L Vol. 115 No. 43 Another chapter in the great Back Mountain rivalry, Page 7 I sil The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 October 24 to October 30, 2004 of 81 bw POST = SERVING THE COM MUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Wood planking cut to look like stone dec- orates the The Gunn house in Lehman. Historic homes show styles of their times By CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Post Correspondent Like many busy parents, Carl Handman, a Wilkes-Barre architect, drives through the Back Mountain to and from his son’s soccer games. On the way, wearing his “architect glasses” he has found some unique treasures. Most of the homes built in the Back Mountain prior to 1900 were carpenter- builder homes or homes built from a pat- tern. “The builders would see or order a blueprint and build the home,” explains Handman. : But his particular interest is homes that were built by local architects and the archi- tects themselves. His latest focus is on Back Mountain houses built from 1875 to 1920, when he said there really wasn’t much going on architecturally outside of the metropolitan areas of the country. But he did find some here that were interesting. “The most unique houses I have come across are in Lehman,” says Handman. A group of houses there used a style of design that made wood planks look like Developer, neighbors spar over plan for 100 lots By CAMILLE FIOTI Post Correspondent DALLAS TWP. — Developer John Halbing tried his best at Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting to reas- sure neighbors of his proposed new 100-lot development that his plans will not harm their property. The entrance to the proposed development will be across from Ondish Hills on Ondish Road. A sec- ondary, emergency exit is required, and will utilize Gypsy Lane, a private dirt road. Bob Mitchell’s home is off of Gypsy Lane. He expressed concern about a large section of wetlands on the pro- posed site. “The swamps are bulging with water. I've lived there for 10 years, and hunted there for 18 years. It’s never been as wet as it is now, since they built Sleepy Hollow (a nearby development). Every drop of water runs from Sleepy Hollow into. that swamp.” Halbing told Mitchell that runoff will be contained. “As a developer, I've been through very stringent requirements with the county, the state, DEP and the township as far as how we impact the wetlands,” he said. “The retention basin that we've used will hold back storm water and release it slowly so that it doesn’t negatively impact those wetlands. There are engineers and biologists who determine what we can do and can’t do. I follow the law.” ‘Mitchell argued, “Every drop of water from the new development, whether you release it an eyedropper at a time is going to go into that swamp.” Halbing pointed out that the runoff is coming from other neighborhoods in the area as well, not just Sleepy Hollow. “Wetlands do that. They retain water,” he said. Residents also cited concerns about increased traffic, danger to wildlife and loss of trees. Part of the 75-acre parcel is zoned agricultural, See DEVELOPMENT, pg 3 St. Therese’s Church looks ahead Msgr. J. Peter Crynes surveys the construction from the back yard of the rectory. A parking lot and handicap access will occupy the space below when the first phase of a renovation project is completed at St. Therese's Church. | Yo ov0d FOR THE POST/SANDY PEOPLES rare Cay Expanding parish embarks on parking, handicap access and other | improvements, but strives to maintain consistency with historic structure | By SANDY PEOPLES Post Correspondent stone. “No one seemed to know what or why this was, but I had seen this before at Washington's home in Mount Vernon and control the flow of runoff water going into Toby’s Creek, handicap parking, a two-stop elevator from the southwest corner parking area to the church level, a new front entry and plaza deck to restore the original entrance to the sanctuary. Air conditioning and other infra- structure upgrades, and renovations to Father Sammons Hall will provide more meeting space and a larger kitchen facility. Phase II will include a new rectory to be used as a residence for pastoral staff and private meeting rooms, a new 60-space upper parking area, and a tributed to the master plan,” said Crynes. “We also sent out surveys to everyone in the parish and made lists of priorities. The top priority was to maintain the architectural beauty of the original sanctuary, which was con- structed in 1928 using stone from area farms of our own parishioners. The next level of priorities had to do with meeting the changing needs of our growing families.” The renovation and expansion proj- ect will be done in two phases, each costing about $1.7 million. St. Therese’s has received diocesan approval to launch a capital campaign to finance the project. 9,900 square foot parish center with Phase I includes a new 24-space classrooms, meeting rooms and parish parking area with an extensive under- See ST. THERESE'S, pg 2 | ground storm water pipe system to See HOUSES, pg 3 Proposed lake speed limit tied up In review By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff While many churches find them- selves limited by declining attendance, the expanding 4,400 member congre- gation at St. Therese’s Church in Shavertown has outgrown its existing facilities and is renovating its facilities to keep up with the needs of the parish. . The pastor of St. Therese’s Church for the past 10 years, Msgr. J. Peter Crynes, is looking forward to meeting the changing needs of the congrega- tion with a plan for renovated facilities and other changes for convenience and accommodation. “More than 150 parishioners from five major committees have con- & HARVEYS LAKE — The plan to impose a 45 mile per hour daytime speed limit on the lake has been stalled by a bureaucratic snag about the use of radar to enforce it. “Our proposal has made it all the way through to final resolution,” said Richard Squiteri, who gathered support from organizations around the lake last year for the plan and has been shepherding it through the approval process. Squiteri said at the Oct. 19 meeting of Three-community recycling program earns a hefty grant the borough council that the holdup now is because the Fish and Boat Commission wants to study whether its officers can use radar, or if its use is restricted to the state police. Local police are not permitted to use radar to measure speed on roads. “They've tied up our 45 mile per hour petition” for 90 days while they look into See SPEED, pg 3 By PAUL LAZAR For The Post Three communities’ recycling efforts have earned a grant of $53,820 from the state Department of Environmental Protection. The grant, called a 904 Recycling Performance Grant, is based on total tons recycled and the overall recy- cling rate for the fiscal year 2002. The municipalities recycled 1,508 residential tons of commingled mate- rial and paper and 1,321 tons from businesses. “The more recycling in tons to the population, the more money you receive,” said Larry Spaciano, execu- tive director of the Dallas Area Municipal Authority, which operates the program that serves Dallas Borough and Dallas and Kingston townships. Although DAMA has received other grants in the past, this is the largest ever. Spaciano said the municipalities will each receive $5,000 from the funds, which they will use to offset the expense of their annual spring cleanups. “Some of the money will be used to develop a newsletter and a calendar,” said Spaciano. “The rest of it will go back into the different facets of the recycling program.” The compost program will benefit and more recycling bins will be pur- chased. Leftover funds will be used See RECYCLING, pg 3 V Inside The Post Girl Scouts visit Bent Blue will play ‘unplugged’ in Dallas y How To Reach Us 12 Pages, 1 Section Salem, explore ews: Calendar 12 House of the Page 12 thepost@leader.net trish sam jee 15 N. Main St. Ch h DE I TE I SUE SE SEY . 1H n . ETT Ba a pevenGanies What a way to say “thanks.” Executive Wilkes-Barre PA 18711 Obituaries ........... 5 recruitment firm awards a Corvette. Advertising: 829-7101 SChAOK iv viv vi dain visi 10 Subscriptions SOEs LL... 7-9 Page 6 Page 6 | .and Delivery: 829-5000 v C ay A A mA A BA
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