This Week’s Top Agenda Items
- City to study how to maintain accessibility even after a big snow storm
- Bond sales will pay for local infrastructure improvements
City to study how to maintain accessibility even after a big snow storm 🔗
Even though most of the snow from last month’s storm has melted, Council Member Barb Warwick’s concern about accessibility after a storm has not thawed.
Warwick, of Greenfield, proposed legislation to conduct a city-wide right-of-way accessibility inventory to be completed before the first flakes of snow next winter.
During council’s Feb. 18 committee meeting, Warwick said the combination of a deep snowfall, with ice and the big snowbanks created by plowing, blocked curb-cuts, intersections and transit stops. Those snow piles lasted longer than they normally would because of the subsequent string of below-freezing temperatures. “We heard from wheelchair users who were stuck in their homes for weeks,” she said.
If passed, the Department of City Planning will work with accessibility and transit advocates to collect data on the use of curb-cuts, intersections, and transit stops. It would also include the location of parking spots for disabled residents as well as hospitals, schools and houses of worship, among others, that require free and clear access to curbs and sidewalks.
The bill also calls for the city to identify and cite property owners who fail to clear their sidewalks to keep the right-of-way safe for pedestrians.
The data would allow the Departments of Public Works and Public Safety to prioritize clearing snow and ice in high-usage areas. “It is a monumental task,” Warwick said.
According to the legislation, initial data would be made available to the public no later than Nov. 15.
Council voted to hold the bill for two weeks to receive feedback from the Department of City Planning.
Question 1
Bond sales will pay for local infrastructure improvements 🔗
Despite holding $645 million in debt, the city is looking at issuing another $56 million worth of bonds.
Council met with financial advisors at the Feb. 18 committee meeting about issuing $56 million in long-term bonds.
The money would pay for infrastructure projects such as bridges, roads and building facilities. Of the $112 million in capital projects planned for 2026, $51 million of them meet that criteria according to Matthew Stuczynski, a municipal advisor with MAS Financial Advisory Services.
The additional $5 million of the request, he said, is related to state regulations.
Pittsburgh’s current $645 million worth of bonds has a payment schedule that’s spread over the next 20 years. The 2026 payment on that debt is $78 million. The city, however, will pay off more bonds than it issues. Even taking on the current request for $56 million, the payment for 2027 will go down to $46 million.
Last year was the first time the city was able to put out a competitive call for bids from firms to sell bonds. Prior to that, it used a process of pre-chosen local firms because of the government’s poor financial health. Now that the city is in a better financial state, it can put out a national call for bids, resulting in a lower interest rate. (Last year, Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank won the bid.)
Council is scheduled to cast its final vote next week.