Council approves Heritage Christmas requests

A number of Christmas-related items were approved by Greencastle Borough Council Monday night, but new office hours were not.

Borough residents were surveyed about having the borough office open until 7 p.m. on Mondays to accommodate people who work out of the area and the majority of comments were favorable, according to Borough Manager Eden Ratliff. In exchange, the borough office would have closed at 1 p.m. on Fridays.

Larry Faight’s motion to OK the change died for lack of a second.

Council made quick work of approving requests related to the Heritage Christmas celebration, including:

Placing the information center Holiday House on the northwest corner of the square on Nov. 3.

Designating the northwest corner of the square no parking so a stage can be set up.

Approving the tree-light ceremony for Nov. 17.

Prohibiting transient vendors from selling goods at the tree-lighting.

Authorizing no parking on the square Dec. 1, 8 and 15.

Authorizing the lights to be in the square beyond normal hours.

Authorizing free downtown parking from Dec. 1 to Dec. 31.

Council also approved an $1,800 donation, which is included in the budget, toward the Heritage Christmas tree.

Other downtown approvals included:

Designating the square and South Carlisle Street to the Church of the Brethren as no parking for the Fall Seasonal Marketplace on Saturday, Sept. 9, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Authorizing the Greencastle Exchange Club to hold its Halloween parade on Friday, Oct. 27, starting at 7 p.m. at Jerome R. King Playground then proceeding south on North Carlisle Street, east on Baltimore Street, north on Allison Street, West on Walter Avenue and concluding back at the playground.

Gave Breast Cancer Awareness-Cumberland Valley Inc. permission to place pink ribbons on parking meters and downtown trees from Monday, Oct. 2, to Friday, Oct. 13, in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Sidewalks

After the Pledge of Allegiance ended with “liberty and justice for all,” Charles Myers of 38 Williamson Ave. told council he does not believe all residents are treated equally in terms of sidewalks.

While Myers was pressed into installing sidewalks, his across-the-street neighbors have now received a letter saying it may be five to 15 years before they have to put them in.

Ratliff said it is still an option for the sidewalks to be installed at some point. He designating areas for sidewalk installation and standards for new construction were topics for discussion by the public safety committee.