L Vol. 116 No. 19 The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 May 8 to May 14, 2005 Responsible Living in a hotel |s harder than you think. | gotta make sure | [eave crumbs on the floor. ead the award-winning entries 0 Rode the library's poetry contest. Post SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS PRIMARY ELECTION: KINGSTON TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS Finances key to crowded field By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff KINGSTON TWP. — Repeating the competitiveness that surfaced in 2003, the 2005 Primary election has attracted six candidates for two seats on the five-member board, all of them on the Republican ballot. Supervisors serve four-year terms, with two and three seats staggered each two years. This time, two incumbents are vying for another term, and two of the challengers are running as a team. Two appointed incumbents lost bids for election in 2003 after the township ran into fiscal troubles, caused in part by a decision to pave Green Road, a project that forced the township to issue a $500,000 bond. A property tax, reinstituted last year after a 10-year hiatus, seems to have stabilized the budg- et, and each candidate is promising Two polling places change. Page 3. to keep a wary eye on the finances. Looming expenses include rebuilding the Center Street bridge at Route 309 and maintaining the deteriorating old municipal build- ing, at Carverton Road and Route 309. The Trucksville Fire Department gave the land and $7,500 to the township in exchange for a 99-year lease at negligible cost. Now, estimates of its value and the cost to repair it are about equal. Here, in alphabetical order of the candidates’ last names, are responses gained in recent inter- views. David Brodhead David Brodhead is running as a team with Robert Wright Sr., and See KINGSTON TWP, Page 2 Public puts 2 cents Into plan At a presentation, there was plenty of room for expression. By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff DALLAS TWP. — Back Mountain communities are both ahead of and behind other areas of the state when it comes to planning. “In an ideal world, you update your comprehensive plan every 10 years,” said Marian Hull, proj- ect manager on a comprehensive master plan now being put together for the Back Mountain Area Council of Governments. But some local municipalities’ planning and zoning codes have changed little for decades. Later in the May 2 public pres- entation of the still-emerging plan, Hull said this about the proj- ect; “The Back Mountain is ahead of the curve,” in working as a region. She was only about half right. The council of governments is comprised of four municipalities; Dallas Borough, Dallas Township, Kingston Township and Lehman Township. Others, such as Jackson Township and Franklin Township, have yet to join the council. Even at that, the council has snagged nearly $200,000 in grant funding that is being used to pay for studies and a plan, which Hull said will function as a policy doc- ument rather than a mandate. A study by Kise Straw & Kolodner, the Philadelphia-area consultant that will produce the comprehensive master plan, is being supplemented by a $50,000 grant-funded review of open space and recreation and a See PLAN, Page 3 COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS As a crowd gathered around, Courtney Marm, a planner with Cahill Associates, which is studying open space and recreation in the Back Mountain, responded to questions from Jack Hanish, far left, about Ee AS watersheds and other environmentally important zones. Some early findings and recommendations Marian Hull, who represented Kise Straw & Kolodner, the Philadelphia-area consultant that will produce the comprehensive master plan for the Back Mountain Area Council of Governments, was joined at a May 2 presentation by representatives from two other firms contributing studies of open space and trans- portation. Some of their findings so far; e The Back Mountain is grow- ing faster than the state as a whole. ® The median age here is older than state and national averages. e About half the housing stock is more than 45 years old. e Housing prices are rising faster than incomes. About 10 per- cent of homeowners, which Hull said was unusually high, are “cost burdened” by housing expenses. e Land use tends to be dictated by where infrastructure, such as roads and sewers, already are located. e Traffic, both in volume and location, is an important issue. Preliminary recommendations are: e Develop a strategy for land development that protects resources such as water and views. “Watersheds are key here,” Hull said. ® Designate much more land as conservation, which requires larg- er lots. Wetlands and watersheds should be protected. e Make roadway improvements in ways that support the desired character of the community, not POST PHOTO/RON BARTIZEK just for efficiency. Pedestrian and bicycle paths should be added where possible. * “Downtown” Dallas Borough should be the economic hub of the region. A village-style mixed-use should be encouraged in other commercial and retail areas. ¢ Municipalities should consid- er transfer-of-development rights across borders. These can pro- mote regional expansion of busi- ness while protecting historic and natural areas. e Put limits on the location of sewers and other infrastructure. “Build it where you would like to see development at a higher den- sity,” Hull said. ® Guidelines should be created for “infill” development in areas with historic buildings or parks. This could be your design \ 9 py EN Harvest Festival postal cancellation. Contest winner may be world famous, at least among philatelists By GAVIN ROBB Post Intern Artwork by one local student may garner inter- national recognition and worldwide circulation, prompting collectors around the globe to request copies by the hundreds. Students in grades six through 12 will be award- ed the opportunity to have their artwork used as a “pictorial cancellation stamp” through a contest sponsored by the Dallas Post Office and the Dallas Harvest Festival. | Pictorial cancellation stamps are stamps used, upon request, to cancel postage stamps on first class letters and post cards. According to Kristen Tucker, Postmaster of the Dallas Post Office, 2005 will mark the third year that the office has offered a “special Harvest Festival cancellation,” but in years past, the art- work for the stamp was provided by Dallas Borough. “This is the first time we've had a contest to pick the art used,” said Tucker, also the contest’s cre- ator, “We were just looking for something new and wanted to get the children involved.” According to Tucker, the winning piece will earn a place in history, as hundreds of collectors across the nation, and even some overseas, have requested the cancellations in years past. “The first year we got 500 people from within the U.S. and Great Britain,” said Tucker, “So it (the stamp) is kind of like a collector’s item.” Following the selection process, Tucker says the first prize cancellation will be publicized on www.usps.com and in a bimonthly bulletin and will be available by request from November 18 to December 18. How to enter: ® Create a 4 inch by 6 inch piece of artwork. e Keep the design simple with limited detail and single color design. ¢ Do not use any words, only use artwork. ¢ Print name, address, and phone number on the back. ® Submit the design to art teacher Claire Morris or mail it to the Dallas School District at P.O. Box 2000, Dallas PA, 18612 c/o Claire, no later than May 26. e The design should answer the question, “What does the Dallas community mean to me?” ¢ Only students in grades six through 12 are eli- gible to participate. Only one piece will be chosen for the cancella- tion, but the top two pieces will receive several other prizes, such as gift certificates, provided by local businesses. Open forum for Dallas School Board candidates ‘College Misericordia will host a Dallas School Board “Meet the Candidates” forum in Kennedy Long-time: BACK MOUNTAIN LIBRARY AUCTION Re lee unteer Jim Nine Dallas School Board candidates, who are Snyder is Teen volunt eers lend a hand seeking election to both two- and four-year flanked by terms, have been invited to briefly present their I- : . | Key Slubwe By JENNIFER JUDGE and has been working on the event lations Sop the Wy 1 field Soren 5 | Andrew Post Correspondent gi hes: every: iiiuta. of it” pertain to the Dallas School District and Dallas Edgar, left, Brvder ‘aa Es 2 tire ‘when School Board in a debate format. Speeches and 2 Lauryn DALLAS — Key Club volun- y ys: tack home for th responses to questions will be timed, so that all erence. everyone comes back home for the candidates will have the opportunity to speak. The public is encouraged to attend and may submit questions in writing on the evening of the debate. Submitted questions will be subject to screening, and will be presented to the candi- dates as time allows. The forum moderator is Atty. Bernard Walter of Dallas. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. teers have been helping put together the Back: Mountain Library Auction from its earliest days. Jim Snyder, grounds chair- man for the auction committee, got involved with the auction in 1962 when he was a Key Club member at Dallas High School weekend, friends and family mem- bers.” Volunteers like Snyder and the new generation of Key Club mem- bers help to make the auction a success each year. Gail Honeywell, FOR THE POST/ JENNIFER JUDGE YONKOSKI See AUCTION, Page 3 V Inside The Post | Dallas High School senior Dallas High School and Bishop ¥ How To Reach Ys 12 Pages, 1 Section student-athletes O'Reilly list honor students. Hao Calendar... havea 12 announce their college epost sjeaderne COUTCH oasis ove. 1l intentions. ..38 N. Main st. | 1 Editorials . 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers