Jingle bells taking a new path
The season is upon us, and so is the annual Christmas Lights Parade.
It's a bit altered this year, though, as the Harrisburg City Council elected to send the parade along a different route.
"We changed the route to allow more room for people to view the parade," said Mayor Dale Fowler. "In addition, this year will see a contest for the 'Best Decorated Business,' as well as the 'Best Decorated House.' We hope to see more vendors and a good crowd for the parade. This will be huge."
The parade, which starts at 6 p.m. on Dec. 10, forms up in front of the East Side School on East Church Street. It will move to Skaggs Street, north to Poplar Street and then follow Poplar west to Main Street, going south and ending at the Lion's Club on South Main Street where Santa will be paying an early visit.
The decision to change the parade route was decided during the Council's regular meeting Thursday.
During the meeting, the Council voted unanimously to accept five properties donated to the city. The city will sell the properties that are either vacant or need minimal clearing. Three of the properties are commercial properties and two are residential.
"We will be able to move these quickly," Fowler told the Council. "There are a lot of people looking for properties like these."
The Council also voted unanimously to approve a batch of payment orders for improvements and repairs being completed at the city's sewage treatment plant. These were the final payments to contractors for the work.
Councilman John McPeek reminded residents that Baby Huey's Recycling will be at the North End of Veterans Drive from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday to take in recycling. Baby Huey's accepts virtually any materials, electronics, oils and paints for a slight fee.
Police Chief Whipper Johnson told the Council that all cameras in all Harrisburg schools are now linked to the police department. Officers can view any camera, in any school, at any time from the Harrisburg police department and from laptop computers in several of the city patrol cars. Johnson also told the Council that his department was working on an updated safety plan for the schools.
Councilwoman Beth Montfort related to the Council that a long time feature of City Hall, one of the gangsters Charlie Birger's Thompson submachine guns, would soon be restored to its display case at the top of the first flight of stairs inside City Hall.
In other action the Council:
• Approved changes in the city's water contract with Muddy.
• Approved a payment increase to Sierra Bravo Contractors for work in the Cummins Drive area. This overtime work was necessitated by adverse weather that occurred during scheduled concrete pouring.
• Approved advertisement of bids on work to replace the sewer linings of sewer pipes on South Main Street.