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My Corner, Your Corner: Visiting my old stomping grounds

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State Superior Court upholds lengthy arson sentence for Berwick woman

PITTSTON &#8212; Representatives of the Pittston St. Patrick&#8217;s Day Parade Committee and city council came together at the monthly meeting April 15 to attempt to find a common solution to how the annual parade should be organized.Patrick Toole, a representative of the parade committee, argued that council was interfering with committee business and should allow the committee to operate and organize the parade the way it has been for the past two years.He said the efforts of the committee resulted in two successful St. Patrick&#8217;s Day parades, the first two the city has seen since the 1930s.At the March 18 council meeting, a parade advisory committee was formed by council to oversee operations of the St. Patrick&#8217;s Day Parade Committee. Toole said he was not aware of an advisory committee until the day after council approved it.The advisory committee then created by-laws for the parade committee stating where monthly meetings will be held, how memberships are approved, requirements for the creation of a board of directors, requirements for appointing officers, instructions on sending in annual reports to the city, how meetings should be run and how the committee can apply for 501(c)(3) status, which would make the St. Patrick&#8217;s Day Parade exempt from taxes. Toole said the parade committee was already in the process of obtaining 501(c)(3) status, and he is not pleased with the by-laws, including how parade board members are determined.&#8220;The by-laws, they are prejudicial,&#8221; said Toole. &#8220;To be a parade board member, you need four people and the four people were one, from the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick; two, from the Ancient Order of Hibernians; three, from the redevelopment authority and four, appointed from the city. I have a 10-year-old daughter and, if she decides she wants to be a board member, she would have to work for the city.&#8221;The by-laws were presented to council at the meeting, and City Administrator Joe Moskovitz said those by-laws will be reviewed and discussed at a future council meeting.Toole hopes the by-laws are denied so that the parade committee can continue to operate as it has without city interference.Moskovitz argued that the city is not trying to take over the committee but is simply trying to help.&#8220;The city does not want to take over management of the parade and we&#8217;re not going to,&#8221; said Moskovitz. &#8220;We used people who are objective with the advisory committee. The original members don&#8217;t agree with that and are casting that we&#8217;re trying to co-opt an already successful event when we&#8217;ve said we wanted them to be successful like the Tomato Festival which the city has little involvement with. This notion that the city wants us to take over the committee is just false. The city would like nothing better than to remove themselves from the committee.&#8221;Moskovitz also stated that council was approached after the parade about dissension within the parade committee due to people leaving and the city stepped in to try and help.In other business, city council approved the following motions:&#8226; Confirmation and acknowledgment of the city&#8217;s ownership of Pine Street and to retrieve highway occupancy permits (HOP) from PennDOT as part of a $1 million streetscape project.&#8226; Appointment of City of Pittston Code Enforcement Officer Harry Smith as the designated Building Code Official effective April 13.&#8226; Appointment of Brian Matyjevich to the City of Pittston Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission for a three-year term to conclude October 2017.&#8226; Approval of the closing of Anderson Street between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30 for the St. Joseph Marello Parish annual picnic.&#8226; Restrict parking on the east side of South Main Street from the intersection of Columbus Avenue to the center of the intersection of Pine Street, along the east side of Main Street north of the center of the intersection of Pine Street to the intersection of Market Street, and along the west side of Main Street from the intersection of Columbus Avenue in order to improve public safety and sight distance along the mentioned streets and intersections.The next council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 18 at city hall, 35 Broad St.

Pittston St. Patrick’s Day Parade committee, city council search for mutual agreement on parade organization