Vol. 102 Dallas, PA Wednesday, September 18, 1991 Tin cteria can be a big for Harveys Lake By ERIC FOSTER Post Staff © If cyanobacteria was a boxer, it would have moves that would keep Mike Tyson awake at night with worry. The tiny one-celled organism turns lakes a pea-soup color, smells bad, is toxic to mammals, and can give fish a knock-out punch. At Harveys Lake, outbreaks of cyanobacteria, often going under the alias of blue-green bacteria, or sometimes just plain old algae, have been a recurring problem. An outbreak of cyanobacteria was severe enough to close the lake, arecreational haven, to swim- ming in 1981, and again in 1985. Harveys Lake Borough re- sonded by hiring a firm, Ecos- ce, to dump copper sulfate in the lake. Cyanobacteria hates copper sulfate like Superman hates kryp- tonite. But too much of the copper can also kill fish. While copper sulfate works in the short run, the borough's Environmental Advisory ‘Council (EVAC) would like to find a more permanent solution to the cyanobacteria menace, as well as problem An outbreak of cyanobacteria was severe enough to close the lake to swimming in 1981 and again in 1985 its filling up with sediment. This year the lake was spared from another bloom of cyano- bacteria, but EVAC is working on a strategy to prevent big bad blue- green from ever coming back. The borough expects to begin an 18-month-long study of the lake near the end of the year. A two- year application process for fed- eral and state grants to fund the $70,000 study is nearly complete. The study will be paid for through a 70/30 matching grant from the United States Environ- mental Protection Agency, which will provide $49,000. Instead of paying cash, the borough will meet its 30 percent share of the cost through volunteer labor from EVAC valued at $8,000, and donated lab See LAKE, pg 12 VOLUNTEER RESEARCHERS - Shown from left are Michelle Boice, a member of Harveys Lake's Environmental Advisory Council (EVAC), David Abod, councilman and chairman of EVAC, Martin Jones, a borough resident and volunteer, Albert Timko, treasurer of EVAC and a biologist. u problems at the lake such as Lehman supers score DER on dump cleanup Hozempa says By ERIC FOSTER Post Staff ' Three months after the Lehman Township supervisors reported an illegal ‘dump, a followup inspec- tion of the dump has not been done by the Department of Envi- ronmental Resources. 4c supervisors filed a complaint on*June 17 against Ignatius Hoz- empa for the dump on his Outlet Road property, which they say is illegal. “Their lack of action and reac- tion is absolutely ridiculous,” said supervisor David Sutton at the supervisor's meeting September 16. “We have a serious problem. It's in a watershed. It’s probably on wetlands. People in the downtown Family keeps Up fight jor transfer of deaf child By-CHARLOT M. DENMON Post Staff The Dutton family renewed their request to allow 12-year-old Mark Dutton to attend the Scranton School for the Deaf at the Lake- Lehman School Board meeting September 10. Mark, who is hearing impaired, has béen a resident of the Lake- Lehman district since April, 1990 and since that time has been a student in a Luzerne Intermediate Unit (LIU) class for special educa- tion children. But his family con- tends that Mark is not getting a proper education in the LIU classes and has requested that he be trans- ferred to the Scranton school. “Mark's studies have regressed since he has been placed in the LIU 18 class,” said Mark's uncle, Don Rubel, a faculty member at Bloomsburg University where” he teaches hearing-impaired stu- dents. “He is becoming more and more depressed and is having problems in school.” Since Mark has been attending the LIU 18 class in Forty Fort, the See DEAF, pg 5 it's all politics probably drink that water.” on Ignatius Hozempa's property has not yet been made. “I've made several calls to DER and talked with Richard Mieszkow- ski,” said township solicitor Peter Savage. “He did go out to the place last Thursday (September 12) but no one was there and he didn't investigate further.” Savage said that he was told that Hozempa would be sent a letter warning him thata field order would be issued if the land was not cleaned up by the end of the month. The field order would initiate a lawsuit, which could cost up to $25,000 in fines, said Savage. Hozempa said September 17 that the complaints about the Calendar................. 20 Classified.......... 17-19 Editonals................. 4 Obituaries............... 17 Police report............ 2 Schooli......q0...... 9 SPOS. ih ae 10 AMERICAN RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE - Fri., Sept. 20, 12 Noon-6 PM, Shavertown United Methodist Church, Pioneer Ave., Shavertown. Call 823-7161 for appointments, if needed. Community Events FAMILY STYLE CHICKEN DINNER -Sat., Sept. 21, 4:30 PM, takeouts at 4:00. Huntsville U.M. Church, Huntsville Rd. Adults $6.00, children, $3.00. SUNDAY BREAKFAST - Sun., Sept. 22, 8 AM-12 Noon, Lake Silkworth Volunteer Fire Co., Route 29, Lake Silkworth. All you can eat, adults $4.00, children $2.00. No \RRCY LEAK FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING dump are being exaggerated. “It's a politics move,” said Hoz- empa, “because the stuff has been there for 15 or 20 years and they hayen't done anything about it until now." Hozempa said that he has dumpsters on the property now, and is sorting through about 2 feet of rubbish on thelO by 75 foot tract of land to collect the re- cyclables. “They're making a big story out of nothing,” said Hozempa. “There's no toxic waste there. It's not in a . watershed or wetlands, it's right on the edge of a field.” Hozempa said that most of the pile is made up of bottles, many of them from his bar in Dallas, along with aluminum cans, cardboard, wood and cinderblock debris. Hozempa said that he talked with DER inspectors in late Au- gust and asked for 90 more days to clean up the property because he had a difficult time finding dumpsters.;. “They told me they would proba- bly go along with it,” said Hoz- empa. “It's going to take probably the whole 90 days. I can't leave my regular job just to sort bottles.” Also, during the meeting, the supervisors also instructed Attor- ney Savage to send a letter to the Luzerne County Fair, instructing them that the township would not issue a permit for the fair next year unless the fair has a traffic control plan approved by PennDOT. “It's becoming a problem. They're getting bigger and bigger and they are still using the same dirt roads See DUMP, pg 3 Furloughed Dallas teachers called back By CHARLOT M. DENMON Staff Writer : Two of four Dallas educators furloughed a month ago have been called back to fill in for teachers who have taken sabbatical leaves. But they have no assurance that their jobs will be secure beyond the six months toa year until the other teachers have returned. Paul Brown, former physical education and health teacher in the senior high school as well as varsity basketball coach, was of- fered the opportunity to teach the Dallas Elementary first grade class formerly taught by Mrs. Betsy Cannon, who is now on maternity leave. Mary Ann Storz was in charge of the DEAL (in-school suspension) program at the Dallas secondary schools. She was offered the op- portunity to teach a ninth grade English class since the regular teachet, John Johnson, is on a sabbatical for the purpose of edu- cation study. : Brown and Storz were two of the teachers furloughed when pro- grams were dropped from the schedule due to cuts in the 1991- 1992 budget. Both Brown and Storz said they were pleased to have the opportunity to teach this year, although neither one of them was optimisticabout the positions being permanent, nor do they know how long they will be retained. “I know I will be teaching the class until January,” said Storz. “Then it is up to Mr. Johnson. His sabbatical was approved with the option that he could take six months or if necessary a year. “I am happy to be teaching. I love teaching and I am thrilled to be back. I hope that all of us who were furloughed will be back per- manently, but I don’t see that possible at present.” Storz regrets that the suspen- sion program she ran was elimi- nated. “Nobody realizes how important the DEAL program was to the students. Low academic students need help in school and they are usually the ones who are neglected. The guidance counselors and agen- cies worked with me and the stu- dents. We worked hard to get DEAL to become one of the best pro- grams in the state,” said Storz. Storz, who has taught a wide range of classes from sixth to 12th grade over the last 10 years, said . she would like to see Dallas on top again. But she thinks the quality of local educaton has suffered in recent years. See TEACHERS, pg 5 Price cut By ERIC FOSTER and CHARLOT M. DENMON Post Staff Some relief may be coming for Back Mountain residents who can prove that they generate only a small amount of trash. At the first meeting of a committee formed to investigate the Dallas Area Mu- nicipal Authority's (DAMA) waste collection plan, municipal officials and representatives of the public talked about the possibility of a lower rate for homes that produce less than the two bags of garbage weekly that is the basis of the program. ; At the very least, the meeting, held September 16 at the Kingston Township Municipal Building, seemed to defuse some of the rancor that had marked earlier public meetings on the topic. “In my opinion, the meeting went very well. There was a lot of open dialogue,” said Jim Fowler, of Kingston Township, who was cho- sen as a citizen representative of township on the committee. Fowler had been one of the most outspo- ken opponents of the program at earlier meetings. . ‘Wappeared to me that every. ., one agreed that there were prob- may be coming for some DAMA customers Residents who can prove they produce less than 2 bags of trash weekly may get a lower price lems that have to be worked on,” said Fowler. “I would have liked to have had more discussions on private haulers and on freedom, but I understand they can't dis- cuss anything about the lawsuit.” At the Kingston Township Supervisors meeting September 11, supervisors William Tippet and Herbert Hill were chosen to attend the meeting, along with Fowler and Jackie Zukowsky, a property owner in the township. : Frank Wagner of Dallas Town- ship chaired the meeting, while William Tippett was co-chair. The committee will meet again on October 23, at 7 p.m. at the Kingston Township municipal building. Among the complaints about the program, is that some residents can't attord to pay $135 a year for collection of two bags or garbage a "See DAMA, pg 2 A race for the ball Sue Richardson of Dallas beat a Wallenpaupack player to the ball during the September 14 field hockey match played at Dallas. The Mounts won by a 1-0 score. (Post Photo/Ron Bartizek) - Kingston Township police have new labor contract By ERIC FOSTER Post Staff After eight months of negotia- tions, Kingston Township Police have a new three-year contract with the township. . The contract will go into effect January 1, 1992. According to Michael Moravec, president of the Kingston Town- ship Police Officers Association, one of the main concerns of the officers was the disparity in pay between officers with different lev- els of seniority. The association represents seven officers. The five-tiered pay scale in the new contract will lessen the differ- ences in the pay. In 1992, a new officer will be paid $15,104, up from the present $14,664. At the other end of the scale, an officer with two years of seniority will be paid $21,460. In 1994, those fig- ures will rise to $16,024 and $24,936 respectively. The department's sergeant will receive $25,605 in 1992, increas- ing to $27,164 by 1994. One other member of the department will be an exception to the pay scale. A17- year veteran of the force, the officer will receive $23,504 in 1992, but by 1994, his salary will increase only to $24,936, the same as other officers. : “The members of the depart ment with the lower salaries will get the bigger increase,” said King* ston Township Manager Jeffrey Box. The contract does add a longev- ity clause, which gives veteran officers a pay bonus, a provision older contracts did not have. An officer with ten years of service will receive $300 extra per year, with $50 added for each additional year See POLICE, pg 2
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers