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An ode to all things handmade at India International Trade Fair 2024CYPRESS LAKE, Fla. (AP) — Kam Craft and Peter Suder both had 18 points in Miami (OH)'s 70-58 victory against Siena on Monday. Craft added five rebounds for the RedHawks (3-2). Suder shot 7 of 9 from the floor, including 1 for 3 from 3-point range, and 3 for 3 from the line. Eian Elmer shot 4 for 8 (2 for 4 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line to finish with 15 points. The Saints (3-3) were led by Major Freeman, who recorded 15 points. Brendan Coyle added 12 points for Siena. Justice Shoats had 12 points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
HERMITAGE — A proposed city operating budget could see Hermitage residents’ taxes and other fees remain the same for 2025. The Hermitage Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to introduce the proposed budget at their Nov. 20 meeting. The proposed budget will be put to a final vote at the board’s next meeting on Dec. 18. The 2025 budget calls for total general fund expenditures of $16,714,595, an increase over the total expenditures of $16,242,406 budgeted for 2024. Property taxes will remain at five mills. For a property assessed at $30,400, the city’s average assessed value, the property owner would pay about $152 in property taxes. Assessments are based on 1970 values, the last time a county-wide assessment was done. The city’s earned income tax will remain at 1.75%. City residents pay an additional 0.5% to the school district as well as separately levied property taxes to Mercer County and the school district. Hermitage City Manager Gary Hinkson said this will be the 34th consecutive year without a property tax increase. The 2025 budget includes a transfer of $2,041,363 to the city’s capital budgets, including $1,493,038 for capital construction and $548,325 for capital equipment and facilities. Equipment purchases include three new SUVs for the Hermitage Police Department, utility trucks for the Hermitage Volunteer Fire Department and a new street sweeper. The city’s current street sweeper is about 17 years old. Aside from maintenance issues, replacement parts are becoming more difficult to find, if they can be found at all, Hinkson said. Within the municipal building, city officials will replace the computer systems for the planning department and inspection and code office, and install a new heat pump. The capital construction fund will cover paving Tiffany Lane and Fran Lane, both between Bonny Lane and Jerry Lane, Briarwood Road and Anderwood Drive, according to city documents. Other improvements include milling, base repair and new street signs. The project is expected to cost $496,000. The capital construction fund will also cover the next phase of the city’s Neighborhood Investment Program, or NIP. The NIP addresses the city’s older neighborhoods in phases each year. Next year’s phase of the NIP will include improvements to Fern Street, from Greenwood Drive to Baker Run. That project is expected to cost $515,300. But aside from just road improvements, that project will also add a modern stormwater collection line along Fern Street, Hermitage Assistant City Manager Gary Gulla said. “Some of the surrounding streets flow into that line,” Gulla said. Hinkson added that while there haven’t necessarily been issues with flooding or stormwater pooling in the area, the stormwater system along Fern Street dates back to at least the 1950s. City officials will use about $164,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to make improvements to South Crescent Drive from King Drive to the dead end, and King Drive from South Crescent Drive to Greenwood Drive. Other planned city projects include improvements to Rodney White Olympic Park, located near the Hermitage Municipal Building. The project, which would replace the playground’s surface and equipment, is mostly funded by a $177,000 grant, while the city will cover the remaining 15% of the project’s cost. The Hermitage Athletic Complex, located at 750 S. Darby Road, is expected to see some improvements as well. There are plans to connect the complex’s trail system to the nearby Lorenwood Drive neighborhood, extend the trail system within the complex and pave the entirety of Lorenwood Drive. A pair of Multimodal Transportation Fund grants in the amounts of $330,000 and $350,000 will help fund the project. There are also plans to build nine pickleball courts and expand parking and pedestrian accessibility at the complex, which will be funded by a $1.25 million grant that was awarded through the state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. Work on those projects is expected to begin in 2025, Gulla said. City officials are cooperating with the Hermitage Little League and Penn State Shenango to improve the Carl Harris Little League Complex at 500 Virginia Road. The roughly $781,000 project is expected to be funded with grants, while the city will cover the design and engineering costs. The project will improve the complex’s fields for local games and provide a place for some of Penn State’s intercollegiate sports. Construction is expected to begin around mid-2025, Gulla said. One decrease in the budget comes with the Wheatland neighborhood, which will have $54,700 budgeted toward it in 2025, compared to the $141,372 budgeted in 2024. The former borough merged with Hermitage effective Jan. 1, 2024. Gulla said the higher figure budgeted in 2024 was based on historical borough expenditures prior to the merger, while the 2025 figure is based on more accurate information gained post-merger. However, city officials say the Wheatland neighborhood will still receive significant investments next year. These include about $180,000 which will be spent paving roads in Wheatland’s residential neighborhoods. Those particular roads will be determined in the future, Hinkson said. “These are Highway Aid Funds the borough had received before the merger, so we thought that those funds should remain in Wheatland,” Hinkson said. City officials plan to replace the roof of the Wheatland Community Center, a $200,000 project that will be funded with a grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. Another project will improve the signalized intersection at Council Avenue and Broadway Road. Those signals will then be linked to the intersection at Broadway, Church Street, Mercer Avenue and Emerson Avenue. The project is expected to cost about $500,000, with $430,000 covered by grant funds. The Hermitage Municipal Authority will extend the city’s sewer lines in the industrial area of Council Avenue, which is expected to be a $200,000 project. It was found that businesses in the area were not connected to a municipal sewer system, nor did they have on-lot systems. Instead, businesses maintained tanks that stored waste on-site. This waste was eventually collected by a sewage company and taken elsewhere for disposal, Hinkson said. “There’s no pollution of the environment there, but the authority wanted to move forward with the project next year,” Hinkson said. The sewer lines in that area will use a gravity-flow system, so property owners will not have to install grinder pumps. However, they will have to connect to the city line, Gulla said. City officials will continue their efforts to develop the Town Center Project, which envisions turning the area around the Shenango Valley Mall property into a mixed-use town center. Toward that end, the City Center Corridor Beautification Project would replace the concrete medians with plants and greenery along state Route 18 from the Shenango Valley Freeway to the area between School Drive and Hickory Global Methodist Church. The total project is expected to cost about $142,000. City officials applied for a $70,968 grant through the state Department of Community and Economic Development. The city previously received a $20,000 grant from VisitMercerCountyPA, the county’s tourism agency. The Shenango Valley Mall itself is expected to be torn down and developed, although the property owner’s plans remain unclear. Hinkson said Monday the mall was expected to be demolished within a couple weeks. The developers will have 90 days from the time demolition begins to have the area cleared.
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