O ad ch * | Dot 0,8. .@ Lon EE FE He SIS RAVAN CHE o | =NOIO LV L\VIS HII RBI =O] =i Bo | S20 5 PAX M2 SOR A SVAN ¢ = ll =o VV AVN IRS 0 2 [OI @ 11 BIST ll 21 [OF BS Vol. 107 No. 37 Dallas, Pennsylvania September 11 thru September 17, 1996 A chitect Paul Rodda drew this rendering = of the new children's wing, which will be added to the Back Mountain Memorial Library. The new section is shaded. sks I = Children's area is target for $500,000 drive By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff DALLAS - Even as the Back Mountain Memorial Library moved into its present building, the former Dallas Borough High School, in 1985, staff members knew the children's area would outgrow its quarters. Now, everyone who cares about the library is being invited to a “Kick-Off Gala” Sept. 20, to for- mally open a campaign to enlarge and modernize the children's area. With 12,000 books, display cases filled with all sorts of fasci- nating items, stuffed wild ani- mals and many other materials, the 720 square foot former class- room can seem formidable to a little one who can’t reach books stored on high shelves and can't see the neat things in the show- cases. The room is often closed for Story Hour and other programs, because there simply isn’t enough room for the participants and kids who want to come in and browse. The lack of space has also limited program enrollment. “The children's room is the same size as the one we had in our old « < 3 hildren's wing fund drive ready to take flight Phe at EE FE building on Main Street,” said children’s librarian Marilyn Rudolph. “It's more convenient than the old area was because we're very close to the area used. by parents, but it’s still cramped.” The library board of directors and administration hope to change thatwith anew wing added to the front of the library that will triple the size of the children’s room, and make the area more user-friendly, according to archi- tect Paul Rodda of Shavertown. “This isn't an architect's ego trip — we're playing this very con- servatively and using the library's money as efficiently as possible,” Rodda said. “In addition to mak- ing the exterior of the new wing conform to the original architec- ture, I have divided the children's wing into three areas. Roughly a third will be used for Story Hour and children’s programs, a third for audio-visual and electronic re- sources and a third for the books and an area for browsing.” His plans also call for opening See LIBRARY, pg 8 Township is stymied on 'eyesore' cleanups By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff KINGSTON TOWNSHIP - Rice Ave. inTrucksville is a quiet neigh- borhood of neat homes on well- kept lots, whose owners are proud of their properties. The street ends in the woods, where kids have built a tree house. Residents of the dead-end street have been trying since 1989 to get the township to help get two lots ¢leaned up, a home with peeling paint and junk in the front, back and side yards, and an aban- donéd mobile home set up on rickety pilings and two 4 x 4's. Paint has peeled down to the bare wood on the white bungalow at 83 Rice Ave., whose owner of record is Donald Cool, according to zoning officer Ben Gorey. Cool's stepson, Douglas Vankeuren, Jr., 34, died in the home August 8 of a suspected heroin overdose. A child's inflatable pool full of water, two lawn mowers under a small blue tarp and a black car sit near the front porch, which tilts precariously at one corner and is supported by two shaky-looking columns. In the narrow side yard, a pile of lumber topped with an old toboggan lean against the house. The back porch, accessible by a rickety set of stairs, is crowded with trash cans, tires, a roll of wire, at least six lawn chairs and other junk. Below it, the rem- nants of a rusty old swing set, a bicycle frame, several garden tools and other unidentifiable items sit next to the cellar door, which has a broken glass pane. A dark blue van with no back window has sat in the back yard for several years, neighbors say. FR A Sa SE POST PHOTO/GRACE R. DOVE The rear porch and yard of this home at 83 Rice Ave. are cluttered with old tires, lawn chairs, a rusty swing set and other items. Neighbors have asked township officials to make the owner clean it up. Neighbors say the home has suffered two fires within the past 10 vears. While standing on the front porch of a home diagonally across the street from the Cool home, a reporter visiting the neighborhood Sept. 7 could plainly hear a man’s voice utter a stream of expletives. Owned by either William or Colette Heck, the mobile home at 81 Rice Ave. is set up on several cinder block pillars which lean crazily, with two unstable looking See EYESORES, pg. 8 * Board members surprised property survey lacking By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff DALLAS - School board mem- bers were aghast to learn that the district doesn’t have a complete survey of the 100-acre plot of land housing the Dallas Elementary, middle and high schools. Paul DiGillio of Quad Three Groups, who is completing the studies for a proposed new el- ementary school, reported the lack of a survey at the board's regular Sept. 9 work session. Only 25 percent of the campus has been surveyed, he said. -,«“You mean we have more than $60 million in equity up there on the campus and no survey? This is disgraceful!” said board mem- ber Joe Kunec. “The district didn't have to have it done in the past, so why should we have spent the money? John Litz fired back. “This should have been done a long time ago,” said solicitor Ben Jones, noting that the district's newest building is the Dallas El- ementary School, which was origi- nally a modular building set up in 1973. A boundary survey and topo- graphical study will cost the dis- trict approximately $15,400, DiGillio said. “This is a tough time of year to find a surveyor,” he added. “They're all tied up on other projects.” He noted the district doesn't need the survey immediately. Quad Three can complete the state-mandated paperwork (Plan- Con A and B) leading up to selec- tion of a building site and design of a new school. Quad Three will earn $28,000 for completing Plan- Con A and B. II the district builds a new school with Quad Three as archi- tect, the company will earn six percent of the total cost of the project, which has been estimated at $6-7 million He asked the board to appoint a committee to help with the Plan- Con study of the district's grade structure and curriculum, sug- gesting that it be composed of two Westmoreland teachers, one Dal- las Elementary teacher, one mem- ber of the Citizens’ Advisory Com- mittee, three members of the com- munity, tworepresentatives of the Westmoreland PTO and one rep- resentative of the Dallas Elemen- tary PTO. Wycallis said he would contact the building principals for names of possible committee members. The board also discussed in- vesting any municipal bond money which it receives for the building project into a bond fund, which can generale up to $500,000 in interest. Members will meet with See SCHOOL BOARD, pg 8 Supervisors end banon new permits in Crown Hill By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP - The supervisors unanimously voted to end the ban on issuing building permits in Crown Hill Village at their regular Sept. 3 meeting. The ban was enacted several years ago after several homeowners’ wells were found to be contaminated with fecal coliform bacteria. Each of the 30 lots has its own well and on-site septic unit. The supervisors also cited a long-standing dispute over own- ership of the development's three roads — narrow, rutted dirt tracks barely wide enough for a car to pass through — as another reason to limit building in Crown Hill. The developer had originally listed Crown, Hill and Farmview drives as “certain lots in Crown Hill,” then allowed them to go for the sheriffs tax sale. No one bought the roads, which then were transferred to the county's reposi- torylist, asort oflegal limbo which doesn't define who actually owns them - the county or the town- ship. the For the past two years the county and the township’ hdve attempted to hammer out an agreement for one or the other to. take the roads over. i According to zoning officer Art Owen, the township has found out that the county owns the roads. “Before anyone can get a building permit from us, they must first get a driveway permit from the county,” he said. iN “As far as we're concerned, both issues — the wells and the roads - have been resolved and we don't want to get into litigation by: con- tinuing to limit building permits there,” said chairman Bill Miller. “If we refuse to issue building See FRANKLIN TWP. pg 8 HB Redemption! Mountaineers bounce back to shut out Meyers, look ahead to Nanticoke. Pg 9: HW Fairest at fair Luzerne County Fair queen chosen from 10 hopefuls. Pgi1. INDEX 14 Pages 2 Sections Calendar............c.c... 14 Classified............... 12-13 Crossword.................. 14 EQHONAIS. cco simian: 4 Obituaries.................. 12 SChOOL:......i. che vserienin 11 SPOS... coiliintiinid 9-10 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING The Dallas Post MAILING LABEL- Please enclose this label with any address changes, and mail to The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612-0366
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