| Supervisors wi Sunday, June 21, 2009 THE DALLAS POST PAGE 9 LEHMAN TOWNSHIP By CAMILLE FIOTI Dallas Post Correspondent At their meeting Monday night, township supervisors said they plan to meet with officials at Lake-Lehman High School re- garding the school’s security needs. Board member Dave Sut- ton said the township police de- partment responds frequently to calls from the school regarding fights and disturbances and that the school should look into hir- ing a full-time police officer. “I'm not criticizing the school for calling us,” he said. “In this day and age, the way things are, you almost have to.” The township employs two full-time and eight part-time po- lice officers. Since the day shift gets the calls from the school, Sutton said chief Howard Koch- er responds to most of them. “It would be different if we had a 20-man police depart- ment,” he said. “It’s time that they realize that even though we're rural, we have some of the same problems that exist in city schools.” In other business, the board voted to apply for an energy con- servation grant through the state Department of Environ- mental Protection. If the town- ship is awarded the grant, it will be used for energy improve- ments to the municipal building, such as LED lighting, a new fur- nace and insulation. To replace the current 200- watt light bulbs with 28- watt LED bulbs would cost about $200 per fixture, su- pervisor Sutton said, pointing out that the initial cost would be recouped in a year. The board discussed plans to purchase a 10-acre parcel of land, adjacent to the municipal building, for the purpose of building a new garage. “We are in real need for a new garage,” said supervisor Doug Ide. The current garage, which only holds one vehicle, has poor drainage, no heat and no res- trooms, he added. The proposed new garage will be large enough to hold all of the township’s ve- hicles. Sutton said the board would look into a long-term, low-inter- est loan or possible gaming funds to finance the purchase of the land and the construction of the garage. The board will pro- vide more information regarding the possible acquisition of the land at its August meeting. Also, the board voted to issue permits to: ¢ Dallas Area Fall Fair Inc. for the Luzerne County Fair to be Il discuss security issues at school held September 9-13, pending receipt of insurance coverage and a traffic control and lighting plan. ¢ John Kemps of Celebration Fireworks Inc. for an annual, pri- vate fireworks display at the Huntsville Golf Club on July 4. e Lake Silkworth Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Company for its annual bazaar to be held on the grounds of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church from July 31 through August 2, pending re- ceipt of insurance coverage. DALLAS TOWNSHIP FEMA comes through with $1 million for repairs of flood damage REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Township engineer Tom Doughton told the board of su- pervisors Tuesday evening that the township has received $1 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The money will be used as re- imbursement for various re- pairs performed throughout the township as a result of the June 2006 flooding. Two of the larger projects included a bridge replacement on the Old Tunkhannock Highway in Kun- kle near the intersection of Al- derson Road and another bridge replacement at the in- tersection of Fairground and Lower Demunds roads. Doughton says all expendi- tures for the projects will be covered by the FEMA funding. “It certainly gets edgy when you're spending that kind of money not knowing if you’ll get it back,” Doughton said. Water main replacement project Doughton also informed the supervisors that United Water Pennsylvania has asked the township to consider installing a 16-inch steel casing pipe un- der squash pipes on Rice Drive before the township replaces them as part of a water main re- placement. The water compa- ny would like to jointly bid with the township so it can in- stall a new water pipe at the site. The water main replacement is expected to cost between $140,000 and $160,000. The water company will pay for the materials and installation costs for the steel casing pipe. Doughton says it will take about two weeks to complete the project. The supervisors advised Doughton to put the project up for bid. Police get tasers In other news, Chief of Police Robert Jolley told the supervi- sors that all township police of- ficers now carry tasers. The tasers, which cost $10,900, were purchased by using a $10,000 grant from the Depart- ment of Community Develop- ment. Jolley says all officers volun- teered to be personally tased. Nuisance property Leah Kappler, who lives on Sedler Road, asked the super- visors and Solicitor Thomas Brennan for help in removing junk from a property adjacent to hers. Kappler says she and her husband bought a house next to 20 acres of old farmland about a year ago. Kappler alleges the land is a dumping site for washers, dryers, tires and batteries. She is concerned about the quality of her well water and the resale value of her home. Kappler says she contacted the Depart- ment of Environmental Protec- tion and was told it is the town- ship’s responsibility. Brennan told Kappler she can file a private lawsuit against the property owner and say he isusing his land in an un- reasonable way. He also offered to take a ride to her house, along with Leonard “Pooch” Kozick, the township zoning officer, to talk to the owner about cleaning up his property. Brennan also said a munici- pality cannot use force against one citizen versus another in a private nuisance situation. “The township does not re- solve every neighbor’s difficul- ty or I would be a full-time em- ployee of the township,” Bren- nan said to Kappler. “We hap- pen to live in a township that has farms, houses and busi- nesses and they sometimes clash.” DALLAS BOROUGH Data completed for 91 addressing project; borough applies for energy grant By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Kathy Liljequist of GeoComm informed council Wednesday evening that field crews have fin- ished collecting data in the bor- ough for the E-911 standardized addressing project. i Commi an integiateh ge ographic inf@rmation systems (GIS) and communications con- sulting firm, has partnered with Luzerne County to finish 911 ad- dressing in the county. Geo- Comm is verifying and collect- ing addresses and gathering GIS points in 11 municipalities in- cluding the borough. The county received $480,000, about 50 percent of the funds needed for the project, from the state wireless program. The other half of the costs will be paid for by the county. Council member Lee Eckert asked Liljequist what would hap- pen on a street such as Machell Avenue where he says some house numbers are out of se- quence. She replied that the field crews will point out such infor- mation in their data. Any recommendations for ad- dress changes will be sent to the borough which must approve changes before they can be made. Energy Conservation Grant Council approved - the bor- ough’s participation in the Back Mountain Community Partner- ship’s inter-municipal coopera- tion project to apply for a De- partment of Environmental Pro- tection Energy Conservation Grant through the PA Conserva- tion Works Recovery Grant Pro- The borough’s participation is pending approval from. the part- nership. Carr said 90 percent of the funding would be covered by the government if the grant is applied for by multiple munici- palities. Sale of borough truck Bradco Supply Company was the highest bidder at $7,500 for the sale of a used 2000 Ford F-350, including an attached snowplow owned by the bor- ough road department. Dallas Harvest Festival A resolution was approved by council designating the inten- tion of the borough to erect over- head banners at the intersection of Route 415 and Main Street in conjunction with the Seventh Annual Dallas Harvest Festival weekend celebration to be held from September 18-20. Authorization was also grant- ed by council for a borough offi- cial to submit a request to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for a temporary road closure of Main Street be- tween Route 415 and Mill Street on Sunday, Sept. 20, for the fes- tival. Yard waste collection Council members authorized the appropriate borough official to execute an order confirmation to T.M. Fitzgerald & Associates in the amount of $2,525 for 200 25-gallon yard waste recycling containers with a borough yard waste recycling logo. The pur- chase is in association with the Act 101 Section 902 Recycling Grant administered through the Department of Environmental Protection. In the manager’s report, Carr reminded residents that the road department will pick up two 25- gallon containers of acceptable yard waste weekly. Carr said the 25-gallon limit is adhered to and road workers have been declin- ing some containers because they are too heavy to lift. Gratitude to Boy Scout Borough council, Mayor Tim Carroll and Carr thanked Steven Luksa, of Boy Scout Troop 281, for the work he performed at Rice Cemetery on Huntsville Road for his Eagle Scout project. Luksa repaired an old, large sign along with a fence and ap- plied and painted over the rust on the fence. He also did work on the stone steps, trimmed trees around the flag pole, per- formed general cleanup and placed flags around the cemete- ry. JONATHAN J. JUKA PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Superintendent Frank P. Galicki helps Melissa Tucker, vice-presi- dent of the Dallas High School Class of 2012, break ground on the construction site as Tim Kennedy, president of the Class of 2012, watches. GROUND Continued from Page 1 ple of years and we can walk through it together.” Tim Kennedy, president of the Dallas High School Class of 2012, addressed the crowd. Ken- nedy’s class will be the first group of students to graduate from the new school. “With what I've seen from the blueprints of the new school, I'm NURSE SUITE GUIDANCE SUITE - ADMINISTRATIVE SUITE ~~. MAR ENTRANCE ALIKHLARY GM » TRANG BOON LOCKER FOO LOCKER ROOM 2 } s Pn | BARE ELEC # OFFICIALS Vv] AD | omstorn J Ler GYMNASUM TICKETS + CONCESSION STUDENT § STORE 48 QUTDOOR COURTYARD CAFETERIA AUDITORIUM TOTAL SEATING 400 SCENERY ] STORAGE fms » £ —— & fo = ow 5 STAGE The design development of the new Dallas High School is shown in this architect's drawing. optimistic and glad to be a part of it and anxious to take my first steps inside,” Kennedy said. The other officers from the Class of 2012 were also in at- tendance. They are Melissa Tucker, vice-president; Greg Se- lenski, treasurer; and Andrew Santora, marketing agent. Larry Schuler, of the school design committee, said the group met the first Wednesday night of the month for the last two years to discuss the project. The committee consisted of 25 people, including parents, teach- ers, students and community members. Several school board members also regularly attended the meetings. “I think it’s important to rec- ognize this building is just a building,” said Schuler, who taught wellness at the high school for 32 years and is a can- didate for a school board posi- tion. “What we do with it is equally important...we’'ve made a lot of memories in these build- ings, these fields, and I know this is going to continue because this is Dallas.”
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