Dallas, Pennsylvania The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 February 6 to February 12, 2003 United We Stand Vol. 114 No. 6 this issue BRIDE & GROOM Special section inside SPORTS Lake-Lehman grapplers advance to state quarters. Pg 9. LAST CHANCE! Check out what makes them tick. Pages 4-5. 50 Cents Dallas Twp. police get most of their demands in arbitration award By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff DALLAS TWP. — After more than a year of arbitration between the Dallas Township Board of Supervisors and the Dallas Township Police Officers’ Associ- ation, both parties accepted an award that weighed heavily in the seven offi- cers’ favor. “The police department was satisfied,” said Brian Feeney, representative for the Dallas Township Police Officers’ As- sociation. “The arbitrator ultimately Could traffic in Dallas 0 ‘round and ‘round? gave (us) somewhere around a 5 per- cent raise and he eliminated the 50 per- cent co-pay for health care.” Feeney said when the previous con- tract expired December 31, 2001, and the two entities sat down to negotiate a new contract, the association and the township couldn't come to agreement on those two issues. Feeney said the officers’ association wanted to be brought up to the same pay level as policemen in the surround- ing municipalities of Dallas Borough and Kingston Township. “They were getting paid a lot more than we were and Dallas Township is 22 square miles whereas Dallas Bor- ough is two square miles. We thought we should get paid at least what they were,” said Feeney. Feeney said in the end, the arbitrator awarded the officers what amounted to an average 5 percent raise. The arbitration award contains salary increases ranging from 3 percent to 7.5 percent per year, depending on the ex- By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff DALLAS — As discussion about traffic congestion at the center of Dallas Borough went ‘round and ‘round, that pattern emerged as a possible future path for cars and trucks. At Monday's public meeting between borough council and the hopeful developer of a large [J complex in Dallas Town- ship, Chuck Mattei, district en- gineer for the state Department of Transportation (PennDOT), suggested the idea of a round- about to ease the troubled “five points” intersection. “It would give the best bang for your buck; traffic is always moving and it has a calming as- pect,” said Mattei. Mattei suggested creating a round traffic pattern in the cen- ter of Dallas as an alternative to making Lake Street one-way. The meeting was part of a process in which the developer gains a highway occupancy per- y mit from PennDOT, which must e granted before the plan can move ahead. “We've been looking for an ide- al place in Northeast PA,” to construct a roundabout, said Mattei. He said communities in- terested in a traffic circle have been going through a candidacy process. Mattei explained a roundabout removes the need for lights. In- stead, cars traveling on streets that feed into the main down- town intersection would be free to enter the circle surrounding the roundabout at any time. Mattei said a roundabout could handle the levels of traffic present in Dallas, and he could put it into the department's 12- year schedule, due for revision this spring and summer. “How does that tie into what the developer wants to do?” asked one audience member. “Well it would tie in perfectly if you had a longer time frame, but it's not going to help him in the short term,” Mattei respond- ed. For now, changing Lake Street See ROUNDABOUT, pg 7 Opposition voiced to Lake Street as one-way By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff DALLAS — In his continuing effort to move ahead with the de- velopment of a “big box” retail store on 50 acres of land in Dal- las ‘Township, J. Naparlo, ap- peared before the Dallas Bor- ough Council to again discuss traffic congestion at the main Dallas intersection. This time, at the request of council, the state Department of Transportation (PennDOT) joined the conversa- tion to lend insight into the bor- ough’s options. The “five points” currently op- erates at a level of service D in e evenings and.on Saturday. ith the addition of the develop- ment planned for the former Yal- ick farm at the Route 415/118 intersection, service would de- grade to a level F. PennDOT uses an A-F scale to rate conges- tion, much like school grades. “Their (the developer's) recom- mendation is to turn one of our streets one-way,” said John Oliv- er, Vice President of Dallas Bor- ough Council. “They have pre- sented some evidence that would indicate that probably would alleviate a lot of the situa- “I think what you're _ asking for is land * use planning. It's beyond PennDOT, it’s really a land use issue.” Charles Mattei PennDOT engineer tion. However the people that live on that street and the people that drive school buses on that street and the people that come up and down from College Mis- ericordia may not agree with that,” Oliver asked Charles Mattei, District Engineer for PennDOT, if there were any other options or plans already in the works for the area. Mattei responded that there were no current plans to ease the traffic burden in Dallas. Mattei added that PennDOT has. not done any long-term planning because the intersection is still functioning at an acceptable lev- See LAKE STREET, pg 7 perience level of the officer. The lowest salary, Cadet A, is $22,900 in the first year of the four-year agreement, and rises to $25,050 in the final year. The highest paid officer, Patrolman IV, is paid $32,590 the first year and $38,000 the last. The other sticking point, Feeney said, was the medical co-pay for officers hired after 1997. The previous contract stipulated that those full-time officers would pay for half their medical bene- fits, while the other officers paid noth- ing. “The only people (employed by the township) that had to pay half their health care were (officers) Fitch and Rosencrans,” said Feeney. Feeney said the co-pay issue was one of fairness. “We didn’t have a problem paying a percentage of our health care as long as it included everybody that worked for the township,” said Feeney. But, he said, the township was asking two officers to pay for half of their See TOWNSHIP POLICE, pg 8 POST PHOTO/ERIN YOUNGMAN Irving, Mihoko and May Stettner, of Dallas, were among many people taking advantage of pleasant weekend weather at Frances Slocum State Park. Story and more photos about winter activities there on page 8. Insect destroying hemlocks at lake [Fm By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff HARVEYS LAKE — The wool- ly adelgid insect is wreaking deadly havoc on hemlocks in the Back Mountain, but here, be- cause of the close proximity to the lake, regulations prohibit spraying incecticides as protec- tion. Residents are left wonder- ing if there is anything they can do to save their trees. Concerned by what they call an “insect infestation” of the borough’s hemlocks, members of the Harveys Lake Protective As- sociation have planned a public meeting with Urban Forester Vinnie Cotrone for February, hoping to find explanations and solutions. The meeting will take place Tuesday, Feb. 11 at Grotto Piz- za, starting at 7:30 p.m. See HEMLOCKS, pg 3 Fa Tony Kalinosky of Kalinosky Landscaping pointed out the woolly adelgid’s egg casings covering the tree's needles. Expected insurance cost reductions for Lake-Lehman fail to materialize POST PHOTO/ERIN YOUNGMAN LEHMAN TWP. — An expected reduc- tion in expenses paid to the Northeast Pennsylvania Health Trust never came to fruition this month, although Lake- Lehman School Board Members say that’s what they were promised. During the January work session, Mem- ber Charles Boytin questioned if the dis- ict had seen a decrease in rates as romised last year by Andrew P. Marko, e trust's executive director. That antici- pated decrease, he continued, played a EE EE IEA role in the district's negotiations for a new five-year teachers contract. The consortium provides health-care coverage for all Luzerne County school districts except Hazleton Area and Crest- wood. It is funded by district contributions and is run by representatives of member districts’ labor and administration. Member Moderno Rossi said he spoke to Marko recently and was told not to expect a decrease until July. In other business: AT e High School Principal Michael Gokay consideration regarding the refurbishment of stadium bleachers. The low bid of $158,300 was given by Recreation Re- source of Kennett Square, Pa. Although no contract has yet been awarded, other bids implemented at the high school. Among came in at $201,000, $297,000 and $382,000. The low bid for replacing the bleachers was $297,000. presented an overview of a new curricu- lum guide being designed by district offi- cials. Gokay also reviewed several class changes he would like to eventually see them is the creation of several new classes including an SAT prep class, honors biolo- gy and music theory. He is also looking into eliminating several classes and mak- ing others independent study courses. e Four bids have been submitted for by Kalen Churcher This article appeared in original form in the Times Leader. 24 Pages, 3 Sections Calendar............. Sediani is 16 Classified.................. 13-15 Crossword..........ccise.iveis 10 Editorials... ........ riccreassesines 6 ODbIUANIES. coc. veneersnensnsiasns 2 SCROOL iss. veins smrramass 11 SPOS... Lil niians 9-10 CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING E-mail: dallaspost@Ileader.net 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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