Brownsville bar could labeled a nuisance
BROWNSVILLE – The borough is being asked to consider taking action to have the Dunlap Lodge on Brownsville Avenue declared a nuisance bar. Jane Loveland, the community coordinator for Crosskeys Human Services Inc., sent the letter to the borough stating that the lodge is not a problem during the day and early evening hours, but it is a different story come midnight.
Crosskeys operates a residential facility housing eleven people near the lodge and Loveland said the residents and staff are subjected to loud music, gunshots in the street and criminal mischief to their vehicles from midnight into the early morning hours.
Loveland complained that when she asked Mayor Norma Ryan about the problem, she was asked to write a letter.
“I did return the phone call and told her it is under investigation,” Ryan said.
“It does help to have letters when you’re trying to have a place declared a nuisance,” said Council President Jack Lawver.
Resident Nena Kaminsky also spoke on a police-related matter, noting that on Saturday her 8-year-old grandson was approached by a man asking if he could watch him play ball. Kaminsky said her son was around the side of the house and the man left the area when her son came into view.
Kaminsky said her daughter called Fayette County 9-1-1 to report the incident and was given the Brownsville police business number instead of an officer being dispatched. Kaminsky said her daughter left messages on the police answering machine and finally reached the police eight hours later when she drove by the police station and saw the lights on.
“Later she found out a sex offender lives a block away. The police said they couldn’t tell her who it was,” Kaminsky said.
Ryan said the situation will be investigated.
Resident Jackie Connors wanted to know why Brownsville’s Octoberfest was canceled this year. Councilman Martin Redigan noted that the event has been sponsored by the fire departments in the past.
“The reason it was canceled this year is because of a lack of cooperation from the people of Brownsville. We had maybe 15 people on the streets last year,” Redigan said.
Lawver said some fire departments also expressed concerns about using fire trucks for a parade, given the current gasoline prices.
In other matters, the council voted to hire White’s Heating and Cooling to install a new furnace in the borough building. White’s bid was $17,500. The only other bid received came from Sullivan Heating for $24,400. Funding for the new furnace is coming from a grant from state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg.
Questions were raised over how streets were selected for paving this year. Lawver said a list of the streets most in need of paving was compiled six or eight years ago.
“We took ones on the list and fit them into the amount of money we had,” Lawver said.
Lawver said the paving was done using a $50,000 grant from Joe Hardy.
“The streets that were done were so bad, they were risk issues,” said Councilman John Hosler. “I think they did it fairly.”
Work will be done on Shaffner Avenue next week, including storm sewer replacement and paving. The work is being done through a grant from the county to Brownsville Township, since the majority of the project area is in the township.
Hosler said there are also areas of the borough where sidewalks are becoming a liability issue.
The borough is seeking bids for its 1997 Ford police car. All police paraphernalia will be removed from the vehicle prior to the sale. Bids should be submitted to the borough secretary. The vehicle will go to the best offer.
Council is also looking into the legality of selling or giving away bicycles found in the borough that go unclaimed for more than a month. Councilman Robert Pritts said the borough sometimes has four or five bikes stored in the basement waiting for someone to claim them.