Bellefonte Borough is the home of a Little House, a safe place wherein Girl Scouts are able to meet. There used to be hundreds of Little Houses, but now there are only 11 active Houses left in the entire United States. The care and support of the Girl Scout Council Little House here in Bellefonte has been taken over by Friends of Bellefonte Little House, a non-profit organization formed to help keep a piece of Girl Scout history alive in our own backyard. Friends of Bellefonte Little House is asking the community to help keep this Little House going. The house needs some upgrades as well as funds to keep the utilities going each month. Friends of Bellefonte Little House has replaced the old, outdated furnace with a new, energy efficient one but there are other items that need replaced such as light fixtures, doors, windows, updated wiring, and WiFi. Please consider making a charitable, tax-deductible contribution to Friends of Bellefonte Little House, 209 Limestone Dr., Bellefonte, PA 16823.

Another way to help is when you order from Amazon. Go to “Smile.Amazon.com,” pick “Friends of Bellefonte Little House” and Amazon will donate a percentage of the total that you spend to “Friends of Bellefonte Little House.” It is an easy way to contribute and costs you nothing extra every time you place an order through Amazon.

Proposed Modification to the FFY 2015 Centre County CDBG Contract

Bellefonte Borough intended use of FFY 2015 CDBG Funds 

Centre County and Bellefonte Borough will hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, August 2, 2017 at 10:00 am prevailing time in Room 116 of the Willowbank Bldg., 420 Holmes St, Bellefonte, PA to receive public comment on the Borough’s intention to have the County modify the 2015 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) contract with the PA Dept. of Community & Economic Development (PA DCED).

Bellefonte Borough is proposing to delete the following project from the FFY 2015 contract:

Fire Sprinkler Installation in Downtown Historic Buildings in the Amount of $81,172

Bellefonte Borough proposes to reallocate these same funds to the following project:

Safety Improvements to Talleyrand Park. Multi-year Funded with FFY 2014 Funds

The Talleyrand Park Safety Improvement Project is also funded with CDBG monies the Borough received in their FFY 2014 CDBG contract. The improvements include fencing between the R.R. tracks and the park playground and the construction of a pedestrian walkway onto the existing R.R. bridge structure in the park.

The proposed Centre County FFY 2015 CDBG Budget would be modified:

Those requiring special accommodations should call 814-355-6791; seventy two (72) hours in advance. It is expected that the Bellefonte Borough Council will take final action on this proposed modification at their meeting at 7:00 p.m. on August 7. The County Commissioners will then take action to submit the necessary paperwork at their meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 8.

Robert Jacobs, Director
Centre County Planning & Community Development Office

The water quality report for the 2016 Calendar Year is now available for review at https://bellefonte.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/2016-Annual-Water-Quality-Report.pdf

The June 8th Centre County Government and Bellefonte Borough Joint Town Hall Meeting, with bookmarked agenda items, is now available to view online at cnet1.org.  The direct link to the online program is below:

With the school year ending, a detour around the PennDOT retaining wall project is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 5.

Since late March, crews have been working near the intersection of Route 144 (Linn Street) and Route 150 (North Allegheny Street) at the northwest end of Bellefonte Borough. Project work includes construction of a retaining wall along Route 144 to alleviate slide issues in this area.

The detour will direct drivers to use Allegheny Street/Route 144, West High Street/Route 150, North Thomas Street, West Lamb Street/Route 550, and North Water Street/Route 150. PennDOT expects the detour to be lifted no later than August 28, the first day of the new school year. PennDOT will lift the detour before late August if work progress allows.

Other work includes roadway re-construction, piping and inlet repair/replacement, concrete curbing, sidewalk and hand-rail repairs, and miscellaneous items.

All work is weather and schedule dependent. Brayman Construction Corporation of Saxonburg, PA is the contractor on this $1.8 million project. PennDOT expects the project to be complete by early December.

Drivers are reminded to follow official detour signs, move through work zones with caution, obey posted speed limits, and always buckle up.

PennDOT is continuing replacement work on the Route 144 bridge in Milesburg that spans the Jersey Shore Railroad tracks. Area drivers are being alerted to travel delays next week, as beam setting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, May 31. The week of May 29 will feature the following:

• The contractor will be working on the project’s Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) wall
• Beam setting on May 31 will bring travel delays as flaggers enforce an alternating traffic pattern so that off-loading and setting of the beams can take place. Once beams are set, two-way traffic will resume.

All work will take place during daylight hours and all work is weather and schedule dependent. The new bridge is expected to be complete in late October. Drivers are reminded to move through work zones with caution, obey posted speed limits, and always buckle up.

Bellefonte Borough Council will hold a public hearing regarding the repeal of the Borough of Bellefonte Safety and Property Maintenance Code, 2011 Edition and amendments, at their regular meeting on Monday, June 5, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, 236 W Lamb Street, Bellefonte, PA 16823. They will also consider approval and adoption of the Centre Region Building Safety and Property Maintenance Code, 2017 Edition, effective July 1, 2017, to be known as Chapter 425—Property Maintenance and Safety. A complete copy of the proposed change can be viewed in the Borough office during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or click here.

The Borough will begin collecting the grass/brush containers on Wednesday, April 5, 2017. They will collect the grass/brush every Wednesday until the end of October, unless it is during a week with a holiday. There will be no grass/brush pickup on the following Wednesdays due to holidays: April 12, May 31, July 5, and September 6. Please be sure to have your container out at the curb the night before after 6:00 p.m. If you have any questions, contact the Borough office at 355-1501.

Tell Them What You Think!

Every two years, the Pennsylvania State Transportation Commission (STC) and PennDOT update the current Twelve Year Transportation Program which outlines Pennsylvania’s next 12 years of transportation projects. An important step in this process is to hear from you. What are your priorities? The program update begins in March 2017 with an open public comment period through April 19, 2017. During this period, the public is invited to share feedback by taking their online survey. The public can also “Tell Us What You Think” at their Online Public Meeting on March 21, 2017. For more information visit, www.TalkPATransportation.com.

Click here to learn more about the Bellefonte wall and roadway project to start on Monday, March 20.