Latest news with #PaigeGebhardtCognetti
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
School in Scranton celebrates new playground designed with pupils' input
SCRANTON — Pupils at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in South Side who helped design the transformation of a parking lot there into a vibrant schoolyard with a modern playground also helped cut the ribbon Friday during a grand opening. In the works for the past three years, a former asphalt lot at the rear of the school now has become an oasis for play, as well as a community park space for the 2,500 residents who live within a 10-minute walk of the school fronting on Prospect Avenue. A collaboration of the Scranton School District, the city of Scranton, the local nonprofit Valley in Motion and the nationwide Trust for Public Land, the project two years ago called upon third-graders to give input on what they would like to see in a playground replacing the parking lot along Winfield Avenue. 'This is even better than I pictured. You guys did such an incredible job,' Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti said to pupils who helped design the new schoolyard and attended the grand opening Friday. Tess Lewis, 11, a fifth grader at the South Scranton Intermediate School, was one of the pupils of the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Scranton who as a third-grader helped design the new schoolyard at the JFK school and attended the ribbon cutting with classmates. She said she is very happy with the transformation of the space. 'We wanted all the playground parts to be on softer ground,' because the surface previously was all paved. The $775,000 cost of the JFK Elementary School project is funded with $500,000 from the city, from its federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars. The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Moses Taylor Foundation, Scranton Area Community Foundation, The Robert H. Spitz Foundation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation also contributed. Commenting on the numerous entities and sponsors involved, Cognetti said, 'Everybody put the team together, to put the puzzle pieces in there to make this happen. The most important thing was that you guys got to be involved and we're so proud of the work that you did.' School officials spoke of playtime as a key component of education. 'These are the kinds of things that make coming to school more enjoyable and have that small fraction of the day where you step away from traditional learning to be able to learn in a whole new environment,' Scranton School District Superintendent Erin Keating, Ed.D. said. The poured-in place rubbery surface will need a few days to cure before children can use the playground. 'Play is really the work of childhood,' JFK school Principal Nora Phillips said. 'Our children at JFK are now able to get to work' at play in the revamped schoolyard. Gus Fahey of Valley in Motion noted how the schoolyard is no longer an old-school kind of space. 'We were used to just sort of flat, asphalt playgrounds. Now we're not going to accept that anymore. This is the new standard that we are going to give to the children of the next generation,' Fahey said. Owen Franklin of The Trust for Public Land described the schoolyard as an asset for community development and strengthening connections. 'This is a model for partnership and impact,' Franklin said. Fahey also referenced two similar schoolyard playground transformations ahead, at the Whitter and Willard schools. The city has federal American Rescue Plan Act money earmarked for the Whittier project, he said. A $350,000 federal Environmental Protection Agency grant for the Willard school project was awarded via a nationwide competition, but that funding recently was eliminated, Fahey said, noting he was announcing that loss. 'That money that we won was taken away from us on a national level,' Fahey told the crowd. 'So what are we going to do? Are we not going to build the next playground?' Several people in the crowd responded 'No,' meaning that project will get done somehow. 'We're going to figure it out,' Cognetti replied. * Gus Fahey, president of Valley in Motion, makes remarks at the opening of a new community schoolyard June 6, 2025, at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in South Scranton. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO) * John F. Kennedy Elementary School students listen to speakers talk about a newly build playground at the school. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO) * Children who two years ago while in third grade helped design a new community schoolyard playground at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Scranton participated in a ribbon-cutting during a grand-opening celebration of the schoolyard on Friday, June 6, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * The new community schoolyard playground at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Scranton during a ribbon-cutting and grand-opening celebration on Friday, June 6, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti listens to remarks at the opening of a new community schoolyard June 6, 2025, at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in South Scranton. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO) * Owen Franklin of Trust for Public Land discusses the dedication of a new playground at at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in South Scranton. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO) * Gus Fahey, president of Valley in Motion, makes remarks as Trust for Public Land, Scranton School District and Mayor Paige Cognetti open a new community schoolyard June 6, 2025, at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in South Scranton. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO) * Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, at podium, introduces and shakes hands with Gus Fahey of Valley in Motion during a ribbon-cutting and grand-opening celebration of the new community schoolyard playground, in background, at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Scranton on Friday, June 6, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * The new community schoolyard playground at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Scranton during a ribbon-cutting and grand-opening celebration on Friday, June 6, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * The new community schoolyard playground at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Scranton during a ribbon-cutting and grand-opening celebration on Friday, June 6, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * Tess Lewis, 11, a fifth grader at the South Scranton Intermediate School, was one of the pupils of the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Scranton two years ago while in third grade there helped design a new community schoolyard playground at the Kennedy school. Tess and former Kennedy school classmates participated Friday, June 6, 2025 in a ribbon-cutting during a grand-opening celebration of the new schoolyard. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) Show Caption 1 of 11 Gus Fahey, president of Valley in Motion, makes remarks at the opening of a new community schoolyard June 6, 2025, at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in South Scranton. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO) Expand
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scranton improves its pave-cut rules for better monitoring, oversight
Scranton has revamped its pave-cut rules for better oversight of restoration of utility excavations in roads, the mayor announced Tuesday. Earlier this year, Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti proposed improvements to Scranton City Council in the city's street excavation and openings code, also known as the pave-cut ordinance. Amendments approved by council in April give the city new tools and regulations to improve the condition of roads, the announcement said. Improved standards and third-party accountability have become increasingly necessary as more companies that build infrastructure in Scranton do so by excavating roads to install lines and equipment, she said. For example, internet companies Comcast, Loop and Verizon each are working in the city to deliver fiber optic internet to residents. Since Jan. 1, Scranton has received more than 260 permit requests for street excavations, an average of almost two permits per day. 'I am extremely frustrated by the insufficient repair of Scranton's roads by outside groups this past winter. While we are excited about the high level of infrastructure improvement activity across the city, this work has to be done right. We are pressing these firms to repair our roads quickly and, most important, properly,' Cognetti said in the statement. 'The amendments to the pave-cut ordinance approved last month, plus diligent work by our project management team, help us track street openings through an improved permit process that holds companies responsible for restoring our roads.' Previously, the city used a decentralized paper permit system for street excavations. The city in December approved prior updates to the pave-cut ordinance and a contract with a third-party engineering firm to do pave-cut inspections. Changes under the latest amendment include: • The permit process has been moved online into a system called OpenGov, which provides greater ability to track pave cuts, receive payments and flag problems for repairs. • Pavement restoration must meet the state Department of Transportation standards. • Traffic control, safety personnel and coordination of road closures with the Lackawanna County Emergency Communication Center. • A new, color-coded asphalt tag based on type of utility work performed. • Added inspections occurring before excavation, during the work and after restoration. • Late fees and the ability to issue quality-of-life tickets through Scranton's Code Enforcement Office for violations. • Permits required within 24 hours after emergency work, so the city can track restoration results going forward. Members of the administration also detailed the improvements to council in a council caucus Tuesday. 'I'm thrilled that the amended ordinance … puts more of you involved and there's more tracking and there's more oversight,' Councilman Mark McAndrew said during the caucus. He has noticed inconsistent sealing of pave-cut restorations, with some having been done over a year ago. 'So who's watching that now?' he asked. City Business Administrator Eileen Cipriani said the city also reviews the Pennsylvania One Call system, also known as PA One Call, which requires contractors and homeowners to call 811 at least three business days before starting any digging or excavation project. 'We're going back through the historic 'PA One Calls' and that's how we're identifying who was the utility that was involved. Then we reach out to the utility to have them address this issue,' Cipriani said. Cognetti said her administration also has made strides in collaborating with utilities by continuing monthly meetings and developing stronger communications. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission also is monitoring for mischaracterized emergency work across the state, which adds another layer to Scranton's enforcement, the announcement said.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scranton celebrates revamped Robinson Park on East Mountain
SCRANTON — The revamped Robinson Park on East Mountain sports new looks and amenities. City officials, stakeholders and others attended a ribbon cutting Monday to celebrate the $1.1 million project that brought to Robinson Park new disabled-accessible playground equipment, parking, walkways, a multiuse court for basketball and pickleball, and a trail through woods, as well as a fishing dock and kayak launch at Mountain Lake across the street from the playground. 'This project, as you see from the large group of people here (attending the ribbon cutting), has been a true team effort up here on East Mountain,' Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti said. The effort involved the city, state agencies, the East Mountain Neighborhood Association and the nonprofit Deutsch Institute, which has a long-term lease on a building at the park, among others. 'We got the money together and made sure that we always worked with the East Mountain residents and built a park that they and their kids are going to want to use.' Mayor Paige Cognetti, project supporters, and community member celebrate the completed upgrades to Robison Park in Scranton by cutting a ribbon on Monday, April 28, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) Renovations at Robinson Park were funded through a $481,600 Community Conservation Partnerships Program grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' Bureau of Recreation and Conservation awarded in September 2022. The city also allocated as grant matches $502,885 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, called ARPA, and $141,078 in city dollars. Encompassing 30.42 acres, Robinson Park at 98 Mountain Lake Road is the city's second-largest park and the only city park with a lake. Much of the park footprint is woods and the lake. The trail winds along a newly paved 0.8-mile loop through the woods. The Deutsch Institute also has renovations of the building underway. When completed, possibly later this year, the building with a distinctive A-frame roof will be used by the institute for offices and to provide recreational and wellness programming to people with disabilities and the surrounding community. A building leased by the nonprofit Deutsch Institute at the newly renovated Robinson Park on East Mountain in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) The city's 2021 Recreation Needs Assessment and Master Plan evaluated conditions of all of the city's parks and recreation facilities, proposed improvements and raised prospects of fundamental changes to some of them. The review recommended improved access to Mountain Lake at Robinson Park. The renovation project achieved that with recent installations of an accessible fishing dock at one end of the lake and a kayak launch on the other side. The fishing dock at Robison Park in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. The new addition was park of the city's $1.1 million upgrades to the park. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)The new fishing dock at Robison Park in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) The city also improved stormwater management at the park to prevent drainage issues. Residents earlier this month began taking advantage of the renovated park by using the new kayak launch and joining a neighborhood Bunny Hunt during the Easter holiday weekend. Robinson Park is the latest park to get improvements under the Cognetti administration. Some of the others have included Billy Barrett Park in Minooka, Oakmont Park near Lake Scranton and the North Scranton Mini Park. Other park sites getting new aquatic and rehabilitation projects include the Novembrino Splash Pad in West Scranton, Connell Park in South Scranton, the former defunct Penn Ridge site on Capouse Avenue, Nay Aug Park in the Hill Section and Weston Field. Another project will overhaul the Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section. Robinson Park dates to 1911, when Scranton acquired the park property from Mina Robinson, according to a public notice in the Oct. 6, 1911, edition of The Tribune Republican. Robinson and her husband, Philip, who were Bavarian immigrants from Germany, were among the city's early brewers. After her husband died, Robinson, a widow with 11 children, became a successful entrepreneur in her own right, in brewing and banking. Mina Robinson in 1911 conveyed to the city of Scranton a park property on East Mountain. The site is called Robinson Park. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO) * Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, holding large scissors, cuts a ribbon on the newly renovated Robinson Park on East Mountain in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * Robison Park in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) * The newly renovated Robinson Park on East Mountain in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * The playground at Robison Park in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. The amenity was part of the city's efforts to upgrade Scranton's second largest park. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) * Mayor Paige Cognetti, project supporters, and community member celebrate the completed upgrades to Robison Park in Scranton by cutting a ribbon on Monday, April 28, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) * The fishing dock at Robison Park in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. The new addition was park of the city's $1.1 million upgrades to the park. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) * The newly renovated Robinson Park on East Mountain in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * A basketball/pickleball court at the newly renovated Robinson Park on East Mountain in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * The newly renovated Robinson Park on East Mountain in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * The newly renovated Robinson Park on East Mountain in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * A building leased by the nonprofit Deutsch Institute at the newly renovated Robinson Park on East Mountain in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * The newly renovated Robinson Park on East Mountain in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * The newly renovated Robinson Park on East Mountain in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) * The new fishing dock at Robison Park in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) * Mina Robinson in 1911 conveyed to the city of Scranton a park property on East Mountain. The site is called Robinson Park. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO) Show Caption 1 of 15 Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, holding large scissors, cuts a ribbon on the newly renovated Robinson Park on East Mountain in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO) Expand
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scranton plans splash pad for defunct Pine Brook pool site
Scranton plans to replace a defunct swimming pool site on Capouse Avenue in the Pine Brook neighborhood with a splash pad and playground. The city last year sought bids on the project but got sued by a resident who claimed the city skipped over the low bidder. In proceedings in that lawsuit, the city agreed to rebid the project. Now, the city split the project into two parts at the 0.95-acre site at 1335 Capouse Ave. referred as 'Capouse Avenue Park.' The city had separate public notices published last month in The Times-Tribune seeking bids for 'Capouse Park Splash Pad Installation' and 'Capouse Avenue Park Renovations Sitework.' New features at the park site between Larch and New York streets will include a splash pad, playground, open-air shelter, lawn space and more, the city said Tuesday in an announcement of the bidding process. 'Reviving this park supports the ongoing rejuvenation of the entire Pine Brook neighborhood,' Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti said in the announcement. 'The project creates a new destination for a neighborhood on the rise.' The project's two components include: Splash pad: Bids to install the splash pad are due by 10 a.m. on April 14. The vendor selected will be responsible for the installation of a Vortex brand splash pad and must be a Vortex-certified installer. Site work: Bids to do overall site work are due by 10 a.m. on April 17. This will include other site preparation, demolition, infrastructure improvements, stormwater management, landscaping and amenities. The vacant park property used to have a pool and bathhouse that were closed down over a decade ago and demolished and filled in 2021, when a total renovation of the site was envisioned in a 2021 Scranton Recreation Needs Assessment and Master Plan. 'With the assumption of a total renovation, the park would need new features and infrastructure' that could 'totally recreate the park' into a new asset, that plan said. The city will use federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for the project. A splash pad on Capouse Avenue likely won't be ready for the summer season, but the playground there might be finished by then, city Business Administrator Eileen Cipriani said Thursday. The city has other pool projects underway in various stages, include a major revamp of the pool complex at Nay Aug Park, which also will not be completed in time for the 2025 summer season, she said. At the March 25 meeting of Scranton City Council, council President Gerald Smurl said the newly constructed Weston Field outdoor pool and newly refurbished Connell Park pool both will be open for this summer season, as will the Weston Park outdoor pool and Weston Field's indoor pool. The Novembrino Park splash pad also will get resurfaced and should be open for the summer, he said. The summer swim season will unofficially begin on Saturday, May 24, of the Memorial Day weekend, with the opening of the Novembrino splash pad, the city previously announced. Outdoor pools will open daily from noon to 6 p.m. at the end of the Scranton School District school year, on Saturday, June 14. All outdoor facilities will close on Labor Day, Sept. 1. The indoor pool at Weston Field is open year-round, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for adult swim and from 3 to 5:30 p.m. for the general public.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Unlock the future:' Cognetti touts achievements in optimistic State of the City Address
SCRANTON — Touting considerable investments in infrastructure, parks, public safety, internal operations and more, Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti celebrated Tuesday her administration's progress while casting a momentum-driven vision for Scranton's future in her latest State of the City Address. The state of the city is 'promising,' Cognetti said shortly before addressing a crowded auditorium of local officials, business leaders and other stakeholders gathered at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. Cognetti's unsurprisingly bullish and buoyant address comes as the incumbent Democrat seeks reelection to another four-year term. Her remarks Tuesday were often retrospective — a look back at progress made during her eventful first five years in office. In many ways it was a story of numbers: $23 million in stormwater infrastructure investments, $26-plus million invested in parks, 4,500 street signs upgraded, 72 hazardous structures razed and so on. 'Working together as an efficient city government will unlock the future that we all see: a thriving, growing city that is a destination for families and residents and students,' Cognetti said. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti discusses the city's achievements and future plans for Scranton during her State of the City Address at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) An Oregon native, Cognetti ran as an outsider candidate and won a 2019 special election to fill the unexpired term of corrupt former Mayor Bill Courtright. She took office in 2020 and, by January 2022, had helped see the city through the end stages of its 30-year stay in Pennsylvania's Act 47 program for financially distressed municipalities — a titanic accomplishment stemming from decades of work by multiple administrations and city councils. In the intervening time, Cognetti's administration weathered pandemic-prompted challenges and Cognetti herself sailed to reelection, comfortably winning a full four-year term in 2021. Several achievements the mayor touted Tuesday reflect the city's much-improved financial position. Scranton, for example, achieved an investment-grade bond rating since exiting Act 47, improved creditworthiness that makes it cheaper to borrow money. It also hasn't taken a tax anticipation note since 2022, meaning the city hasn't had to borrow and accrue interest on that borrowing to cover early year expenses pending the receipt of property tax revenues. Those admittedly esoteric accomplishments complement more visible signs of progress, including ongoing, planned or completed park and playground improvements and the substantial rehabilitation of Scranton's historic 1888 City Hall. On those fronts and more broadly, Cognetti was quick to credit the contributions of past administrations, including those of former mayors Chris Doherty and Wayne Evans, and the city's strong partnerships both inside and outside of local government. The biggest power a mayor has is the power to convene, she said. Stressing the importance of advocacy and collaboration, Cognetti pointed to the successful opposition campaign local officials at different levels of government organized in 2023 and 2024 to curtail rate increases sought by Pennsylvania American Water. Similar opposition is currently brewing against proposed natural gas rate hikes sought by UGI. She also called for ongoing collaboration on housing, hunger-prevention, youth initiatives, the arts and similar issues, and on projects with the broad potential to improve life and bolster economic conditions in Northeast Pennsylvania, including the long-sought restoration of passenger rail service between Scranton and New York City. Current and former officials at virtually all levels of government have endorsed that project, most recently Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr. 'So we're advocating at the local level, advocating at the federal level, making sure that we're alongside cities like ours to push for the little stuff and the big stuff, because it all matters,' Cognetti said. 'City limits are not the whole scope of our work, right? This is all of us, all as a county, all as a region. We don't try to create artificial barriers.' Cognetti faces several very real barriers she'll have to clear in pursuit of another term, including a Democratic primary challenge from former Scranton School Board President Bob Sheridan. A pair of Republican candidates, newcomers Trish Beynon and Lynn Labrosky, seek the GOP nomination for mayor in the coming primary. And former Scranton Sewer Authority Executive Director Gene Barrett has forecasted plans to run for mayor as an independent candidate. But Cognetti made clear Tuesday her vision for the future extends beyond the political battles yet to come. 'It truly is an honor to be able to address you all and to do this work alongside you,' she told the friendly crowd in closing. 'We really love our work, as hard as it can be sometimes, so (we're) looking forward to these next days and weeks and months and years with you all to make sure we keep making lots of progress.'
