GAZETTE The CenTre CounTy
www.CentreCountyGazette.com
Summer ball
It’s not football season, but don’t tell that to the Centre County contingent that took part in the Lezzer Lumber Football Classic, which was held in Clearfield on June 19. State College Area High School’s John Weakland had a stellar game./Page 18
June 25-July 1, 2015
Volume 7, Issue 25
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School board, Pike Street traffic union reach focus of study contract accord through Lemont By ZACH BERGER StateCollege.com
By ALEXA LEWIS
STATE COLLEGE — The State College Area School District board of directors finally reached an agreement with the State College Educational Support Personnel Association at its June 22 meeting after months of negotiations. The contract includes a salary freeze for the academic year that just concluded, with an increase occurring in each of the remaining three years. There are significant health care changes involving medical insurance in the new contract. The agreement runs retroactively from July 2014 to June 2018 and affects 360 school district employees, including secretaries, paraprofessionals, clerks and other support personnel. The contract passed by a 7-1 vote. Board member Jim Pawelczyk was the lone dissenting vote. “It represents the culmination of many months of respectful discussions, and will serve both the district and the association’s dedicated, hard-working members well in the coming years,” board president Amber Concepcion said. The support personnel association “voted overwhelmingly” to accept the proposed contract earlier this month, according to co-presidents Shelbi Smeltzer and Trish Storch. “We recognized that it is a fair contract and that the health care change was inevitable,” Smeltzer and Storch said in a prepared statement. “We are grateful to conclude the process after 18 months of negotiating and would like to thank the district’s team for their new collaborative way of negotiating.” In other news, the board heard an update on the construction schedule for the high school renovation project. The first phase runs from this month to August, and a total of eight phases conclude in July 2018. This summer’s work will involve building a bus driveway and a paved student pathway that leads from the back of the South Building to a crossing at Westerly Parkway linking to the North Building. Board member Penni Fishbaine expressed concern over the noise during school days. Construction management representative Tim Jones says demolition will need to occur during the day in order to keep with the schedule. “It won’t be eliminating noise,” director of physical plant Ed Poprik said. “It will be managing noise. That will be the reality we’re living for the next three years. ... (The demolition) should be kind of peeling the building down as opposed to the old-fashioned wrecking ball.” The heavier construction work will begin in the near future, as crews will be blasting bedrock for excavation at the South Building site as June comes to an end. A total of five to six detonations will occur, with no more than one happening in a day. The crew will coordinate with the Welch Community Pool to avoid disruptions, and the staggered blasts come in lieu of the constant use of jackhammers. “It will be better for the neighborhood and people in the pool,” Poprik said. Opinion ............................ 7 Health & Wellness ............ 8
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LEMONT — Each day drivers equivalent to about three times Lemont’s population use the portion of Pike Street that cuts through the village. That’s between 6,000 to 8,000 cars and trucks using the road that is lined with many of Lemont’s stores and local businesses on a given day. “For many years, there have been concerns with traffic speed and volumes that go through the village,” said Adam Brumbaugh, the College Township manager. After the Pike Street Traffic-Calming and Streetscape Project was first proposed more than three years ago to slow traffic and make downtown Lemont more pedestrian friendly in the process, College Township Council and staff are making more advances to gather public input and push the project forward. The township has considered crosswalks, bumped-out portions of the street, improved sidewalks and parallel parking along Pike Street in the design. The goal is to finalize the designs for the project so that it
TIM WEIGHT/For the Gazette
WORD ON THE STREET: Officials are in the process of getting public input on improving the traffic situation in Lemont.
is shovel-ready when a grant becomes available, said College Township council member Carla Stilson. The township has hosted three open houses for public forum since 2012, but Stilson said because council members have changed over the past few years the drawings have seen little change and have not addressed many of the concerns that comPike Street, Page 6
Bellefonte Cruise draws thousands By CHRIS MORELLI editor@centrecountygazette.com
TIM WEIGHT/For the Gazette
TIME TO SHINE: There was plenty of shiny chrome to go around during the 27th annual Historic Bellefonte Cruise, which took place in downtown Bellefonte on June 19 and 20.
Penns Valley Spotlight ..... 9 Education ....................... 10
Community ............... 11-15 Women’s Corner ....... 16, 17
BELLEFONTE — For Centre County car enthusiasts, there’s nothing better than the Bellefonte Cruise. The 27th annual Historic Bellefonte Cruise took place over the weekend and was a huge success once again. “Everything went very well and it ran fairly smoothly,” said Pat McCool, chairman of the Bellefonte Cruise committee. “There were no problems, no issues. The participants were very happy.” An estimated 7,000 to 9,000 car enthusiasts visited Bellefonte over the weekend. The event kicked off on June 19 with the open cruise, which was followed by the sock hop on the diamond. On Saturday, classic cars and motorcycles lined the streets of downtown Bellefonte as owners competed for awards in several different classes. According to McCool, the car count was down a bit from previous years. “I think that was to be expected because of the weather,” McCool said. “We had overcast skies and a few showers, but everything went down just like clockwork.” The cruise provides an economic boon to downtown Bellefonte. Those who attend often shop at local businesses and eat at local restaurants. Many restaurants give show participants coupons for discounted meals. McCool said that tends to bring new faces through the door. “I’ve heard that anywhere from 60 to 80 percent of the coupons come back to the store,” McCool said. “With those kinds of numbers, you know they are getting a few faces that they normally wouldn’t see.” Of course, there are many different entities that help the cruise run like a well-oiled machine. McCool said that Bellefonte Borough plays a vital role in making the cruise a success. “The cruise wouldn’t be possible without the help of the borough. They go way out of their way to help and accommodate us. The merchants come out on the streets and set up. It’s one of their best days of the year. We’re just trying to do more for the community as a whole,” McCool said. Cruise, Page 5
INSIDE: Classic Cars “lap the block” at annual Historic Bellefonte Cruise. See Page 11.
Sports ......................... 18-23 Arts & Entertainment 24, 25
What’s Happening .... 26, 27 Puzzles ............................ 28
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