Connellsville council hears plans for 3-D mural, lantern launch

Local artist Brandi Bee has received permission from Connellsville city council to create a 3-D mural in Yough Park under the Memorial Bridge at no cost to the city.
Bee was on hand at the council meeting Tuesday night to discuss the ideas she has come up with for the mural so far.
“After the mayor approached me about the project, I began to thing about what Connellsville is known for and the first two things that came to mind were the river and the bike trail,” she said.
With that in mind she decided to paint a fish mural, incorporating bike sprockets and wheels as the eyes of the fish. She also plans to incorporate river rocks and drift wood into the art.
“I am going to get four art students from Geibel High School and four art students from Connellsville (Area High School) to help me paint the mural this summer,” she added.
“I think this could be a really welcome image for visitors coming into the city,” said Mayor Greg Lincoln. “The goal is for the image to be painted with a graffiti-resistant sealant where any kind of graffiti can easily be wiped off.”
He added that he’s hoping the addition of security cameras in the park will be a deterrent for anyone who might consider damaging the mural.
Bee, who never even picked up a paint brush until two years ago, said she is very excited about the project.
“I grew up in Adelaide, so to be able to do something like this a quarter of a mile up the road from where I grew up — it means a lot,” she said.
Lincoln said Connellsville Community Ministries has accumulated quite a supply of paint that they are considering donating for this project and he’s sure they will be able to round up used bike parts to be used in the mural as well.
“I have endless ideas with this and I’m sure once I see the box full of junk parts, I’ll have 20 more,” Bee said.
In other council business, members of Connellsville City Council approved a request for the Central Fellowship Church to host a fundraiser where individuals can purchase lanterns for $5, write any message on them that they would like and then put them into the Youghiogheny River at dusk on June 30 as a way to shine some light out to those who are feeling hopeless.
Colleen Murphy told council that there is a team from their church that will be going to Peru this summer. They have been fundraising to send some parishioners on the mission trip and have raised $29,000 of their $35,000 goal.
“We wanted to end our fundraising with something geared toward the community,” she said. “Things can seem so hopeless with things like the drug epidemic and school shootings — there is so much going on and so many people feeling hopeless — but we wanted to do something that could bring hope to the community.”
“We want the lanterns to be a symbol of hope,” Murphy said. “Once individuals purchase a lantern, they can write prayers or any message they want — maybe one will say ‘cancer survivor.’ There is hope for this community and I want to shine a light on it.
“We have to be a city on our knees and some people can argue with that, but that’s what we need to be,” she said.
The lanterns are 100 percent biodegradable, but Murphy said they will have people down river to retrieve them.
Those who might want to pre-register for the event can do so at centralfellowshipchurch.com.
Councilman Ethan Keedy said he thinks the event will be breathtaking and can’t wait to see the river lit up.
In other council business, members of council agreed to appoint Kay Dunaway to the Connellsville Housing Authority with her term to expire in January 2023 and after accepting the resignation of Lawrence Herman from the Connellsville Community Center board of directors, agreed to appoint Kenneth Johnson and Larry Nicholson to that board.
Johnson’s term will expire in 2023 and Nicholson’s will expire in 2019.
Under the mayor’s report, members of council agreed to reallocate $12,000 from the grant reimbursement line item in their budget to the New Haven Hose allocation line item.
They also agreed to transfer ownership of the property at 101 Lincoln Ave. from the city to the Connellsville Redevelopment Authority.
Under the street department report, members of council agreed to accept the bid of Hunter’s Excavating & Electrical to install storm inlets and pipe on East Apple Street at a price of $82,399.40, pending review of the solicitor.
Also, the city will accept bids for the 2018 street paving program at City Hall until April 16, at 4 p.m. Portions of West Green, Sycamore and Oak streets as well as portions of Newmyer and Davison avenues and an unnamed alley behind Connellsville Counseling are slated for paving this summer.
Drew Nicholson was hired as a summer worker for the Public Works Department at a rate of $7.50 per hour at a maximum of 35 hours per week for the summer season.
Councilman Tom Karpiak said they are still looking for other workers for the summer season. Interested individuals can pick up an application at City Hall.
Members of council also agreed to seek grant funding through state Sen. Pat Toomey’s office to be coordinated with the adoption of a “Knox Box” ordinance.
Councilman Bob Topper said these boxes would allow the fire department access to a key to get into businesses when the owners are not there and their alarm systems connect to the 911 system to activate the fire department.