Thursday, December 30, 2010

Mayor Robert Carter said he would be “trying to do more” during his second year in office in Jeannette.

He wants to get more houses up and sold along South Sixth Street. As part of a $31 million effort to revamp the city, 25 new, single-family homes and a nine-unit townhouse complex have already been built there.

He wants to raze dilapidated facilities in the city — including the old Fourth Avenue Hotel, one of the city’s earliest landmarks; its land is slated to become a parking area.

He wants the former PNC Bank property on Clay and Fourth avenues sold — which he expects will be easier with a new parking area behind it.

And, he wants to invite visitors and make sure people know that Jeannette is “a full-service city,” he said.

“We want to make this a welcoming community,” he said.

A new Dollar General store that opened on Clay Avenue this year is proof Jeannette is still a great place to do business, he said.

“What we don’t have in manufacturing anymore, we have in stores and restaurants,” he said.

He said residents of neighboring communities still visit Jeannette to eat at The Nest, a seafood and steak restaurant on Clay Avenue, and DeNunzio’s, an Italian restaurant on Lowry Avenue.

Businesses in the industrial park will join those eateries on the city’s tax rolls next year as the tax breaks expire.

With more money being added to Jeannette’s bottom line, city clerk Michael Minyon is optimistic.

“I can feel we’re starting to turn a corner,” he said.

Council approved a $5.4 million budget this month that holds the tax rate at 32.62 mills.

One mill generates about $64,000 for the city.

Council also voted this month to raise some of its fees, a move that is expected to bring in more than $300,000 to the city, according to Mr. Minyon.

Earned income tax will be raised by 0.15 percent. Garbage fees will increase from $10.80 a month to $13.50 a month. And the mechanical device fee is doubling from $150 a year to $300 a year.

“These moves will help the city move forward,” Mr. Carter said.

But he’s mindful as he moves forward, remembering the nearly $1 million deficit accumulated in Jeannette during the last few years.

“We worked hard this year to correct mistakes of the past. We don’t want to start making them again,” he said.

— Candy Woodall