Are you looking to start, expand, or develop your business in Downtown Bellefonte?
Downtown Bellefonte Inc. is hosting a free event for aspiring and current business owners and managers to learn more about various steps it takes to successfully open your business in Downtown Bellefonte.
The story behind the rise in Popularity in Bellefonte in the Centre County Gazette by Jodie Dello Stritto.
The story behind the rise in popularity of Bellefonte
The Bellefonte Borough is seeking a resident to fill the position of Vacancy Board Chair. The ideal candidate would be familiar with Borough Council, either having served on Council or have experience with parliamentary procedure. The Chair is responsible for running the meetings of the Bellefonte Vacancy Board, which meets only as-needed. This a volunteer position.
Whenever a vacancy occurs in any elective borough office, Bellefonte Borough Council fills the vacancy by appointing a registered voter of the borough. If Council fails to do so within 30 days, the Bellefonte Borough Vacancy Board meets to consider candidates to fill the vacancy. The Vacancy Board consists of the Bellefonte Borough Council, and one registered voter of the borough that serves as Chair. Additionally, if the vacancy board fails to fill the vacancy within the allotted time, the Chair of the vacancy board must petition the court of common pleas to fill the vacancy.
Interested residents must submit a volunteer application to Ralph Stewart, Borough Manager, at [email protected] Applications should be submitted before noon on Friday, January 14.
Below is the link to the Council Meeting on April 19, 2021 where Chief Weaver, Bellefonte Police Department, presented Pedestrian and Crash Data within the Borough and specifically within the “Diamond”.
In recent weeks, Bellefonte Borough emergency services have experienced difficulty locating street addresses due to no or improperly positioned house numbers.
A Borough ordinance requires all buildings to have address numbers placed in a position that is plainly legible and visible from the street or road fronting the property. It is best to have the numbers positioned near the front door. Numbers should contrast with the background for easy visibility day and night. They should be Arabic numerals, a minimum of 4 inches high with a minimum stroke width of 0.5 inch.
If you have any questions call Harry Brooks @ 814-355-1501, ext 225.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 included funding for states to establish emergency rental assistance programs. Pennsylvania received approximately $569 million to administer assistance to renters, landlords, and utility providers who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic insecurity.
On February 5, 2021, Governor Wolf signed S.B. 109 into law, which officially designated the Department of Human Services (DHS) as the agency overseeing administration of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) for the 49 counties that did not receive direct allocations.
ERAP is now taking applications. Pennsylvanians can apply online through COMPASS. Some counties are not using the COMPASS application. If your county is not using COMPASS, you will be automatically directed to your local ERAP agency contact.
More information on the ERAP can be found on the County website.
Beginning two years ago, the Borough embarked on a 3-Phase project to upgrade our parking in Bellefonte. The 1st phase was to provide structural upgrades to the Municipal Lots North, South and West. This phase cost the Borough approximately $500,000.00 and included the installation of 6 KIOSKs which replaced 120 single-spaced parking meters. The removal of the meters allows the Borough Streets staff to plow the lots and get them cleared in 1/2 the time. There is still some work that will be done in 2022 to the South Lot before this phase is finalized. The 2nd Phase was to replace the “old” street meters with new street meters. This had to be completed because parts were no longer available for the older meters and in addition, more people wanted options to pay for parking through credit/debit cards or their smart-phone. We will have the touchless-pay-by-phone option completed by early fall. Finally, phase 3 was to look at our “red” single space metered Long-Term Parking. Due to the cost of the new single space meters, it was cost prohibitive to try and replace those so instead we decided to create a Long-Term Parking area for Residents and Commuters. No longer do people have to constantly “feed” the meters. It simply requires a one-time registration on our website where people can either set it up as a recurring expense or they have the option to do it monthly. The Long-Term Parking spaces are designated with red paint and are designed for the downtown workforce to provide a cheaper parking area with the impact of freeing up the downtown spaces for business patrons. These areas also provide one-hour of free parking to anyone.The idea behind everything that has been done to date is to ensure we are doing all we can to make parking easier, more flexible and providing maximum accessibility for patrons wanting to access downtown businesses. We recognize there are challenges and many of those relate to the changes we have made. We will continue to listen to ideas and also monitor and evaluate Borough parking as a whole. We do appreciate our residents’ understanding and patience as we continue to finish our efforts related to parking. Should anyone have questions related to parking, please feel free to contact the Borough at 355-1501 extension 210.
Bellefonte Borough would like to remind Borough Residents to not blow their grass clippings into the roadways. Those clippings can clog stormwater systems and can also create a safety hazard for bicyclists and vehicles by making it harder for them to steer or brake.
Bellefonte Borough had a Strategic Management Plan (STMP) by Delta Development Group.
To view the STMP click Here
In an effort to provide more reliable and effective communications with residents, Bellefonte Borough has implemented Swiftreach Networks, Inc. as our emergency notification provider.
Swift911 is a system designed to make phone calls to specific people or areas in the event of an emergency or for sharing important information. Bellefonte Borough will use this system to notify residents by phone of information regarding you or your property. The system can make thousands of calls in a minute to convey vital information. These messages may include information on floods, fires, water emergencies, road closures, missing persons, evacuation orders, and weather emergencies.
The Swiftreach Network Data has been provided by a third party data provider and only includes listed phone numbers in Bellefonte Borough. It is important for residents and business owners to provide contact information such as unlisted, unpublished or cell phone numbers. Accurate numbers in the database help to ensure emergency information will be passed on to everyone in a timely manner.
If you would like to provide an alternate number other than your home number, you may do so. The alternate phone number would be called if your primary phone number is not answered by a person or answering machine.
All calls you receive will have the caller ID of “Bellefonte Borough.” Your information will not be provided to any outside agencies or companies.
If you do not have access to a computer, you may call 814-355-1501 Ext. 210 to provide information. To sign up please visit https://bellefonte.net/residents/emergency-notification-info-request/
