Vol. 120 No. 11 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 March 15 - 21, 2009 POST. Serving the communities of the Dallas and Lake-Lehman School Districts www.mydallaspost.com CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST David Waligorski, of Dallas Township, reads over a survey the township has asked residents to complete. The survey will help the town deal with de- velopment concerns and municipal needs. By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com he Dallas Township Board of Supervisors is developing a comprehensive plan and they want help from resi- dents. Jack Varaly, a planning consultant from Pasonick Engineering, the town- ship’s engineer, came up with the idea of a community survey to see what issues are important to people living in the township. “He said he had used it in other areas and that it had worked well,” said Dallas Township Supervisor Glenn Howell. Citizens are asked to complete the sur- vey as the first step supervisors will take to form the plan, which represents a con- tinuation of planning initiatives by Dal- las Township. “The comprehensive plan, it’s every- thing throughout your township - what you'd want it to look like and what the people want it to look like in the future,” Howell said. “We should have one. Every township should have one. We changed our zoning ordinances, so we came up with the idea to come up with a new comprehensive plan.” Township residents will have a chance to voice their opinions in the survey on township matters including new growth, the most positive and most neg- ative aspect of living in the township, the most important change that should oc- cur and other matters. Residents can also rank the impor- tance of aspects of living in the town- ship, maintenance of roads and high- ways, the adequacy of emergency servic- es, general services and facilities and rec- reational opportunities and facilities. Residents do not have to include their name or any other identifiable informa- tion on the survey. Howell requests that only one survey per household be com- pleted. “Generally, I think this is a good idea,” said resident Holly Pelton, who had not heard of the survey. “As with all surveys, I don’t know how honest everyone is when they fill them out.” Pelton, who has lived in Dallas Town- ship for 43 years, thinks land develop- ment is the most important aspect of the survey and feels the township has grown to the maximum for the time being. “We keep taking land without having the resources to back it up,” Pelton said. David Waligorski has lived in Dallas Township since 1978 and is happy to fill out the survey, but like Pelton, wasn’t aware it existed. Waligorski thinks the township should have mailed the survey to each household to ensure a wide re- sponse. “It looks like a nice survey,” Waligor- ski said. The survey can be accessed in several ways. It is posted in an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the town- ship’s Web site at www.dallastownship- Asking the residents Holly Pelton, a Dallas Township resident, discusses her views of the survey currently being con- ducted by township supervisors. .com. The online form can be download- ed, filled out and e-mailed to dallastw- poffice@epix.net. Or, it can be printed and mailed to or dropped off at the mu- nicipal building. Copies of the survey can also be ob- tained at the municipal building. Addi- tionally, the survey will be mailed to citi- zens upon request. To request a survey, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the township. Anyone wishing to send a completed survey or a survey inquiry by mail should send it to: Dallas Township Board of Supervisors, Community Sur- vey, 601 Tunkhannock Hwy., P.O. Box 518, Dallas, PA 18612. Surveys will be accepted through April 30. Results are expected to be com- pleted by June and will then be present- ed at a future public meeting and incor- porated into the township’s comprehen- sive plan. Results will also be available online once they are compiled. The Dallas Township survey can be ac- cessed in several ways. It is posted in an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the town- ship's Web site at www.dallastownship- .com. The online form can be down- loaded, filled out and e-mailed to dallastw- poffice@epix.net. Or, it can be printed and mailed to or dropped off at the municipal building. Copies of the survey can also be obtained at the municipal building. Additional: ly, the survey will be mailed to citizens upon request. To request a survey, send a self-ad- dressed, stamped envelope to the township. Anyone wishing to send a completed survey or a survey inquiry by mail should send it to: Dallas Township Board of Super- visors, Community Survey, 601 Tunk- hannock Highway, P.O. Box 518, Dallas, PA 18612. American Legion Riders roll on By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Dallas American Legion Riders Every time Art Parks gets on his Harley Davidson Road King, he rides in memory of his son. Parks is president of the newly-formed Dallas chapter of the American Legion Riders. He and his wife, Melanie, of Dallas, lost their 27-year-old son, David, when Da- vid crashed his motorcycle on Upper De- munds Road in November 2006. “He bought his bike and had his about one-and-a-half years,” Parks said. “I was supposed to buy one in the spring of 2007 (which he did) so we could go to Rolling Thunder together, but that never hap- pened. I ride because he can’t.” Rolling Thunder is an annual POW/MIA rally held Memorial Day weekend in Washing- ton, D.C. The American Legion Riders was start- ed by Chuck “Tramp” Dare and Post Com- mander Bill “Polka” Kaledas at the Amer- ican Legion Post 396 in Garden City, Mich. * Meet the third Friday of each month, 7:30 p.m., Dallas American Legion ® Membership requirements include owning a motorcycle and being a member of any chapter of the American Legion, Sons of the American Legion or the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary. Imme- diate family members are included. There is a $12 annual fee per member. in 1993. Since then, the organization has grown to include groups of American Le- gion Riders across the country. The idea to form a Legion Riders chap- ter at the Daddow-Isaacs American Legion Dallas Post 672 came about last fall be- cause many of the members who attend Poker Night on Tuesdays have motorcy- cles. Post Commander Clarence Michael conducted the initial meeting in January and began an election of officers. See RIDERS, Page 2 CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/FOR THE DALLAS POST Dallas residents Melanie Parks, left, and her husband, Art, are members of a newly-formed Dallas American Legion Riders chapter. Art serves as president of the organization, which meets at 7:30 p.m. on the third Friday of every month at the Post home on Route 415 in Dallas. The Parks couple lost their 27-year-old son, David, in a motorcycle accident in November 2006. PEPOSIT MAIL HERE bis Ai Ba DALLAS CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST The United States Postal Service is currently performing a study on its Wilkes-Barre Processing and Distri- bution Center to determine the feasibility of consolidating mail processing into the Scranton facil- ity. Customers served by the Dallas Post Office may be affected. Mail delivery may be affected By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Mail coming in and out of the Back Mountain may eventually be processed and distributed in Scran- ton. The United States Postal Service is currently performing a study on its Wilkes-Barre Processing and Distribution Center to determine the feasibility of consolidating mail processing into the Scranton facil- ity. Raymond V. Daiutolo, USPS pub- lic affairs and communications, says the study began January 7 and a decision will be made in approxi- mately five PETITION months. AVAILABLE Daiutolo says ZIP codes The online petition served from the against stopping Wilkes-Barre consolidation of plant include the Wilkes-Barre Processing and Distribution Center 182 (37 post of- fices), 186 (35 may be accessed at post offices) www.savethewb- and 187 (Wilkes- po.org. Barre Post Of- fice and seven stations and branches). ZIP codes in the Back Mountain start with ei- ther 186 or 187. “We feel this move, if they follow through, would be detrimental to the mail service citizens and busi- nesses in the valley receive from the Postal Service,” said Bill Smith, president of NPMHU Local 308 Wilkes-Barre Branch and a resident of Dallas. “Delivery standards will not be the same if mail is processed in Scranton.” According to Smith, sorted mail from both Wilkes-Barre and Scran- ton is sent to Harrisburg and back. Mail from Wilkes-Barre to Harris- burg is returned overnight, but the turnaround time for mail from Scranton to Harrisburg is two days. “It’s going to delay the mail you receive by two days,” Smith said. “Also, collection times will have to be earlier.” Daiutolo says each processing plant sorts and processes incoming and outgoing mail for the ZIP codes it serves. Some of the mail goes to deliveries in the areas served by the Harrisburg facility. But Daiutolo says if the consoli- dation were to take place, the study - must first show mail service would not be adversely affected. “Despite what you may have heard, if any consolidation is made there will be no impact on your lo- See MAIL, Page 2 151200 NO 7 68098
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