City Council this week agreed informally to allow staff to investigate the feasibility of building a training facility for firefighters and police a project that could cost between $500,000 and $750,000, according to Interim City Manager Joe Merrill. In such a facility, firefighters could practice placement of ladders and hose, working on roofs, rescues […]
City Council on Monday accepted City Manager Omar Strohm’s retirement, appointed Police Chief Joe Merrill as his interim replacement and named Deputy Police Chief Derek Swope as interim police chief. Strohm has retired after 21 years as an Altoona employee, including the most recent three in the top administrative post. Strohm, 61, will become associate […]
City Council Monday adopted a budget for next year that calls for a half-mill tax hike, increasing the bill for a property assessed at $100,000 by $50 for a total of $563 in city real estate tax. City Manager Omar Strohm initially proposed a budget calling for no tax hike, but it covered a […]
HOLLIDAYSBURG A Blair County judge is allowing a 4-3 vote by Altoona City Council not to rezone land to stand. President Judge Elizabeth Doyle concluded that there were no flaws in the procedures leading up to the decision in May 2022. Doyle evaluated the process at the request of Juniata businessman Edward Kreuz Jr., […]
City Council members this week reassured a Fairview resident about their recent intentions for facilitating housing development at Keith athletic field even as they informed her that those intentions are moot, because the city failed in an attempt to buy the tract from the Altoona Area School District. Discussions about the potential for housing […]