Lancaster City Council voted unanimously, Tuesday night, to deny a liquor license to a Brownstown applicant who had hoped to establish a combined bar, restaurant, and laundry facility at 911 S. Duke St.

Yuosar Khlok planned to take over the Tony’s Cleaners and simply add a bar and restaurant component.

But his application ran into overwhelming community opposition at the hearing on August 12.

On Tuesday (Aug. 26), City Council echoed that public sentiment in rejecting Mr. Khlok’s application.

“This wasn’t necessarily an easy decision. There are many elements of this story that are so much like the American Dream… but there are times when, by no fault of their own, one person’s dream can become another person’s nightmare,” said City Councilman Joe Morales.

Councilman Jose Urdaneta, who is also running for Gib Armstrong’s State Senate seat this year, said that granting the liquor license “would not enhance the city’s health, welfare, peace, and morals.”

Concern had been expressed about installing an alcohol establishment in an area of the city already troubled with poverty and crime.

In other business, Tuesday night, a resolution was introduced to approve a grant application to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) in the amount of $185,200 “to plant 400 trees within the confines of the City by the end of the 2009 Fall planting season.”

Councilman Tim Roschel, who chairs City Council’s Public Works Committee, told NewsLanc that specifics as to where the trees will be planted has not yet been worked out.

As it was a matter under “new business,” City Council took no action on the grant proposal at Tuesday’s meeting.

Also up for consideration under new business is an arrangement between the City of Lancaster and the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Lancaster (RACL) in which the city sells to RACL its delinquent 2007 tax rolls, meaning that RACL pays the city up front for the delinquent tax claims with money borrowed from banks, and collects taxpayer payments themselves over the next couple of years.

City Director of Administrative Services Patrick Hopkins said the arrangement enables the city to use what would otherwise be delayed revenues more immediately and stressed that “the taxpayer will see no change whatsoever.”

As a public entity, RACL will be able to secure a fairly low-interest line of credit, Hopkins said.

As an item of new business, City Council did not vote on the proposal, Tuesday.

Mayor Rick Gray was not in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting as he was attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado with his wife, Gail, who is a pledged delegate for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Several months ago, NewsLanc was advised by a knowledgeable observer that the School District of Lancaster had two huge problems: The first was the leadership of its athletic program. The second was the administration of McCaskey East High School.

It is worthy of note that within less than two months of Pedro Rivera assuming the Superintendent of School position, Merv Witmer has been engaged to replace Allen McCloud as interim athletic director and Jay Butterfield has been appointed to succeed Damaso Albino as the new McCaskey East principal. Both McCloud and Albino are returning to teaching math.

Yet to be seen is whether Assistant Superintendent Drue Miles to whom the former athletic director reported remains with the SD of L. Also, is it practical for all principals to report directly to the superintendent? Given Rivera’s many other duties, it doesn’t seem feasible to us.

NewsLanc learned today that Merv Witmer will join the School District of Lancaster to “support the Athletic Department” and for the time being act as interim athletic director.

Witmer previously served for fifteen years as Athletic Director of the Ephrata School District before his retirement. He also served as President of the Lancaster-Lebanon Athletic Directors Association.

According to Kelly Burkholder,Coordinator of Community Relations, Witmer is familiar with all District 3 procedures and operations, which is an asset to the District. He will work full-time for a per diem amount.

Burkholder added, “His placement will provide support as we transition to a new Athletic Director.”

“I applaud your efforts in shedding light onto LCCCA contracts with Penn Square Partners but please do not stop there.

“Current board members have correctly stated that these agreements were approved by prior boards. I think the real question now is did that board have any clue as to what they agreed to? I say NO!

“Most had neither the experience, nor more importantly the time to even read the agreements, before they were put in front of their faces and told to make 11th hour decisions to approve them.

“I would make the following unequivocal statement…the only 2 parties with full and complete knowledge of these agreements are PSP and Stevens and Lee.

“That’s right, I have purposely omitted the LCCCA, RACL, the County commissioners, the Mayor, and City Council. Ignorance is bliss!”

Talk about demons from your past. Lancaster County Convention Center Authority Finance Committee Chair Laura Douglas confirmed at her committee meeting, Monday, that there is indeed a past contract between the Authority and Penn Square Partners according to which all state grants must be shared 50/50 between the two entities.

“Do you think that that’s a fair deal for the public and the taxpayers whom you represent and whose money you are charged with using responsibly?” the NewsLanc reporter asked.

“That’s a tough question. You’re asking the wrong person on that one,” Douglas replied through laughter.

“Would you consider going back and revisiting those contracts?” the reporter continued.

“The problem is, once a contract is signed, unless you have some leverage, you can’t go back and renegotiate,” she responded. “You have to have something to negotiate. And, unfortunately, we don’t have any leverage towards negotiation.”

Finance Committee member R.B. Campbell agreed with Douglas’ assessment.

“Why would Penn Square Partners agree to change that…by itself?” he asked. But he went on to suggest that the controversial provision might be revisited as part of any future negotiations.

“It was a different board that approved those governing documents,” Douglas explained. “Unfortunately, we are saddled with the results of negotiations which took place a number of years ago.”

“They’ve got a good deal,” she noted wryly.

But the Chairwoman said it is unclear whether the $3.2 million in contingency funds the Authority is counting on from the State must necessarily be shared 50/50 with Penn Square Partners. She noted that Chairman of the Board Art Morris and Executive Director Kevin Molloy, who represent the Authority in talks with Penn Square Partners and with State Senator Gib Armstrong, are working on funding solutions.

I agree entirely on the Lancaster Alliance issue…they are the real power in Lancaster County and have been involved from the beginning.

This brings to mind and clarifies yet another event in the long saga of this project. In August ‘99, just two months after any real detail was revealed about this project and one month prior to the vote on the tax, a meeting was held at the Southern Market. The meeting was “organized” by the Lancaster Chamber and was a forum where the hoteliers would have the opportunity to question representatives of Ernst & Young about the study…the sole basis for the project/tax. Remember, the entire text of that study had yet to be released, that was not done until September
14, 1999. At that time, only the Executive Summary had been made available to the general public.

A number of hoteliers attended that meeting in hopes of delving deeper in to that report. A court reporter was retained by one of the hoteliers and was present to record the session. While lame duck Chamber Chairman Dan Witmer looked on with a blank stare and without saying a single word, an attorney appeared in the room. That attorney informed the group that the meeting would not take place unless the court reporter left. While little was revealed about exactly whom he represented, the attorney was Scott Spencer with Stevens and Lee…surprise, surprise, surprise. I
can only assume that he was on the Lancaster Alliance’s dime at the time.

Editor’s Note: Years later when NewsLanc’s publisher read the entire marketing report, it was found to be relatively negative. And, of course, it only dealt with the market potential, not with how feasible the project was financially.

Dear Editor,

My name is Ronald B. Sultzbach. I am writing this article in concurrence with my business partner Michael Weiler. We are the co-directors of the Atlantic Coast Patriots minor league football organization. (non-profit)

www.acpfootball.org

The purpose of this communication is bring light to some facts. And hopefully answers to some questions.

In 2006 I started the Atlantic Coast Patriots organization. My goal was to bring affordable sports entertainment to Lancaster PA. I felt it would be a great compliment to the exsisting baseball team. The Patriots joined the newly formed spring minor league (East Coast Football Alliance). The league consists of 20 teams on the east coast. The Patriots are the only team in PA.

I contacted JP McCaskey and they said we could not play there. It would damage the field. I was surprised at the answer and moved on…..We played our first season at Hershey Park Stadium and paid in full approximately 25,000 dollars in field rent and had a .500 season. In the off season we had to find another field.

The weather in the spring caused risk to us. If it rained or snowed it would crush our 400-500 fan draw. And with that level of rent, we could not risk it again.

In January 2007 , we contacted McCaskey again with the same request….. and got the same answer –NO ! Surprisingly, Millersville university and Hempfield high school was in favor of the football in their community.

Now I understand that McCaskey does not have an all weather field. Our pockets were deep enough to cover any field wear and tear, not to mention – we have insurance that covers our football events. Also we can re-schedule if weather is obstacle on certain game dates.

Again, we got a couple hundred fans for our 6 home games this season. We are non-profit and McCaskey sits in the core of the city. Our business plan reflected many benefits to the community.

In the 2007 campaign we posted a 9-3 record.

We have many JP McCaskey athletes on our team and college grads from the Lancaster -Lebanon football league. I went to Wickersham, Lincoln, McCaskey (88′) and Stevens State School of Technology. So, I understand the landscape of the city and the challenges to the community.

My co-director Mike Weiler also graduated from McCaskey in 1989.

We are very passionate about this effort. I am a financial professional and Mike is an electrician/ machine maintenance mechanic. He also heads up the Penn Manor Junior football and cheerleading program (director).

I played quarter back at McCaskey and Stevens Tech as well as 15 yrs of Minor league football exp. as a player and head coach.

I understand that football alone will not drive the business . Since the players are not compensated and not NFL caliber skill level across the board. Our community efforts in the off season will earn the respect and credibility needed to fill the stadium every Sunday at 2pm in the spring. Listed below are some of the community efforts by the Patriots.

Lancaster Rec- kids football camp- fall 2006
Fundraising effort- Lancaster City Fire Dept- Statue fund (donation table)
Fundraising effort – Lancaster City Fire Dept – flag football game ( statue fund)
Rocky Springs Bowling fundraiser (monthly) -statue fund
Veterans recognition- at all home games.
VFW support efforts
Most recently- Military appreciation night (concert ) Mountville PA
See pictures on homepage of our website!

….

717 629-1692 atlanticcoastpatriots@yahoo.com for questions.

I plan on going to the Lancaster School District board meeting on September 16th.
at 7pm ………..to present my offer to
them and bypass the High School……….since they don’t have a Athletic Director now.

The book brings back many good memories about the Lancaster I grew up around. We lived in the county but I looked forward to my parents taking me to the city to shop and go to the movies. Lancaster was a good place with police directing traffic and nickel bags of soft pretzels, not the $1.50 pretzel of today.

There is something big that is planned for this city that is slipping under the radar and is only known by a few of the upper class. They want the city to be a haven for the poor in certain sections of the city as well as other parts being patrolled by a private non profit bicycle patrol.

I sure hope I live long enough for the new book A City Transformed 1980 – 2020.

Keep up the great work and keep digging.

“You hit the nail right on the head. The Lancaster Alliance is the reason that we have the CC, will have the trolley system, and may very well have the proposed Home Rule charter. Where are #1 Home Rule backer Tom Baldridge’s roots…the Lancaster Alliance. Why does he have his current job…because he stewarded the CC project and saw to the implementation of the tax for his Alliance handlers. Who succeeded him there…Jack Howell. Whose bad-dream is this trolley…Jack Howell.

“These men answer not to the general community (City & County residents) or the business community at large (the Chamber), but rather that small, elite group known as the Lancaster Alliance. They say jump and Tom and Jack answer ‘how high’! They are the true power in Lancaster County.”

…a brief visit yesterday …and a quick look at the loading area: it’s worse than I thought from my view of the drawings. Nothing of consequence will be able to get in and out.

Take a look yourself, and imagine a 53 foot trailer …. amazingly inadequate.