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HAZLETON &#8212; Residents voiced concerns regarding the city&#8217;s current financial status, along with the recent surge of crime at Tuesday&#8217;s council meeting.To the dismay of some attendees, council members voted to purchase two hangars at the Hazleton Regional Airport, as well as lease a third to a repair and restoration business.&#8220;It reminds me of a kid at Christmas,&#8221; city resident Judy Yurcho said prior to the vote. &#8220;I want. I want. I want. And the parents say. &#8216;Okay, I&#8217;m going to give you everything.&#8217; Then after, the parents go &#8216;I can&#8217;t pay the oil bill; I can&#8217;t pay the mortgage.&#8217; Our city&#8217;s strapped. It&#8217;s falling apart.&#8221;City engineer Dominic Yannuzzi said the hangars &#8211; which each hold multiple planes - are currently filled and will pay for themselves within a few months. &#8220;Everything after is revenue for the city,&#8221; he said.Olsen Aircraft Company was approved for a five-year lease of a hangar.&#8220;The company is 27 years old,&#8221; Steve Saslow, manager of the Olsen Aircraft Company, said at the meeting. &#8220;This is a certified repair business that will attract businesses and create jobs. This is the perfect spot for us.&#8221;Saslow, who resides in the Poconos, said the company repairs and upholsters aircraft and plans to expand to converting engines and fuel sources. He continued to say the expansion will create jobs within the city as the company plans to hire within the next year.Community members also directed their concerns with the recent surge in crime over the Labor Day weekend. Some came to the podium reading various headlines that appeared in the Standard Speaker newspaper over the course of the last week. Others voiced concerns about drugs and gangs in the area, as well as their own safety while walking in the city.&#8220;I&#8217;m so tired of this crap that&#8217;s been going on. I live in the same area I did as a kid, but it&#8217;s not the same,&#8221; Yurcho said. &#8220;People want answers; they want to know (the city&#8217;s) going in the right direction and they don&#8217;t have to put sale signs on their houses.&#8221;Council member Jean Mope agreed with Yurcho, citing her own experiences. As she spoke, her voice became emotional, telling residents not to back down against the gangs and violence.&#8220;In the summer and before a holiday is when you see the most drug activity,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I pray for snow because that&#8217;s when the activity calms down. But has there been a drug problem in the city? Yeah, for a long time. &#8220;Yurcho continued the conversation, saying she lives on Alter Street and neighbors question her safety when she walks in the neighborhood. She said she refuses to stop walking, regardless of the potential for danger. Mope said she does the same.&#8220;I go down every street and I don&#8217;t care if I&#8217;m walking or driving a car. I live in this city. I was born in Hazleton, I&#8217;ve lived here my whole life and I&#8217;m not going to be intimidated by anybody and &#8211; it doesn&#8217;t belong to them. When the gangs pay taxes, then it&#8217;s theirs. But they don&#8217;t pay taxes, the people do.&#8221;Other agenda items included a newly-vacant seat on city council.Keith Bast formally submitted his letter of resignation, effective immediately, due to taking an out-of-state job.&#8220;I would like to thank the citizens of the City of Hazleton for having faith in me, supporting me and giving me their votes four years ago,&#8221; the letter said. &#8220;I can leave office knowing that every day I thought of the citizens of Hazleton and the future of our city as I was making tough decisions that affected all of us.&#8221;The remaining council members accepted the letter of resignation and will address the open position.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Marcella KesterFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach the Times Leader newsroom at 570-829-7242 or on Twitter @TLnews.</shirttailMeta></div>

Hazleton residents concerned about city’s financial status, crime surge