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Pittsburgh council passes settlement, approves grants and schedules hearings; petition on municipal-court records held for public hearing
Summary
At its Feb. 17 meeting council approved a settlement warrant, backed a set of state grant applications and interagency agreements for trail and bridge projects, scheduled interviews for multiple appointments, and voted to hold a public hearing on alleged records tampering in municipal courts.
Pittsburgh City Council handled a batch of administrative and legislative actions on Feb. 17, approving settlements, grant applications and a petition to hold a public hearing.
Settlements and warrants: Council took final action on Bill 85, authorizing issuance of a warrant in favor of Justin Hickox for a payment not to exceed $10,000 in full and final settlement of an employment matter. The clerk conducted a roll-call vote that recorded seven yes votes, zero no votes and one abstention; Councilmember Warwick registered the abstention.
Grants and infrastructure agreements: The committee on public works and infrastructure reported affirmative recommendations and council approved resolutions to apply for and accept multiple state grants, including a $250,000 ask for Emerald View Trail rehabilitation with a matching city contribution reported during the meeting, and multimodal transportation planning grants for Liberty Avenue/Main Street and Lincoln Avenue projects. Council also approved interagency agreements with Norfolk Southern and the Allegheny Valley Railroad to cost-share preliminary engineering work on bridge projects with small reimbursable caps.
Appointments and interviews: Council scheduled interviews for a slate of appointments and reappointments across boards and authorities and voted to approve two executive appointments — Avet Mongalo Winston as director of city planning and Lisa Zidner Marcus as city solicitor — during final action. Several planning-related appointments were set for future interviews, and the council noted pre-agenda interviews were planned for the afternoon.
Petition on municipal-court records: Council President Lavell presented Bill 165, a valid petition requesting a public hearing about documented records tampering and financial misconduct at the Pittsburgh Municipal Courts Records Section. Council voted to hold the petition for a public hearing.
Why it matters: The actions advance a mix of routine governance — settling claims, applying for grants, and staffing municipal offices — and a citizen-initiated petition that will bring alleged misconduct before council in a public hearing.
Next steps: The clerk will transmit the cannabis resolution to state officials and schedule hearings and interviews as announced; the municipal-court petition will proceed to a public hearing as required by the home-rule charter.
