The Bellwood Borough Council covered a spectrum of topics at last night’s borough meeting, including a new restaurant that will open soon in the area.
April Ressler of Reed, Wertz and Roadman Insurance was on hand to present information pertaining to the insurance policy currently in place with the borough. Council then voted to approve a renewal of the policy, starting in January.
Area resident Pat Morningstar was also on hand to inform the board of a new restaurant that he and his wife will be opening at the former Martins building on Main Street. Currently the Morningstars are waiting for the lawyers to set a closing date.
Mr. Morningstar passionately described his wife’s dream of owning a restaurant in the area. She has had previous experience at area restaurants such as the Fifth Wheel and B&D’s in Tyrone.
With his wife’s previous experience, Morningstar said, “We already have a customer base of about 70 people who have said they will visit the restaurant when we open.”
The restaurant will serve homestyle meals and will offer a delivery service. Morningstar said they will need to hire between nine and 11 people to start. There is still some paperwork that has to be taken care of but the hope is that the restaurant will be able to open sometime in December.
“We’re glad to see another restaurant, another business come to our town,” Council member Wayne Snare said of the new business.
Council member Chris Creek thanked Mr. Morningstar for his service to the United States for his years in the Marine Corps and said, “I really appreciate the fact that that building is going to be used.”
The borough, which had previously accepted bids on a 16-foot piece of land, announced the highest bidder. Only one bid was submitted for the land and since no problems were found with the bid, the borough awarded the property to Pinky Newberry, who has been taking care of the area for several years. Newberry plans to build a garage on the property once a closing arrangement has been reached.
Committee reports were presented, with much discussion on water and sewer. The borough has been spending a lot of time working on the water problems in town. A new borough truck, equipped with a camera has been used to take a look into the pipes and look for problems. The report stated that camera work is now done on the north side.
Council member Fred Sweigert commended borough workers for completion of the meter reading in only two days.
It was also suggested, that due to the current addition to the Wolf’s Furniture building, questions have been arising concerning storm water management. Currently there are no ordinances within the borough regarding that situation, however, the council is now looking at the situation and may develop an ordinance by next month.
Plans were discussed regarding the set up of the Christmas tree. This year the tree will be placed in the park and the tree lighting will be held December 22.
Under park and recreation, council member Sue Johnson stated that the park and pool are closed up for the winter.
“The Tyrone Y did an excellent job running the pool,” Johnson said.
The rest of the board agreed and expressed concern for the future of the Tyrone YMCA.
In other business, the council adopted UCC Ordinance #462, an intermunicipal agreement. They joined Hollidaysburg, Tyrone, Duncansville, Blair Township, Logan Township and Antis Township in the establishment of a Blair Regional “code committee.”
The council would like to remind borough residents that there will be a special meeting held on November 10 at 6:15 p.m. following the Borough Authority meeting. The meeting will be for the public, in order to discuss the possible adoption of a sexually-oriented business ordinance within the borough. Following the discussion there will be a presentation of the budget and then council members will meet in an executive session.
