Julia Felton stories, Page 29
Pittsburgh City Council approves $10M budget for Housing Opportunity Fund
Pittsburgh City Council has approved a $10 million budget for the city’s Housing Opportunity Fund. More than $3.8 million of the budget is allocated for rental gap financing, which aims to help in building more affordable rental housing units in the city. Most of that money — about $3 million...
Pittsburgh City Council makes several changes to city’s proposed budgets
Pittsburgh City Council made a series of changes Tuesday to its proposed 2023 budgets, including amendments to refund the Land Bank, keep the city’s cable bureau and print shop out of the mayor’s office and nix plans for several new positions. Council preliminarily voted to move $4 million in American...
Pittsburgh considers using $1 million from rescue plan to alleviate residents’ medical debt
Pittsburgh City Council will consider legislation that would use $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to help alleviate medical debts for residents. Councilman Bobby Wilson introduced a proposal Tuesday that would allow the city to partner with RIP Medical Debt, a New-York based nonprofit that would buy dischargeable...
Former Letsche Elementary School in Hill District to be converted to mixed-income housing
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority has agreed to sell the former Letsche Elementary School in the city’s Hill District to a developer that will revitalize the historic building as part of a mixed-income housing development. The project, called Letsche School Apartments, will include 42 apartments in the former school building, as...
Pittsburgh’s URA sells Hill District properties to clear way for affordable housing, restaurants, gallery space
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority has sold a dozen Hill District properties to a city-based firm that wants to build a $3.4 million development with affordable housing, restaurants and gallery space. The URA board voted unanimously Thursday to sell the properties to the Pittsburgh-based Studio Volcy for $94,500, plus costs. Studio...
Barb Warwick sworn in as Pittsburgh city councilwoman
Newly elected Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Barb Warwick was sworn in Monday morning, filling a vacant seat on council. Warwick, 45, of Greenfield, handily won a special election in November to fill the District 5 seat left vacant by Corey O’Connor, who now serves as Allegheny County controller. She launched her...
Officials hope to bring 832 housing units to Bedford Dwellings in Pittsburgh’s Hill District
The Bedford Dwellings site in Pittsburgh’s Hill District could see a major update, including 832 housing units. The Urban Redevelopment Authority on Thursday unanimously voted to commit $350,000 through the Avenues of Hope Commercial Real Estate Program, plus $400,000 in Pittsburgh Business Fund financing for the program. Their vote also...
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority approves $15.9M operating budget
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority has adopted a $15.9 million budget for next year. Nearly half of the revenue in the operating budget, unanimously approved Thursday, will come from government grants, the authority said. Federal grants will account for about 38% of the revenue, while local grants will provide 9% and...
Penguins to replace scoreboard, make other improvements at PPG Paints Arena
Pittsburgh Penguins fans will see a new and improved scoreboard at PPG Paints Arena next hockey season. Pittsburgh’s Sports & Exhibition Authority this week reached an agreement with the Penguins for a larger scoreboard in the Uptown arena. “The new, larger scoreboard allows for an improved fan experience, projection of...
Gainey looks to revamp Art Commission after removing all prior commissioners
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey on Friday said he is looking to change how the city’s Art Commission functions, weeks after removing all prior commissioners from their posts. Gainey’s office and the Department of City Planning proposed to split the Art Commission into two separate committees — one that will review...
Rachel Carson Bridge to close weeknights
The Rachel Carson Bridge is slated to close weeknights beginning Monday. The closures, which will not occur in inclement weather, will last from 8 p.m. till 6 a.m. The overnight closures are expected to last at least two months as crews install enhanced lighting on the span, according to Allegheny...
Some Pittsburgh council members befuddled by spending of parks tax revenue
Much of the money collected through Pittsburgh’s parks tax will go to maintenance and necessary equipment. However, none of the money is going to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, the independent nonprofit that advocated for the tax, in the proposed 2023 budget. Some Pittsburgh City Council members on Thursday questioned whether...
Pittsburgh’s Public Works to get more money to add staff, equipment
Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Works is budgeted to get more workers and equipment in 2023, which officials say could improve snow response and other services. The department’s administration division is set to hire nine full-time employees, a 53% staffing increase from this year. The operations staff is slated to get...
Pittsburgh City Council approves $7M contract with security firm
Pittsburgh City Council has awarded a city-based company a nearly $7 million contract to provide security at the City-County Building and other sites for the next five years. In addition to the City-County Building on Grant Street, St. Moritz Security Services will provide guards at other city-owned locations such as...
Pittsburgh streamlines process to convert unused Downtown office space into housing
A zoning change approved this week by Pittsburgh City Council will streamline the process to convert existing Downtown office space into residential units, officials said. The legislation, unanimously approved Tuesday, will allow proposed residential projects in the Golden Triangle area to move ahead without being reviewed and approved by the...
Pittsburgh Deputy Controller Rachael Heisler to run for controller
Pittsburgh Deputy Controller Rachael Heisler announced Wednesday that she is running for city controller. She has held her current post since January 2021. “I am passionate about good government and welcome the opportunity to improve how things get done,” said Heisler, a Democrat. “I am a problem-solver and pledge to...
Pittsburgh City Council won’t decide on proposed Oakland zoning changes until next year
Proposed zoning changes for Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood won’t be decided until next year. Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday postponed a vote on the proposed changes for at least six weeks to take additional time to discuss the measure. Council members could make additional amendments ahead of a preliminary vote, now...
Pittsburgh’s part of 412 Boulevard of the Allies renovation gets extra $3 million
Pittsburgh’s portion of the renovations needed to create office space in the 412 Boulevard of the Allies Building will get an added $3 million over its initial budget. City Council on Tuesday approved a measure to allocate an additional $3.2 million for the project, which will relocate several city offices...
Pittsburgh council approves $220K annual snow removal technology contract
Pittsburgh’s snow plows will again be fitted with fleet telematics and snow route optimization technology, including GPS and the technology behind the city’s virtual snow plow tracker, through a Minnesota-based company. This comes despite concerns from some council members about the reliability of the snow plow tracker, an online tool...
Pittsburgh City Council approaching deadline to vote on proposed Oakland zoning changes
Pittsburgh City Council has until next week to vote on a controversial package of proposed zoning changes in Oakland or else the monthslong rezoning process would need to start over. Members of the Oakland community have been largely divided over the proposed zoning changes. The Planning Commission has already approved...
Pittsburgh council president calls for greater accountability in how Stop the Violence grants are spent
Pittsburgh City Council President Theresa Kail-Smith called for greater accountability in how Stop the Violence grant money is spent. The city last week announced the first round of Stop the Violence grant recipients. Over 30 organizations received nearly $1 million in total from the grant funding, which is meant to...
Pittsburgh council members question whether snow plow tracker is help or hindrance
Some Pittsburgh City Council members have voiced concerns with the city’s snow plow tracker, which, they said, is often unreliable and misleading. However, council gave preliminary approval last week to extend a contract with Minnesota-based Quetica for “fleet telematics” and snow route optimization technology, including GPS routing and the technology...
Pittsburgh Land Bank approves $10M spending plan for covid relief money
The Pittsburgh Land Bank’s board voted unanimously Friday to approve a plan to spend $10 million in American Rescue Plan funding — despite the fact Mayor Ed Gainey has said he wants to take $3 million of that money to create a food justice fund. The Land Bank’s plan calls...
Pittsburgh needs to step up police recruitment efforts, officials say
Police recruit training classes planned in Pittsburgh next year could bring in about half as many officers as the city has lost from its force this year, officials said Thursday. Only eight people applied to join the first class, which will train people who were officers elsewhere, said Councilman Anthony...
New Downtown Pittsburgh homeless shelter already at capacity
Second Avenue Commons, a homeless shelter that opened last week in Downtown Pittsburgh, is already at capacity, officials said. “We’re now into the overflow space, which is the cafeteria that’s downstairs,” said Dan Palka, Allegheny Health Network’s director of urban health and street medicine. Palka is collaborating with the city...
