Pictured is the Hickory Street Bridge that was renamed the Veterans’ Memorial Bridge in 2019.

During its final meeting of the year, the city’s planning commission discussed the development of protocols and policies for naming and memorializing public infrastructure.

Planning Commission Chair Elizabeth Raible recently met with Mayor David Wortman to further discuss the topic.

“One thing we talked about is that it would be helpful if we funneled this application process through the planning commission,” said Raible.

Doing so would allow applications and recommendations to be reviewed by the commission before being forwarded to City Council.

The city is also examining procedures used by other municipalities, including Pittsburgh and Erie.

“We don’t want the procedure to be impossible,” said Randall Rossey, Director of Codes and Planning.

“But we want to keep the bar high so that when we go through with this, we are serious about it.”

The commission is now tasked with creating an application process, with members expected to bring ideas for application requirements to the January meeting.

This decision comes after the recent public interest in the renaming of the Third Avenue bridge.

Planning Commission members began discussing the future name of the Third Avenue bridge after a recent City Council meeting brought forward many potential naming ideas. The Planning Commission requested that, as petitions and ideas come forward, the City Council might defer to the planning commission for recommendation. City residents appeared before City Council members in November suggesting naming the bridge after Charlie Kirk, the Blue Star Mothers or something more uniquely Warren.