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Lebanon City Council took a time out from its June 22 monthly agenda to honor longtime public servant and office holder James M. “Jim” Fick, who died on May 31 at age 90.
Fick served on City Council from 2002 to 2010 and, after leaving council, on the city’s planning commission from 2015 through 2024. Earlier, he was on the South Lebanon Township zoning board, where Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello first met him.
“I was the chief zoning officer for the County of Lebanon, so I worked with him for a very long time,” Capello said. “Obviously, he was someone who was willing and able to always give back to his community in many ways, not just in serving South Lebanon government, City of Lebanon government, but he also served his church and served on several committees and organizations.
“He also was very funny and could add a humorous comment to almost any situation. Being on the zoning hearing board and dealing with a lot of different stressful situations, he was always willing to try and look at how can we make this work. A wonderful, wonderful man.”
After hearing from the mayor, council unanimously adopted a resolution commemorating Fick’s service to the city and presented it to his wife of 70 years, Janice, who was in attendance.
On first reading, council passed an ordinance retroactively approving Capello’s execution of a lease for space in City Hall to tax collection agency Kratzenberg & Associates, d/b/a Keystone Collection Group. Keystone’s current lease with Lebanon County in the Lebanon County and City Building expires June 30 and was not renewed. The new lease runs from July 1 through June 30, 2027, with an option to renew. Keystone will pay $1,000 monthly rent to the city.
Capello explained that Keystone’s Lebanon office received about 5,700 visits last year, “so in my personal opinion, I thought there was a benefit to having a local office and thinking selfishly of bringing 5,700 people into the downtown and the pedestrian traffic and all of that, I reached out and offered.”
In other business on a short, early-summer agenda:
- Capello reported that through May 31, with the year 42% complete, revenues and expenses were 56% and 30%, respectively, of annual budget projections.
- Council accepted a deed of dedication from city property owner David Drummond, transferring .029 acres to the city, which will be used to widen Canton Street, an alley-like public right-of way between Walnut and Chestnut streets in the east end.
- Council announced that, at the request of the city’s bicentennial committee, a special meeting will be held July 2 at 4:45 p.m. to consider a resolution to rededicate the Declaration of Independence in advance of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration.
- The city will also mark the U.S.A.’s semiquincentennial at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, July 1, when it unearths a time capsule buried in 1976 at Coleman Memorial Park. The ceremony will be open to the public.
Next Lebanon City Council meetings
City Council’s next pre-council planning meeting will be on Thursday, July 23, at 4:45 p.m. The next regular monthly council meeting will be on Monday, July 27, at 6:30 p.m.
All meetings are open to the public and will be held in the City Hall multi-purpose room, 735 Cumberland St., first floor, Lebanon. Meetings are streamed live on YouTube here.
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