Aug 13, 2008 By Christine Haines 3 min read

BROWNSVILLE – The Greater Brownsville Area Chamber of Commerce will be moving its monthly meetings to Brownsville Tri-County Hospital starting in September. Frank Ricco, who chairs both the chamber and hospital boards of directors, said he thought the meeting room adjacent to the hospital cafeteria would offer the chamber more privacy than Fiddle’s restaurant, where the meetings have been held for a number of years. Ricco said the hospital cafeteria opens at 7 a.m. and chamber members can either eat in the cafeteria or bring their trays to the meeting room. The business meeting of the chamber will remain at 8 a.m.

Chamber director and hospital board member Nellda Ware said the open house for the hospital held at the end of July attracted a large crowd, with as many as 300 people taking advantage of the opportunity to pre-register for services at the hospital.

“Right now there are over 100 people working at the hospital. That in itself is a tremendous boost to the area. I’m hoping within six months to bring another 50 people on board. I hope to open the operating room and the intensive care unit in that time,” Ricco said.

Brownsville Mayor Lewis Hosler said that the local police will be conducting speed traps, drunk driving stops and warrant sweeps. Hosler said that many of the warrants are for unpaid fines.

“That warrant follows you until you pay it,” Hosler said.

Hosler said speed traps will be set up at various times of the day on the North Side and along Second and Water streets to help reduce speeding through the community.

William Johnson reported that the search for a new librarian might be over by the end of the week. Johnson said several candidates have been interviewed and a special meeting of the library board is expected this week to vote on a candidate for the position.

Norma Ryan reported that Music on the Mon will be held on the Nemacolin Castle grounds from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday. A festival will be held on the castle grounds on Sept. 6 and local organizations are encouraged to participate.

Ryan said that the Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp. will be sponsoring canoeing and kayaking on the Monongahela River in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission on Oct. 12.

Ryan also noted that BARC interns are in the process of conducting a telephone survey to help the nonprofit organization prepare future grant applications.

Ricco noted that lighting has been installed at Patsy Hillman Park to help with security issues there.

“It’s like daylight. If anyone goes up there to do anything, they’ll get nailed. It’s really well-lit,” Ricco said.

Ray Koffler reported that the Brownsville Izaak Walton League’s (IWL) application for a grant from the national IWL was rejected. Koffler said no one from the local club was able to attend the national convention to present information on the grant application in person.