Sunday, March 21, 2010 ss THE DALLAS POST PAGE 3 Derby is o laser fast The pinewood derby held by Cub Scout Pack 241 of Lehman took on a special meaning this year. Not only are the Scouts celebrating the 100th anniversary of Scouting, the derby was held on a brand new, state-of-the-art race track purchased by the boys through popcorn sales and other fund-raising activities. The 40-foot long track features a laser starter, four lanes and electronic finish line. Boy Scouts from Troop 241, of Lehman, with assistance from parents and Scout leaders, coordinated the races. Top finishers from the various dens within the pack earned an opportunity to com- pete in district pinewood derby competition. eh chi Cub Scout Pack 241 leaders Donnie Ide, left, and Bob McGuire prepare pinewood derby cars for competition on a new laser track the pack has purchased. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Cub Scouts from Pack 241, Lehman, watch as their cars cross the finish line. The pack has purchased a laser raceway that records results on a nearby laptop computer. LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICT Board approves first reading of concussion policy According to McGovern, the policy was created and is sponsored by Geisinger Health System. School board member Dr. Kevin Ca- rey examined the policy, McGovern said. The policy was put in place to ensure students are best protected, McGovern said. By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com The first reading of a student concussion policy was approved on March 15 by the Lake-Lehman School Board. Lake-Lehman School District Superintendent James McGov- ern said the policy is to better protect the students of the dis- trict. According to McGovern, the policy was created and is spon- sored by Geisinger Health Sys- . School board member Dr. vin Carey examined the policy, McGovern said. The policy was put in place to ensure students are best protect- ed, McGovern said. Occupational therapist Board members approved the advertisement for an occupation- al therapist. McGovern said the occupa- tional therapist will be part of the district’s elementary autism pro- gram, which is set to begin in the 2010-2011 school year. Five stu- dents are enrolled in the program for next school year, he said. Ross Elementary project Disbursements in the amount of $111,352.20 were approved for the Ross Elementary School con- struction project. The expansion project added four classrooms, a school bus parking lot and a new playground to the school. The total cost of the project is approximately $1.3 million. McGovern said all indoor work was completed on the project and students moved into the new classrooms two weeks ago. Some additional outside work still needs to be finished, includ- DALLAS BOROUGH By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Members of council are re- searching the possibility of down- grading. Attorney Jeffrey Malak, the borough’s solicitor, said in his monthly report Wednesday eve- ning that he performed research on reducing the size of council. Seven people currently sit on council. The borough also has a mayor. Council president Lee Eckert said the matter is something council has discussed. Eckert said many people in the community are busy and that it is difficult to find people willing to commit to council obligations. Eckert also believes a smaller uncil would be more applicable 0 the size of the borough, which has about 2,500 residents. Bids approved Two bids were approved for separate projects. The first bid was for a partial roof replacement project on the borough building. The bid was awarded to Bryertech Roofing, of Lock Haven, in the amount of $10,039.43 and a unit price of $.80 per square foot. bid warded to Stell Enterprises Inc., of Plains Township, pertaining to the 2010 Spring Clean-up Project. The bid was in the amount of $485 per 40- yard container utilized and a hauling charge of $150 per empty container. Spring clean-up will be held for residents from May 3-8. Stormwater infrastructure project It was approved for the bor- ough engineer to design and so- licit bids for a stormwater infras- tructure improvement project to replace and upgrade numerous stormwater catch basins. The project will be paid for with Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency and Pennsylva- nia Emergency Management Agency alternate project funding received by the borough from the June 2006 flood. According to borough manag- er Tracey Carr, the project will be the last one performed utilizing FEMA /PEMA funds. Summer recreation program Michael English was hired part-time as the recreation direc- tor for the borough’s summer rec- reation program at a rate of $9 per hour. 4) Council approved Carr to seek Council considers downsizing applications for counselors for the program. Police vehicle funding The establishment of a grant contract was approved with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic De- velopment for the Emergency Re- sponders Resource and Training Program in the amount of $20,000. The funding will be used toward the purchase of a new police vehicle. Bargaining committee A bargaining committee was established on behalf of the bor- ough to meet with a bargaining committee established for the borough police association to dis- cuss the police contract for the period beginning Jan. 1, 2011. Members of the borough’s bar- gaining committee are Mayor Timothy Carroll, Eckert, Malak and Carr. Easter egg hunt The borough-sponsored Easter egg hunt will take place at noon on Saturday, March 27, at the Kenneth Young Memorial Park on Burndale Road. Children who live in the borough and are be- tween the ages of 1 and 12 are in- vited to attend. ing the basketball court and the driveway, McGovern said. Personnel The following people were appointed to positions: Greg Riley, concert band director for the second half of the school year, at one half the contracted stipend of $1,552; Tracey DeRemer, crossing guard, at a rate of $15 per day. The board approved a $2,500 increase in annual sala- ry for Brenda Allabaugh, a bookkeeper and accountant in the business office, for addi- tional duties assigned. A letter of retirement was accepted from Shirley George, a secretary at Ross Elemen- tary School. The following people were added as substitutes: Sara Eneboe, Shavertown, K-12; Esther Liuzzi, Kingston, school nurse; and Donna Anti- nnes, Sweet Valley, clerical, teacher associate and food ser- vice. The following people were appointed as volunteer base- ball coaches: Christopher Bean, junior varsity; Michael Caf- frey, junior varsity and varsity; and Bryan Mathers, junior varsity and varsity. School calendar revised The 2009-2010 school calendar was revised to reflect closings and make-up days. McGovern said the school was closed five days so far this year, one day for an emergency and four days for snow. The district received exonera- tion from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Education for the emergency day in December, McGovern said. The remaining four days will be made up on April 1 with an early dismissal, April 5, May 3 and May 28 with an early dismiss- al. Document Destruction Depot Board members authorized the district to enter into an agree- ment with the Document De- struction Depot, a transition pro- gram operated by the Luzerne In- termediate Unit No. 18, to pro- vide confidential shredding of documents at a cost of $20 per 100 pounds. The depot is designed to help learning support students served by the LIU acquire job skills as they transition to the real world. Baseball contest McGovern announced that a contest called “Pitch, Hit and Run” will be held at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 2, at the junior/se- nior high school. The contest, sponsored by Ma- jor League Baseball, will be open to children ages 7 through 14 in the Wyoming Valley at no cost. The children will compete in the areas of pitching, hitting and running. DALLAS TOWNSHIP Resident questions overtaxing By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com Resident John Newman ac- cused the board of supervisors Tuesday evening of overtax- ing residents. Newman, of Wedgewood Way, said he recently reviewed the 2009 audit which was pub- lished in the newspaper. According to Newman, the excess of revenues over expen- ditures at the end of 2009 was approximately $1.2 million and claims that amount is about $312,000 over the pro- jected $900,000 surplus in the 2010 budget. “That’s a pretty big miss by 300-some thousand,” New- man said. “I believe it came from over taxation.” Newman asked the supervi- “That's a pretty big miss by 300-some thousand. | believe it came from over taxation.” John Newman Wedgewood Way resident sors last December to reduce the municipal tax rate prior to the passing of the 2010 budget. The supervisors declined the request and passed the budget in December with a tax rate of .52 mills. A mill is a $1 tax for every $1,000 in assessed property val- ue. Vice chairman of supervisors Frank Wagner said the township plans to use the money for paving roads. Supervisor Glenn Howell said at least 12 roads will be paved this year. Cl i i LS Newman said the township could have given money back to the taxpayers and still had enough to take care of winter road maintenance and paving. Newman asked if there are any limits on cash that can be held ac- cording to township code. Attorney Thomas Brennan, who serves as the township’s so- licitor, did not know but would research it. “I think it’s just a slap in the face to the taxpayers that you
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers