8 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Thursday,May 30, 2002 Hm EHC Ta d i POST PHOTO/ELIZABETH ANDERSON Lehman Township Patrolman John Young directs after-school traffic at Lehman Corners, one of the hot spots on Route 118. Blaze (continued from page 1) Dallas, West Wyoming, Jack- son Township, Luzerne, Kingston Township Ambulance and Medic 15 responded to the scene to provide extra water support to fight the blaze even though a hydrant was only about 100 to 150 feet away from the home. “All (the hydrants) are for is decorative purposes,” said Eck. “I guess they told the developer there had to be hydrants, but never said they had to be work- ing.” The issue of fire protection in Kingston Township has been a hot issue over the last two months. Waivers were granted by the Board of Supervisors for the Windsor Farms and Forest Acres subdivisions, allowing the developers of each subdivision to install hydrants which could be hooked up to a water system at a future time. Local private wa- ter companies have not been able to handle the additional wa- ter storage needed to provide fire protection to the developments. Eck said more manpower could have been dedicated to fighting the fire if the hydrant had been working, since crews had to be placed at Green Pond, a few hundred feet from the Mazur home, and along Manor Drive to pump water to firefight- ers. Firefighters used a 1,000-gal- lon tanker from Trucksville to fight the fire quickly, and had used up almost half of its water supply before other crews ar- rived. : “There was no delay, but if the fire progressed it would have been a major disaster if we would have run out of water,” said Eck. Rt. 118 (continued from. page 1) The House of Representatives recently approved House Bill 2410, a comprehensive piece of highway and work zone safety legislation designed to make work zones safer. It will impose stricter penalties for those who speed or drive aggressively in work zones. Under the new bill, a driver going 11 miles over the speed limit in a work zone could receive a 15-day driver's license suspension. “More PennDOT employees have been killed in the line of duty than state police officers,” Hasay said. “Last year, 14 peo- ple, both construction workers and motorists, were killed in work zone accidents.” Route 118 is a special project of Hasay's. He recalls accidents on this stretch when he attend- ed high school in Lehman. ~Hasay would like to put up unique signs, targeting the area and making motorists aware it is an accident-prone area. He would also like to see road snaps, a series ‘of grooves in the road edge that make noise when a car crosses over them, and center lane reflectors installed making the driver aware he is leaving his lane. Fly : bi POST PHOTO/TIMOTHY J. RAUB Firefighters worked to quell a blaze Tuesday at a home in the Cedar Lane subdivision. Lightning is believed to be the cause. “We need to do something different so the motorists know and are more attentive to this stretch of highway.” Rep. George Hasay (R-117) “We need to do something dif- ferent so the motorists know and are more attentive to this stretch of highway,” Hasay said. Charles Mattei, PennDOT 4-0 district engineer, said PennDOT has developed a program for the stretch of road and has put up about 70 signs in the last month, and eliminated two or three passing zones and will be putting in raised pavement markers, or reflectors on 18 miles of center line this summer. Mattei said the type of serious accident that is primarily occur- ring is the fixed object and head- on crash and road snaps will be placed in these crash clusters to alert drivers they are crossing the line. Lehman Township Patrolman John Young suggested a re- duced speed limit of 45 mph on Route 118 between Loyalville Road and Lehman Corners and a no-left-turn sign onto Loy- alville Road, where multiple skid marks extend for more than 100 feet. Excessive speed, aggressive driving and alcohol are felt to be the main factors in the accidents on Route 118. With Lake, Ross and Fairmount townships dis- solving their police departments, the state police must now cover these areas. Young feel this spreads their manpower too thin, making the officers un- available for speed enforcement. “Now the state police are han- dling dog calls,” said Young. Local police officers, frustrated by the state restrictions on radar guns, asked Hasay to push for their use by local law enforce- ment. “I think if you learned any- thing here today it’s that the po- lice, PennDOT and educators are doing all we can,” said Carol Crane, PennDOT safety press of- ficer. “The drivers must do their part. If people would behave themselves the police wouldn't §§ have to be everywhere.” Supervisors nix Windsor Farms KINGSTON TWP. — Citing concerns about water and a sec- ondary access, the Board of Su- pervisors unanimously voted Tuesday night to deny a prelimi- nary subdivision plan for the proposed Windsor Farms devel- opment. John Halbing, the developer, had planned to use individual wells for the 44 lots in the sub- division in the absence of an available public water supply. Halbing said he had attempted to purchase the water system of a nearby development, but had been unable to negotiate an ac- ceptable price. Halbing has contended in the past that a water study he com- missioned found more than ade- quate supplies to service the new homes. A fire in Cedar Lane Tuesday afternoon reinforced two other concerns about the new develop- ment — access and fire hy- drants. The supervisors had granted a waiver on the installa- tion of hydrants at their last meeting. It has also been sug- gested that Windsor Farms should have a second access road in case of emergency, and there have been discussions with neighboring Sunrise Es- tates regarding a connection that would be used only in emergencies, although no con- clusion has been reached. The supervisors have 15 days from the date of denial to list the reasons for their action, after which Halbing may appeal. Tell our advertisers you saw them in The Dallas Post. They'll appreciate it, and so will we. PP Discount Greeting at Cook’s Pharmacy Shavertown 20% OF NOW CARRYING DESIGNER GREETING CARDS ALL CARDS EVERYDAY Cards for Every Occasion & Holiday Gift Bags ® Invitations ® Wrapping Paper Thank You Notes ® Bows (Shavertown Location Only) [
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