Dallas, PA Wednesday, January 6, 1999 4 The Dallas Post i EDITORIALS Rec center represents more than a few acres of land = bag x ® Ron - Good things are brewing for the Back Mountain on the recreation front, and we hope they will result in creation of a regional recreation area that can meet the needs of an active, growing population. *. Anyone involved in youth sports, or who takes part in sutdoor recreation, knows the region is woefully short on places to safely and conveniently play a game of baseball, take a hike or ride a bike. Yes, we are grateful to have Frances Slocum, State Park, which offers many opportunities, but an area the size of ours can have so much more. Until now, though, it seemed the idea of six, seven or mére municipalities joining forces to meet common needs was a pipedream, some- thing that happens somewhere else, but never here. It may be fime to cast off that negativism and enter a new era. - If Back Mountain Recreation Inc. successfully gains control of the 80 acres of land now under consideration, we could have new baseball and soccer fields, outdoor basketball and tennis Courts, hiking and mountain bike trails, picnic areas and perhaps even an indoor facility with courts and — if enough money can be found to build it — a swimming pool. Let's not make the mistake of thinking this would be a place just for competitive sports and body builders. In addition to ~ running and jumping, shooting and throwing, a rec park could offer space for dance classes, adult education, bird watching and a host of activities that make life a little more rewarding. Maybe we're getting a bit ahead of things, but we can’t help be excited by the prospects. From concept to completion, it won't be easy to pull together the diverse interests of the ‘communities, organizations and individuals who need to work together to pull off this ambitious. But with a committed group “of people working toward a common goal, it is possible to put together perhaps the largest cooperative project in history in the Back Mountain. They can certainly count on our support. We'll miss Welcome Wagon, and its representative, too An era of sorts has come to an end in the Back Mountain. Bkanor Crinnion won't be coming to your home anymore. If “you moved into or within Back Mountain, or had a child while living here, you've probably met Eleanor, who has visited hundreds of homes since 1977 as the local representative for Welcome Wagon International. She has served through thick and thin — and several ownership changes for Welcome Wagon _— but even her good humor and persistence couldn’t overcome ‘the latest changes, which have brought Welcome Wagon to an “end. It seems the company that owns Welcome Wagon feels it’s better off sending in a coupon booklet than Eleanor and her counterparts nationwide. Jr ~ Perhaps that’s because in many places, it has become more “and more difficult to find someone to take on the task of introducing new residents to their neighborhoods. There just aren't that many Eleanor Crinnions — even-tempered, consci- entious, genuinely helpful individuals — around. It's too bad. Our busy, impersonal world needs the people and institutions that help stitch together the bonds of commu- nities. In this case, perceived efficiency has won out over personal contact. The Back Mountain, and the company that has ended Welcome Wagon, will both suffer a little as a result. And, if you miss Eleanor, don’t worry. You'll probably see her and her pets at the next Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction. LEGISLATORS DIRECTORY State Officials Federal Officials State Senator Charles D. Lemmond (Republican) (717) 675-3931 e-mail: smurphy@pasen.gov 22 Dallas Shopping Ctr., Memo- rial Hwy., Dallas PA 18612-1231 Representative Paul E. Kanjorski (Democrat) Wilkes-Barre: 825-2200 Washington: (202) 225-6511 e-mail: paul.kanjorski@hr.house.gov # 400M, 7 N. Wilkes-Barre Blvd., Wilkes-Barre PA 18702 or 2353 Rayburn Building, Washington, DC 20515 State Representative George Hasay (Republican) 287-7505 or 542-7345 or 474- 2276 or 477-3752 144 North Mountain Boulevard, Mountaintop PA 18707 Hasay’s district encompasses: Harveys Lake, Lehman Town- ship, Jackson Township, Lake Township, Franklin Township, Ross Township, and Dallas Township's north voting district. Senator Arlen Specter (Republican) Wilkes-Barre: 826-6265 Washington: (202) 224-4254 e-mail: senator_specter@specter.senate.gov I'16 South Main Street, Wilkes- Barre PA 18701 or 711 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Washington, DC 20510 ; State Representative Phyllis Mundy (Democrat) 283-9622 or 655-3375 Suite 113, 400 Third Avenue, Kingston PA 18704 Mundy’s district encompasses: Dallas Borough, Dallas Township except for the north voting district, and Kingston Township. Senator Rick Santorum (Republican) Scranton: 344-8799 Washington: (202) 224-6324 Fax: (202) 228-4991 e-mail: senator@santorum.senate.gov 527 Linden St., Scranton, PA 18503 120 Russell Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 The Dallas Post Published Weekly By Bartsen Media, Inc. P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 717-675-5211 Charlotte E. Bartizek ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER OFFICE MANAGER Ronald A. Bartizek PUBLISHER Jessica Appolo ; ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC Kylie Shafferkoetter REPORTER Olga Kostrobala CLASSIFIED/TYPESETTING Ruth Proietto PRODUCTION MANAGER [FriNTED WITH Sta SOY INK - Member PUBLISHERS ANSOCIATION Do you know where this old foundation is? Hint, you probably drive past it often. Photo by Ron Bartizek. The economic Howard Grossman Are there opportunities to at- tract more economic development to Back Mountain communities or any other suburban commu- nity in northeastern Pennsylva- nia? This challenging question asks local governmental officials to determine whether or not the tax base can be balanced with more economic development than is normally attributable to what are often termed “bedroom” com- munities. How can these types of communities position themselves to be attractive for economic growth? It will be challenging and daunt- ing to adopt a policy to attract new economic development, particu- larly business parks or office parks if that is what is desired in subur- ban northeastern Pennsylvania. Clearly, strip commercial devel- opment has occurred, some shop- ping center development, but very limited industrial development or Library news pd Nancy Kozemchak The Back Mountain Memorial Library book shop held its grand opening on November 7 and the volunteers who manage the busi- ness of the shop are very pleased with the public interest in it. They have decided to open the book shop on Mondays also, due to public interest. The hours on Monday will be Sharing taxes could aid development even high rise apartments which are tax generators. Needless to say, these uses of land may not be desired and not every available tract of land is useful for these purposes. Most of the economic develop- ment where jobs have been sub- stantially created have gone in to industrial or business parks in other locations in Wyoming Val- ley, Greater Scranton and other places. However, is should be noted that a major industrial park exits in what is defined as a bed- room community in Mountaintop where the Crestwood Industrial Park is located. Furthermore, in Greater Scranton in the Clarks Summit area, what may be de- fined as an office park has been situated. If a policy is established in the future and some effort is under- taken to help balance the tax base, careful attention must be placed on the use and management of land and a plan should be pre- pared which covers these types of contingencies. There is an absence of planning in'many places across northeastern Pennsylvania. While residential development has been established as a major use of land in suburban parts of the region, and while commercial develop- ment has occurred by happen- stance, attention should be: di- rected to the need for long-range planning with a cooperative partnershp between and among the municipalities in suburban areas such as the Back Mountain. Clearly, as development con- tinues in these types of areas, associated services are required. These include police, fire, educa- tional and a variety of other ser- vices which are administered by different types of institutions. The school district, the county, and the local government are all ben- eficiaries of the balancing of the tax base. Infact, while the school district includes several munici- palities, and therefore, is a form of tax base sharing, wherever a ma- jor commercial structure is lo- cated, as the law reads today, only that municipality benefits ina tax sense. Tax pay sharing is a func- tion which has been used in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, the Hackensack Meadows, where the Meadowlands Stadium is located and several other places. Tax base sharing was studied by the Pennsylvania Economy League several years ago, but no action was forthcoming. As policy changes and perhaps new economic development oc- curs in the Back Mountain and elsewhere, tax base sharing should be seriously considered as a tech- nique for shared responsible plan- ning and development purposes: The land use movement in Pennsylvania is being spurred by a new report by the Pennsylvania 21st Century Environment Com- mission which came up with 240 recommendations for action. Their primary focus was on land use management. A group called 10,000 Pennsylvanians, headed by the former executive director of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, is further stirring the pot to encourage a statewide focus on land use and growth management. These twin towers represent a strong and continuing focus on issues of importance to the future of Pennsylvania and certainly the future of suburban areas such as the Back Mountain and others which dot the northeastern Penn- sylvania landscape. Planning is a basic requirement if northeastern Pennsylvania is to be competitive economically, in quality of life and in land use management as we quickly ap- proach the new Millennium of the 21st century. Howard Grossman is Executive Director of the Economic Develop- ment Council of Northeastern Penn- sylvania. He lives in Dallas. Book shop busy, will open Mondays . the same as Wednesdays, 1-8 p.m. The Monday sales will begin on January 4. The committee is al- ways looking for more volunteers to man the shop for a few hours each week. Information can be obtained by calling the library. The special holiday hours sales were received and well attended, and concluded on Wednesday, De- cember 30. The 1999 library auction com- mittee will hold the first meeting on Thursday, Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the community room at the library. The chairmen for the 53rd auction will be John and Susan Oswalt. Karen Boback will again be chair of the antiques committee A = and will again accept anti do- nations and she has started to purchase some special antiques. Ruth Tetschner and Ed Johnson will be chairs of the auction book booth; Peggy Harvey will, once again be in charge of new goods and will welcome any donations; as always, books and odds and ends will be accepted at the li- brary for the auction whenever the library is open. The 1999 dates are July 8, 9, 10 & 11, Thursday through Sunday. New memory books: “The Norton Anthology of English Lit- erature, Volume 1, Sixth edition is given in memory of Irene Sheplock Thomas presented by her neigh- bors in Loyalville. The book in- Bursting with Back Movnfain news The Dallas Post a hometown paper you can feel good about cludes ‘The middle Donaldson /Davis, ‘The sixteenth century’, Smithy Lewalski; ‘The early seventeenth century’, Adams/Logan; and The restoration and the eighteenth century; Monk /Lipking. the gen- eral editor of this volume is M.H. Abrams of Cornell University. ages’, “The Norton Anthology of En- glish Literature, Volume 2, Sixth edition is given in memory of Dr. Robert H. Brown by Lee and Nancy el Eckert. The book includes ‘The romantic period’, Abrams}/ Stillinger; ‘The victorian age, Ford/ Chris and ‘The twentieth century; Daiches/Stallworthy. General editor is M.H. Abrams, professor of English at Cornell.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers