L Vol. 114 No. 49 The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 Sem students are budding diplomats Page 13 December 7 to December 13, 2003 SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Developer buying Sunoco A Will pave way € . ) for ‘big box, and perhaps roundabout By ERIN YOUNGMAN & Post Staff DALLAS — The developer of the proposed “big box” retail de- velopment in Dallas Township is purchasing the closed Sunoco gas station in the center of Dallas Bor- ough. Business tax gets mixed reviews By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff KINGSTON TWP. — A pro- sed new tax might raise nds in the short run, but could have a detrimental affect on businesses — and tax re- ceipts — longer term. “Oh, my goodness!” was the first reaction of Dr. Anthony Li- uzzo, a professor of business and economics at Wilkes Uni- versity, when told of the “Busi- ness Privilege Tax.” Liuzzo lives in Kingston Township and is part owner of a business there. Liuzzo and his wife, Trudy, along with another partner own Travel Junction at North Main and East Center streets. Trudy Liuzzo said the small business, ready hit hard by a general de- @. in travel activity in recent years, would have a tough time absorbing the proposed tax. A legal notice published by the township last week pro- posed a tax of $500 to $600 an- nually. Trudy ILiuzzo said that amount would cause her to think about moving the busi- ness to another location. “We could easily go to Dallas,” she said, once her present lease runs out. “That would definite- ly be an incentive to move.” During a month of discussion on the 2004 budget, supervisors also had mentioned the possi- bility of restoring a property tax, which was abolished in See TAX, pg 3 V INsiDE THE PosT Dallas girls blow out defending 4A district champs. Page 3 14 Pages, 2 Sections Calendar V¥ How To Reach Us News: 675-5211 thepost@leader.net 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre PA 18711 Advertising: 970-7102 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000 Not only does the purchase pave the way for the Dallas Town- ship development, it also means PennDOT will have the necessary room to construct a roundabout at the congested intersection. According to PennDOT’s acting district executive, Bob Doble, the purchase is written into the per- mit the developer is required to obtain before he can move for- ward with construction of his de- velopment. “He’ll do it, I have no doubt property. Naparlo will also be responsible for demolishing the structure and removing the underground gas tanks, said Doble. The purchase will satisfy Pen- nDOT’s requirement that Naparlo keep traffic levels in Dallas Bor- ough from worsening as a result of his development. Doble said once Naparlo pur- chases the property and turns it over to PennDOT, it could either be used for construction of the L-L junior wins Miss PA Teen By M.G. GILLIGAN Post Correspondent tion. about that,” said Doble, about de- veloper J. Naparlo purchasing the roundabout, “or to eliminate it as See SUNOCO, pg 8 All for a good cause Chloe Kalna, right, enjoyed putting that whipped cream pie in Paulette Barney's face last week at the Lake-Lehman Junior High School's celebration of exceeding the Thanksgiving food drive collection goal. More photos on page 4. POST PHOTOS/M.B. GILLIGAN Library girds for state aid cuts J Programs, not personnel being looked at first for savings By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff DALLAS — Under the present state budget plan for 2004, the Back Moun- tain Memorial Library is likely to lose nearly $50,000 in funding. Inter-library loan and book purchasing are among the areas to be curtailed if the Pennsylvania budget passes as it now stands. The cuts will put the state’s contribu- tion near what it was before annual funding increases began in 2000. Im- proved services made since the increas- es began will likely suffer. Martha Butler, the library’s director, said the 2004 budget will likely endure a 50 percent cut in what was the state’s $95,100 contribution. That would put next year’s contributed amount at $47,550. The figure, she said, is near what the library was receiving annually prior to increases that began with the 2000 budget year. Before the increases, the state provid- ed $40,808, an amount, she said, that was not sufficient. “For at least five years, $40,808 is where we'd been at. We were underfund- ed,” she said. According to Butler, beginning in 2000, Governor Tom Ridge’s administra- tion began raising the state’s contribu- tion annually. So much so, that by 2003 the the figure had more than doubled. She said along with the increases came requirements that the library im- prove services, which it did. It increased the number of books pur- POST PHOTO/ERIN YOUNGMAN Leona Titman, Sweet Valley looked through the library's audio book collec- tion last week. With a looking cutback in state funding, library officials are considering cutbacks in some programs. chased annually, added children’s pro- grams and on-line internet access. As a result of the proposed 50 percent cut, some of those same items may be targeted for reduction. “It’s a little too soon to say what we’ll do (cut back) specifically,” said Butler, “(However) With a loss of funding, there’s going to be an effect.” She said the areas that will definitely be affected are inter-library loan, the number of books being purchased and magazine and newspaper subscriptions. On-line services are also being consid- ered for reduction. Butler said she doesn’t anticipate any of the library’s 11 employees will be laid off. “Hopefully, it won’t affect the staff,” she said. “I think it’s (the reduced amount is) going to put us at a standstill. It will kind of freeze us where we're at,” she said. The library’s total operating budget is $340,000. It gains income from several other sources, including Back Mountain municipalities and school districts. Mu- nicipalities generally give, she said, any- where from $500 to $5,000. Some municipalities are having its own budget woes. Kingston Township, which regularly donates to the library, had to cut its contribution due to its own unbalanced budget. At $4,500, Kingston Township’s subsidy was the largest of any municipality. The school districts are also in the See LIBRARY, pg 8 HUNTSVILLE — “T just did it on a whim. I never really expected this,” said 16-year-old Chelsea Mac- Dougall, the newly crowned Miss Pennsylvania Teen. “I had so much fun and I met a lot of people. The girls were all amazing, talented and full of charisma.” Chelsea was one of 169 girls in this year’s competi- | The Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA pageant was held : : % from November 28-30 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at Chelsea MacDougall’s reaction when she was named winner. See TEEN, pg 4 Gocheol appointment questioned By ERIN YOUNGMAN and MARK GUYDISH Post Staff DALLAS TWP. — The Dallas School District Board of Directors vot- ed unanimously December 2 to ap- point Dennis Gochoel to fill the vacan- cy left by a board member's Novem- ber1 resignation. Now it will be up to Judge Joseph Augello of the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas to decide if Gochoel will actually be the one to serve. The appointment was a surprise to many, including Gochoel, who thought the opening could only be filled by the court. “I'm excited, surprised and shocked, as much as anything,” said Gochoel about the appointment. School board members, including outgoing president Ernest Ashbridge, had said over the last several weeks that if the board didn’t appoint a re- placement for the vacancy within 30 days after it originated, the decision would be made by the courts. However, after newly elected board members Russell Bigus, Bruce Go- eringer, Gary Mathers and re-elected board members Deborah Morgantini and James Richardson were were sworn in by Luzerne County Judge Hugh Mundy, Frank Natitus made a motion to open the meeting to new business. Natitus then made the motion to ap- point Gochoel to fill the vacancy left See DALLAS, pg 3 Rec group interested in Cassie Green By ERIN YOUNGMAN Post Staff LEHMAN TWP. — The township has decided to hold-off on vacating Cassie Green Road. The board of su- pervisors said in October they would hand over ownership of the road to the owners of the adjoining proper- ties. Instead, the township will wait to see if Back Mountain Recreation, Inc. will be able to acquire the road and turn it into a walking trail. Brian Grove, executive director of Back Mountain Rec, said Wednesday that a number of legal questions have to be answered before the organiza- tion can take over the road. He said several lawyers are looking at three main questions pertaining to the idea, and that all of them have dif- ferent opinions. “My big question is, if we take own- ership of it, how much do we control it, in preventing owners’ access of it?” He said the lawyers are assessing whether the road could be used for both a trail and as a vehicular access- way to adjoining properties and if so, whether the group would bear the re- sponsibility and cost of maintaining the road for the vehicular traffic. The bottom line is, Grove said, the See TRAIL, pg 8
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