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A newly retired K-9 officer assisted in 284 arrests and apprehended 40 criminals in his five-year career with the city police department.

Hari, a German shepherd partnered with city police Sgt. Tim Bliss, answered 1,486 calls in McKeesport and the surrounding communities, recovering a weapon used in a December 2004 homicide, tracking a suicidal juvenile in May 2006, and helping officers seize 25 pounds of cocaine and 17 pounds of marijuana.

Accompanied by his wife, Linda, and parents Bob and Brenda Bliss, Sgt. Bliss received a commendation at Wednesday's council meeting on behalf of Hari. The dog has retired from active service because of arthritis in his back legs, said Sgt. Bliss, who also serves as director of K-9 operations for the city police.

Mayor Jim Brewster said the statistics prove the worth of the five K-9 officers on the city's force. "I don't want to underestimate the value of these dogs," he said. "They serve a much bigger role than you might expect."

Besides their abilities to track suspects and find hidden contraband, the dogs are also a valuable community relations tool, said assistant police Chief Al Tedesco. A lot of people who are afraid to approach an unaccompanied police officer will spot a police officer with a canine partner and use the dog as a way to "break the ice," he said.

Bliss and other members of the city's K-9 unite regularly walk beats Downtown in good weather and also visit elementary and middle schools with their canine partners. Hari participated in 58 school assemblies during his career, city police said.

"It's amazing how the kids react when they see the dogs," Brewster said.

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In Other Business: The city has submitted an application through Allegheny County for $2.6 million in funding from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

Bethany Budd Bauer, community development director, said part of the money would be used to demolish vacant homes.

If approved, the remainder of the money would be used for new construction in partnership with McKeesport Housing Corp.*, McKeesport Neighborhood Initiative and Blueroof Technologies.

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Preliminary renderings for new street signs, lighting, wastebaskets and other new amenities Downtown have been sent to the state Department of Transportation for approval.

PennDOT must OK the renderings before Fifth Avenue can be reconstructed using $929,000 in state funding.

Brewster said the city will probably get new signage to direct visitors to landmarks like the marina, city hall, the post office and the Palisades ballroom. He said the city is moving quickly to make sure the state doesn't yank back the funding, which was authorized in 2006.

"The project is approved, but the state is broke," Brewster said. "I don't think there's any project on the table that the governor couldn't pull the money from."

Replacing all of the sidewalks between Water and Huey streets would be "cost prohibitive," the mayor said, but new curb cuts for wheelchairs and motorized scooters will be created.

The city has been criticized in the past by advocates for the disabled because many sidewalks either lack wheelchair access ramps or have them improperly installed.

* correction appended Feb. 11