raise the number of objections that must be submitted, and therefore more difficult for opponents to defeat the BID. The argument centers on the distinction between benefited and affected properties as defined in Act 130 of 2000. PDC has sided with the City, arguing that all properties within the BID are affected, even if they are not paying the assessment, and so should be counted against the number of objections required. The City’s position has already been sustained in both Lebanon County Common Pleas and PA Commonwealth Court. PDC will keep the membership when the court renders a decision.
Sayre/Guthrie Contract Approval: The Board approved a contract for visioning and strategic planning services between PDC and the Guthrie Health System in Sayre, Bradford County. Guthrie is interested in improving the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods in Sayre as a way to provide a more attractive incentive when recruiting new professional staff to work in the hospital. The Guthrie system employs about 3,000 people in the Sayre area and is the community’s largest employer. PDC Assistant Director Julie Fitzpatrick indicated to the board that this agreement is a natural step forward and a sort of pilot program that PDC is interested in developing between local revitalization organizations and regional health care providers. Sayre was a designated Main Street program back in the early 2000’s, but the effort has been relatively dormant over the last decade.
2018-2019 Board Elections: PDC Executive Director Bill Fontana reminded the board that two longer serving board members, Larry Newman and Kim Barnes, will be stepping from their board seats on June 30. Mr. Newman, current PDC board chair, has reached the end of his second three-year term and, under PDC by-laws, must step off the board for at least one year. Ms. Barnes is retiring from her position with the Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development Commission and has asked the board to accept her resignation so that she may pursue her hard-earned and well-deserved retirement. PDC members interested in being considered for a seat on the board should contact the PDC office.