Union City Council approves $400,000 bridge grant application, Renaissance awards and paving payments

Union City Borough Council on June 25, meeting at First Global Methodist Church, approved a package of routine and project-related measures including a resolution to apply for a $400,000 Multimodal Transportation Fund grant for a bridge replacement on Willow Street and several funding disbursements related to the borough’s 2024 paving program.

The meeting opened with the borough vision statement: “The Union City area is a thriving rural community of families, businesses and organizations dedicated to encouraging growth while maintaining small town values.” Councilors Cross, Joyce, Osborn, Steadman, Uber and Kerns were present; Councilor Winkler was absent.

Council acted unanimously on a sequence of motions. Key approvals included authorizing two tax-exoneration resolutions for properties purchased by the Erie County Landbank (11 Maple Street and 48 Atlantic Street); passing a resolution to apply for a $400,000 Multimodal Transportation Fund grant for a bridge replacement on Willow Street; and approving disbursement of Liquid Fuels funds toward a Cross Paving invoice of $104,740.81, to be paid $92,130.00 from Liquid Fuels and $12,610.81 from the General Fund. Council also approved applying $15,625 in County Aid funds to the 2024 Suit-Kote seal coat payment and agreed to send 2–3 loads of millings to the American Legion ballfield.

Borough Manager Cindy Wells reported that the Union City Volunteer Fire Department repaid its ambulance loan in full ($59,250) and that the borough received an ECGRA Renaissance Grant award of $100,000. Council reviewed six Renaissance Grant applications totaling $27,127.65; with $18,425.49 available, Council approved four applications totaling $17,675 and carried two applications totaling $9,452.65 to the 2024–2025 grant period.

Council approved a proposal to open a new PLGIT Checking & Prime account and transfer approximately $140,000 from the Capital Equipment account to seek a higher interest rate (noted as 5.40% as of 6/21/24). Council also authorized posting removed playground equipment from Southwest Park on Municibid for sale.

Police Chief David Pernice updated council on department matters: he reported coordination with Corry and Warren departments about fundraising scrambles ("approximately $16,000" raised in Corry and "$18,000 - $20,000" in Warren), said Erie County detectives will fund overtime coverage for the French Creek Festival, and described ongoing policy updates with Lexipol, pending Solicitor review. Chief Pernice also asked council to review angled parking plans for Municipal Lot #2 after describing license-plate-reader capabilities.

Votes at a glance: all motions reported in the meeting record were carried unanimously. Motions explicitly recorded included: approval of the agenda (mover: Councilor Joyce; seconder: Councilor Steadman), approval of May 28 minutes (Osborn/Joyce), acceptance of the Secretary’s Report (Joyce/Osborn), approval to pay bills (Steadman/Kerns), two tax-exoneration resolutions (Joyce/Steadman), resolution to apply for $400,000 Multimodal Transportation Fund grant (Osborn/Kerns), Liquid Fuels disbursement for Cross Paving invoice (Steadman/Kerns), County Aid allocation to Suit-Kote payment (Joyce/Osborn), approval to allocate 2–3 loads of millings to the American Legion (Osborn/Joyce), approval of Renaissance grant awards (Joyce/Osborn), opening PLGIT account and transfer (Kerns/Steadman), posting playground equipment on Municibid (Kerns/Steadman), and adjournment (Joyce/Steadman). The meeting record lists motions as "carried unanimously." Councilors recorded present suggest six participating councilors and one absence; the transcript notes no roll-call vote totals beyond "carried unanimously."

Items discussed but deferred or not acted on included proposed amendments to the parking ordinance (Council asked staff to review angled parking layouts before moving forward) and a zoning amendment related to small games of chance and allowing pools in adjoining vacant lots (deferred pending Solicitor attendance).

The meeting adjourned at 7:21 p.m.; a subsequent executive session to discuss personnel and contracts with no action to be taken ran from 7:22 p.m. to 8:17 p.m.