The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, August 30, 2000 Dissident board members suggest cost-savings possible By BILL GOODMAN Post Staff LEHMAN - The Lake-Lehman “board of school directors dis- cussed vendor search policies, authorized the preparation of five- year contracts for transportation providers, and filled several ex- tracurricular positions at a meet- ing held on August 24. Angelo DeCesaris called for the district tobe more aggressive when searching for contractors. “It's our responsibility to get the best services we can find,” he said. After spending an hour or two in the internet, DeCesaris said he had found a company that pro- vided a lower bid on transporta- tion software in the same cat- egory as what was currently being considered. He said national com- panies that could provide better services may miss local advertise- ments. Gary Miller, president of the board, responded that na- tional companies subscribe to services that find and forward these advertisements. Kathleen Williams, business manager, said she talked with the company DeCesaris had con- tacted, and discovered they were the same price as companies that offered bids. DeCesaris still wanted to wait on awarding the bid to Advanced Management Systems (AMS). Although DeCesaris, Lois Kopcha, Robert Allardyce, and Joseph Kapitula voted to wait, the other five board members voted to award the con- tract. DeCesaris brought up the same issue when the board was to vote on awarding Epix Internet Ser- vices a contract for the 2000- 2001 schoolyear. “I'm stuck now,” he said. DeCesaris said Epix may be the only provider that covers the area, but he felt options should be looked into. The board voted unanimously to approve the con- tract, but Allardyce said he did so only to keep service to the schools from being interrupted. In other business, the board authorized Attorney Peter Sav- age, the district solicitor, to pre- pare five-year contracts for bus contractors as well as van and car providers. The board was sup- posed to award the contracts as well, but many members did not Financing —— (continued from page 1) more advantageous to the dis- trict,” he said. The district cur- rently has a surplus of about $3 million. The additions to the Ross El- ementary Building and moving the middle grades to the high school are currently estimated to cost $11,230,000. Bids for the Ross Elementary addition are al- most $1 million more than ex- pected. Kopcha had said the school may need to borrow than $10 million if the construction does not come in on budget. Last year, the school board heard presentations from four banks, including PNC Securities. PNC Securities provides services to several other school districts in the area, including Dallas, Hanover, and Nanticoke. “IF NOT YOU THEN WHO? IF NOT NOW THEN WHEN?’ Join “DEFEND OUR WATERSHED” MEETINGS: Thursday Evenings 6:30 p.m. Commissioners Mtg. W-B Courthouse RE EVERYONE INVITED “We haven't even gotten into change orders yet. God knows what this will cost.” Robert Allardyce School director want to do so without reviewing the contracts first. Jim Barrall thanked the board for their confi- dence in the providers. The longer contracts will allow transporta- tion companies to secure loans for equipment and plan for the future more effectively. Many of the transportation providers have worked with the Lake-Lehman school district for years. Repairs to the middle level building roof are underway. The roof of the gym was finished on Friday, and Robert Roberts, in- terim superintendent of schools, said the shop and cafeteria areas would be done while school is in session without any safety risk to the students. Douglas Trumbower, the district's architect, said that bids have come in for the renovations of the Ross Elementary school building. “It was a pretty good set of bids,” he said. If the district would choose the lowest bidders in each category, the ‘price totaled almost $3,500,000, about $1 million over original estimates. Allardyce was dismayed at these new numbers. “We haven't even gotten into change orders yet. God knows what this will cost,” he said. In most categories, which in- cluded general contracting, venti- lation, plumbing, electrical and food service construction, the bids did not vary widely. The bids for asbestos removal ranged from $45,844t05106,325. Trumbower said he was not sure why the difference in those numbers was so great. The school board also awarded several extracurricular positions, including Anthony Richard Gorgone as athletic director and Thomas A. Williams as assistant athletic director, Sandra Reno as girl's volleyball coach and Michael Tribendis as assistant volleyball coach. The board also appointed eight substitute teachers, two teacher associates and three vol- unteer golf assistants. ierhack | sang Local 1 red for Saf 2 POST PHOTO/BILL GOODMAN Lt. Governor Mark Schweiker, left, shakes hands with Chris Cave, + chairman of the day shift Safety Committee. Safety award (continued from page 1) Employees are also excited by the award. “It's nice to be recog- nized for the hard work,” said Dave Baloga, chairman of the Safety committee on midnight shift. “Other companies that won the award have been larger.” The Central Safety Committee helps maintain the safety pro- gram and keep employees in- volved. The committee acts as a sounding board for the employ- ees, and the board even addresses issues not directly related to safety. Members of the safety committee also perform plant in- spections once a month on each shift. Employees at OPM attend monthly training sessions, and learn about topics such as fire- extinguisher use, hazardous ma- terials labeling identification, and safe equipment maintainence. Telethon (continued from page 1) events we do,” said Patty Vergetti, District Director of MDA. “Sean was chosen because he has a great personality and tempera- ment. He's only eight years old and he does a terrific job. We've had him all over the place this summer. We visited all of the local fire departments and so many other places. He has a great tem- perament to handle all of this picture-taking,” she added. Although Sean Ziller is fre- quently the center of attention, Brian doesn’t mind. “Brian has a wonderful, positive attitude and has found his niche as an MDA volunteer,” Wilkinson noted. “He brings sunshine to all he touches as they work together to find a cure for this neuromuscular dis- ease,” she added. Brian, who is an eighth grade student at Dallas Middle School, is a member of the Emerald Isle Step Dancers from St. Stephen'’s Episcopal Church in Wilkes- Barre. “Last year I put up a sign and a lot of the kids volunteered to dance. So, we performed at the telethon,” said Brian. “Itwasalot of fun,” he added. Brian has helped out with other MDA benefits over the years. “We had a carnival a few years ago. Brian also ran a car wash at our home one year,” said Mrs. Ziller. “He's always been terrific with his brother.” Brian and Sean are not the only Zillers who are prominent volunteers. “We have a lot of nieces and nephews who also help out,” said Susan. “It’s areal fam- : ily affair.” In addition to that, Alfred Ziller, the boys’ father, is one of the local telethon coordinators this year. “Alfred and Gary Mullen, who are strictly volunteers, are in charge of recruiting and coordinating volunteers for the telethon. They schedule the phone workers and all the behind-the-scene workers. It is a lot of work,” explained Vergnetti. “We're still scrambling for volunteers for this year. We need people to work the phones for the Monday morning and evening shifts,” she added. Last year the telethon raised $421,209 locally. “It was a terrific year,” noted Vergetti. “Our goal every year, as Jerry Lewis says, is one dollar more.” * You can still be part of this year's Muscular Dystrophy tele- thon activities by calling 1-877- 632-6955 or you can tune in and make a donation. The telethon will be televised live on WNEP Channel 16 from 9 p.m. Sunday through 6:30 p.m. Monday. Fieldhouse (continued from page 1) people twoyears ago. At that time, the district developed athletic fields on land that it had owned for decades, but had not used. In the intervening time, neighbors had used the land for gardens and other personal activities. “Now everybody is up in arms that Dal- las School District can’t use prop- erty in a manner in which they intend,” Jones said. Dr. Gilbert Griffiths, superin- tendent of schools, said Monday that UGI has completed the work behind the fields and power had been routed away from the sta- dium area. UGI was removing the old poles on Monday. Because power has been re- routed, construction of the fieldhouse is progressing. The steel for the front entrance has been put up, as well as some of the trusses for the roof of the fieldhouse. Griffiths said seating Order a scho Start a student subscription to: Don't leave home without The Post. ol-year subscription to The Dallas Post. Your away-from-home student will get The Post from September to May at these special rates: In Pennsylvania, New York or New Jersey - $15 All other states - $17 Call to charge —- We accept VISA/Mastercard for the bleachers will be installed on Tuesday, August 29, and the roof trusses would be finished Tuesday as well. Attorney Bruce Phillips said he and the neighbors were moving forward with their lawsuits. “We're preparing two different lawsuits at the state level, and a single, if not multiple lawsuit at the federal level,” he said. Phillips is focusing on the state lawsuits first, and he said they will take another week to prepare. The new lawsuits involve 20 owners along Westminster Drive. Almost all those named in the upcoming law- suits were part of the original legal action. Jones said Phillips has objected to other aspects of the district's land development. The district owns a strip of land next to Phillips, and installed a gate on the fence that surround the new fields so access could be gained if neces- sary. A compromise was reached, with the gate locked so that stu- dents cannot use the area to walk to school or games. Jones said Phillips also has sued the district on a claim that dust from the construction projects has dirtied his pool. Griffiths previously said UGI was responsible for the placement of the poles behind the fields, not the school district. UGI stated it is filling a request from its cus- tomer, the Dallas school district. “We have all the necessary paper- work to comply with thatrequest,” said Joe Rymar, public relations representative at UGI. Rymar was not aware of anyone other than the press contacting the company about the telephone poles. “I believe we proceeded in a right and proper manner,” Jones said, adding that he was still in- vestigating all aspects of the is- Sue. NA Q) | Totally Free Checking. No Monthly Fee. No Minimum Balance. No Per Check Charges. E. Lee Beard, President & CEO Member FDIC Do The Math! 0=0 Ox Months = Annual Cost At First Federal, you can expect a difference in everything we do...including checking. We know that there are plenty of banks in the area...and hundreds of checking accounts. 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