Mansfield Council rejects elimination of parking spaces downtown

The elimination of the four spots near the intersection of Wellsboro and Main streets would have made it easier for large trucks traveling from north, south, east or west to make left turns.

Borough manager Chris McGann said he had spoken with three of the four business owners who would be most impacted by the loss of the spaces, and two out of the four were against it, one was “OK with it” and one had not yet been interviewed.

The project, slated to start in summer 2024, will take about a year and include replacement of water and sewer lines and repaving downtown. According to McGann, PennDOT will have most of the work done during nighttime hours for less impact on traffic and daytime business hours.

Council passed a resolution allowing that to happen, McGann said.

In other street paving business, Hunt Engineers is working on the bidding process for the St. James Street project with the project bid on PennBID as of Tuesday, May 9.

With no bids received for work to be done on the Mann Street, North Hill Terrace and Clark Street loop, council approved rebidding the project and the First and Second Street projects. Council agreed to revisit two sections of First and Second streets next year.

The walking/biking trail revamp project went out to bid May 16, McGann said and reported that word has been received that the DCED grant of $84,700 for the project has been received.

“That money matches the DCNR grant we received back in December,” he said.

In an agreement with the Mansfield Chamber of Commerce, the borough will provide temporary office space for the new chamber director through the end of the year. In exchange, Chamber will waive the borough’s membership fees for next year.

Council also approved suspending its open container ordinance for the Fourth of July holiday and only on a portion of Hoard Street, behind First Citizen’s Community Bank, so Bloss Beverage can operate a beer cart there during the celebration.

Movie nights are planned every month through September at Smythe Park sponsored by the Fourth of July Committee. For information, follow the Mansfield Fourth of July on Facebook. For the first time since 2019, there will be a parade, with 15 units already signed up including the popular Roseville Rinky Dinks, McGann said.

Council also:

• Approved a list of lifeguards with the newest to be paid $11 per hour, returning $11.50 per hour, head lifeguard $12.50 per hour and pool manager $15.50 per hour. More lifeguards are needed. Send a letter of interest to the borough office to apply.

• Learned that Brooklyn Street will be next to have the new vehicle speed tracker to verify if there is a speeding problem in that area. The Richmond Township portion of the road has recently collapsed, so it is down to one lane with a speed of 25 mph, McGann said.

• Announced the municipal pool is scheduled to open for the season June 12.