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City council will urge the state to reinvest any video poker revenue back into local communities and not into college scholarships.

On a suggestion from Councilman Darryl Segina, council voted 7-0 Wednesday to write Gov. Ed Rendell and local legislators to urge them to legalize video poker and allow municipalities to receive any tax proceeds.

Last week, Rendell recommended the state legalize video poker machines in bars and restaurants and use the resulting revenue --- estimated at $550 million annually --- to fund annual scholarships of up to $7,600 to state-owned universities.

The proposal was widely criticized by members of the state General Assembly, some of whom object to legalizing video poker and others who are afraid it would cut into proceeds from the state's recently created slot machine casinos.

State Police Commissioner Frank Pawlowski recently estimated that 17,000 video poker machines already operate illegally in Pennsylvania.

Segina said legalization of video poker has long been "one of my pet projects," but he objects to Rendell's proposal to route the money to higher education.

"We need the money for the survival of this town," he said. McKeesport last year closed a $1 million budget hole by draining its reserve fund and laying off 10 employees.

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Sixth Ave. Garage Contract Let: City council unanimously awarded a $20,300 contract to U&S Construction of Etna to perform temporary repairs in the Sixth Avenue parking garage.

The work will include shoring up the first floor and reinforcing several beams now restricted from traffic. Eight contractors submitted bids.

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Paper Recycling OK'd: Also approved was a contract with Abitibi Bowater to place recycling bins around the city for collection of newspaper, office paper and magazines.

Paper will not be collected from house to house, but residents will be able to drop recyclables in the yellow and green "Paper Retriever" bins.

Some bins are already in place within the city under agreements with McKeesport Area School District, the Propel charter school on Versailles Avenue, Auberle on Hartman Street, and churches like First United Methodist on Cornell Street and Rainbow Temple Assembly of God on Shaw Avenue. Similar arrangements exist in surrounding municipalities and school districts.

The city will receive between $5 and $20 for each ton of paper collected.

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Shovel-Ready Projects: City officials have submitted a number of "shovel-ready" projects to the federal government for possible inclusion in the Obama administration's economic stimulus plan.

Although there is no guarantee any of the projects will be funded, the city has asked for federal funding to pay for the extension of Marshall Drive from Old Long Run Road to Route 48; improvements to City Hall (the former McKeesport National Bank headquarters on Fifth Avenue); and construction of the flyover ramp at the foot of Coursin Street between Lysle Boulevard and the RIDC industrial park.