L
Vol. 115 No. 51
J High IW,
basketball
action.
KNIGHT
Page 7
Log
The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889
December 19 to December 25, 2004
SERVING TH
E COMMUNITIES
OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Trucksville water tank may go in the woods
The plan to build a 150-foot
tower along Manor Drive was
not well-received by neighbors.
By RONALD BARTIZEK
Post Staff
KINGSTON TWP. — Responding
0 complaints that a water tower
placed along Manor Drive would be
ugly, Aqua Pennsylvania has found a
new, more remote site.
The company has an option to
buy a small piece of a lot off Hilltop
Drive, in the new Friedman subdivi-
sion.
Pennsylvania general
hopes the approximately 100 foot
square space will be acceptable to
neighbors and the supervisors.
“It looks favorable to me,”
Subasic said. “It’s higher, so the
tower can be lower.”
In September, Subasic and other
Rich Aqua
manager,
Subasic,
company officials proposed building
a tower up to 150 feet tall alongside
the company’s well station at Manor
Drive and Howell Road. Examples
had a “bulb” at the top of a pedestal.
Subasic said the bulb would be
about 35 feet in diameter and 30
feet high, and the stem would be
about 12 feet in diameter.
The tank needs to be 1260 to
1280 feet above sea level, and the
Manor Drive site met that require-
ment. But, confronted with opposi-
tion, Subasic said it was not the
only option. Subsequent searches
turned up the new location.
The tank now being planned
would be a “standpipe” design, uni-
formly 30 feet in diameter and
about 80 feet high. Since it will be
surrounded by trees, it will be less
visible, particularly in spring and
See WATER, pg 3
A miracle in Bethlehem
The cast of “Miracle on B
ethlehem Street,”
FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK
presented last week at the Shavertown United Methodist Church,
included Frank Ziegler Jr., Michael Nixon, (Joseph), Amanda Martin (Mary), Ally Rome, Becky Andrew, Greta
Ketchner, three kings, Gene Ziemba, Chris Cave, Frank Ziegler Ill. More photos on page 3.
Sign dispute reinforces need to look anew at zoning codes
The owner of side-by-side
properties wanted a combined sign.
The borough said no.
By RONALD BARTIZEK
Post Staff
DALLAS — The new Domino’s Pizza
store on Memorial Highway will have a
sign, but only one, at least for now.
A variance request to the borough's
sign ordinance, asking for more than
one sign, was turned down. The code
allows a single sign, not more than 60
1are feet in size for an individual
@ Joe Moskovitz, borough man-
ager, said the new sign falls below that
limit.
Joe Nardone Jr., who manages the
property, formerly site of a Pump ‘n’
Pantry convenience store, is not happy
that the variance was rejected, but felt it
was more important to help his new
tenant get open than to fight over sig-
nage.
“We'll reapply, we’ll do what we need
to do,” Nardone said last week.
He is annoyed that his request was
denied, when signs that don’t fit the
ordinance are all around. “There’s 50
signs in violation up and down the
Dallas highway,” he said, and not all of
them were erected before the current
zoning ordinance was enacted in 1991.
Nardone said he was hoping to also
gain permission for a combination sign
that would serve both the building
where Domino’s is located and the
Dallas Corners office building next door.
~ He owns the office building and his
father owns the former convenience
store.
Moskovitz suggested that if Nardone
had given the zoning board a concrete
plan for a combined sign, the idea might
have been more warmly received. The
ordinance allows a sign up to 200 square
feet for a shopping center, which is
defined as two or more buildings, plus
individual signs of 35 square feet or less
on each store.
The disagreement has spurred the
borough council to step up a review of
the zoning ordinance. Moskovitz would
like to see regulations that would result
in smaller, less garish signs; “to help us
create a pleasant environment in town.
This wall-to-wall sign stuff on the high-
way has to end.”
He expects new sign ordinances to
stress style and lighting more than size,
since too-restrictive rules have béen
struck down by courts in other areas of
the state.
The council has begun to seek an out-
side consultant to help draft new ordi-
nances, a process that will probably take
most of next year, Moskovitz said.
He agrees with some businesses’ feel-
ing that the borough has been inconsis-
tent in enforcing the sign ordinance.
“It’s incumbent on us to make sure its
enforced correctly,” he said.
Seth Gollhardt, Lehman, manager of the new Domino's in
Dallas, stood outside the store. The sign meets borough rules,
but the property owner's request for an additional sign was
turned down. The store opened last week.
FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK
DALLAS SCHOOL BOARD
Griffiths” bonus
battle may not
be over yet
Staff report
DALLAS TWP. — Former Superintendent of
Schools Gilbert Griffiths has been advised by
his lawyer to say little about a dispute over pay-
ment of an early-retirement bonus.
“'m disappointed but not surprised,”
Griffiths said last Wednesday, two days after the
school board agreed to pay unused sick and
vacation time, but not the $67,000 early-retire-
ment bonus.
With Bruce Goeringer absent and James
Richardson abstaining, the board voted 5-2 to
approve a resolution giving Griffiths $12,301.44
for 32 unused vacation days, and $3,450 for 150
unused sick days.
The vacation pay was calculated at a per-diem
rate of $384.42 based on Griffiths’ salary, but
the sick-day pay was $23 a day based on the
“contracted rate.” Maureen Matiska and Dennis
Gochoel voted against the resolution.
The majority claims Griffiths was required by
contract to notify the board of his retirement by
April 1 and did not. He retired Dec. 1.
Implying that he will pursue the matter,
Griffiths said, “It is going to be an issue.”
The board also approved the refinancing of a
$7.2 million bond issued in 2001. PNC Bank
consultant William A. Runner Jr. said that,
thanks to lower interest rates, the district will
save $195,599 over 23 years.
Gochoel suggested the savings be earmarked
for building improvements, and the board
agreed.
See DALLAS, pg 2
LAKE-LEHMAN
SCHOOL BOARD
Presidents father
hired as a coach
By JANINE UNGVARSKY
For The Post
LEHMAN TWP. — The new varsity assistant
girls basketball coach at Lake-Lehman comes
with 4 1/2 decades of coaching experience and
credentials that include a son on the school
board.
By a 7-1 vote, the board approved Plymouth
resident James Mahon III for the position. After
the meeting, board president Jim Mahon
acknowledged that the new coach is his father.
“He has 45 years coaching experience, with
three Wyoming Conference championships and
three district titles. He’s coached four Division I
players,” Mahon said of his father.
Mahon abstained from voting on the posi-
tion, which will pay $4,021 for the 2004-05 year,
prorated because the season has already begun.
" The lone vote of opposition came from Charles
Balavage, who said he opposed an assistant var-
sity coach for a 16-member team that already
has a coach and an assistant.
Mahon noted that the position is a vacancy
that must be filled because of Title IX, which
requires equal opportunities in sports and:
coaching for both boys and girls. “The boys
have five coaches, the girls have four,” Mahon
said.
Balavage still questioned the need for a sec-
ond varsity assistant. “I could easily support
See LAKE-LEHMAN, pg 2
Holiday trash collection schedule
Because Christmas day and New Year’s Day
both fall on Saturdays, collection of trash and
recyclables by the Dallas Area Municipal
Authority will be as usual, on the regularly
scheduled day.
There will be a no bag limit on trash begin-
ning Monday, Dec. 27 and ending Friday, Dec.
31. The regular two bag limit will resume on
Monday, January 3. 2005.
¥ Inside The Post
12 Pages, 1 Section
Calendar
Business group
mixes business
and holiday
pleasure
Page 2
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Onto Blackout Fudge at oo.
Four Wares, Shang Sovarso Emabiies
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Hanolulu Star Bulletin 24EXTRA
DEATHS OVER 400 ON
REPORT
+ Moves But to Sun
Legion
commemorates
the attack on
Pearl Harbor.
Page 6
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