EAE : ¥ i A eS Sl oe er —— oa TE —_——_— nnd hh itk dE _ a _ BE = bE em — eS as Sunday, February 6, 2011 THE DALLAS POST PAGE 3 PETE G. WILCOX/ THE DALLAS POST Dallas Township solicitor Tom Brennan responds to residents’ questions during public comment at Tuesday's Dallas Township supervisors meeting where the discussion was about the proposed building of a gas compressor station near the Dallas High School campus. DALLAS TOWNSHIP Residents want answers regarding gas compressor By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com 3 Wy Amid troubling road condi- tions and an impending ice storm, nearly 40 residents at- tended the supervisors’ meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the potential effects of a proposed natural gas compressor to be built about 1,340 feet from the Dallas School District campus. Chief Gathering LLC submit- ted plans to township officials to build a compressor station off Hildebrandt Road. The compa- ny is asking for special zoning exceptions because the zoning district does not prohibit or per- mit the type of structure pro- posed. The township’s zoning hearing board will make a deci- sion on the matter on Feb. 9. Residents used the public comment portion of the meet- ing to ask questions of the board about the topic that wasn’t even on the agenda. Several attend- ees fielded concerns about how the decision will be made and what they can do to stall plans. Solicitor Thomas Brennan re- plied to many of the questions in a similar manner — he said the board of supervisors has no con- trol over the outcome of the zon- ing hearing board’s decision. He said the zoning hearing board can approve the applica- AS Q approve it with limitations deny it. He said the facts and data presented to that board are applied to the township’s laws, and the outcome will reflect that process. Brennan also said the compa- ny will need to appear before the planning commission, which will determine if the proposed plans comply with the town- ship’s land development and subdivision ordinances. “The planning commission’s decisions are final,” the solicitor UP NEXT The next meeting of the Dallas Township'Board of Supervisors will be held at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15 in the municipal building. said. “If residents are dissatis- fied, they can go to the courts.” He said the object of the two appointed boards is “not to say what they themselves want,” and they are “duty-bound” by the law. Resident and Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition member Diane Dreier asked Brennan whether the municipal meeting room will hold the number of residents planning to attend the zoning hearing board meeting on Feb. 9. Several residents stood to the side as she spoke, providing an example of the lack of seats in the room. Brennan told her that hot but- ton issues in the past have at- tracted the public in crowds, but the meeting room has always sustained the attendance. He said the decision to hold the meeting in a different venue is also up to the zoning hearing board. . Ben Uzdilla, who lives direct- ly across the street from the pro- posed site and who is employed in the gas industry, said safety has taken a backseat to produc- tivity in the 34 years he has spent in the business. He said his colleagues totaled 240 when he started, and now there are about 60 due to downsizing. “Safety has suffered,” he said. “People want to do more with less. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.” Scott Pertl, of Trucksville, al- so spoke out during the meeting to address what he felt is the most important underlying is- sue — the safety of children in the neighboring schools. “It’s not just one neighbor- hood that’s affected by this,” he said. . Chris Oremus, of Franklin Township, wanted to know how the township’s fire and ambu- lance departments would re- spond to an emergency if some- thing were to happen at the facil- ity just 1,400 feet away from 2,800 students. Brennan said the township's emergency management agen- cy, along with the county and state Emergency Management Agency are equipped to respond to emergencies as best they can, and he didn’t believe there could be a separate plan in place to handle one facility’s potential problems. Some residents’ comments elicited applause from the crowd, and many attendees left shortly after the public com- ments portion of the meeting concluded. Resident Norm Tomchak spoke last on behalf of the “thou- sand of irate people” he said are living within the township. “To them, it’s a job,” he said. “To us, it’s home.” In other news... e Brennan presented the board with a storm water ordi- nance draft for which a hearing will be advertised and an- nounced at a future date. e A letter was received from Todd Holmes, engineer for Dor- chester Development, request- ing a reduction in their letter of credit for the Geisinger con- struction project from $288,898 to $81,728 due to the amount of work completed. A decision will be made after the supervisors re- ceive recommendation from the township engineer. Reese portrays Sister Amanda Reese of Dallas will play the role of Sister Amnesia when the Music Box Players pre- sent “Nunsense.” ; A graduate of Dallas High School, Reese earned a degree from DeSales University. She has been involved with the Music Box for over five years, perform- ing in numerous shows. Last sea- son, she appeared in productions of “Annie,” “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” and “Nash- ville 2” as well as portraying the title role in “Gypsy.” The Music Box Repertory Company will welcome the Little Sisters of Hoboken back to the Playhouse for a limited engage- ment on February 18-20, 24-27 and March 3-6. First performed by the Sisters in an act of desperation after the convent cook, Sister Julia, made an unfortunate mistake, “Nun- sense” has become a world-wide sensation. Spawning long theat- rical runs off-Broadway and throughout the country, a best selling compact disc, a DVD star- ring Rue McClanahan and a gen- eral interest in nunnery, “Nun- Music Box veteran actress Amanda Reese will play the role of Amnesia Sister Mary Amnesia in the Music Box Repertory Company's production of “Nunsense.” sense” is a side-splitting musical appropriate for those of all ages and religions. For tickets and additional de- tails, contact the box office at 283-2195. John Ruckno John C. Ruckno, 62, a finan- . cial advisor and former busi- ness owner from Dallas, has officially announced his intent to run for the new Luzerne County Coun- cil. i TO Ruckno seeks county A Republican, Ruckno lives in Dallas with his wife, Becky, and is the father of two grown children, Heidi, of Forty Fort; and John R., of Wilkes-Barre. ~ He attended Marquette University, took various busi- ness courses at Misericordia University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from council seat Bloomsburg University. Ruckno is now largely re- tired, most recently from a position as a trust officer and investment professional at Mellon Bank. He has lived in Luzerne County all of his life and was formerly president of Forty Fort Lumber Co, a family- owned business. Grant money Rep. Karen Boback (R-Colum- bia/Luzerne/Wyoming) has an- nounced the availability of grant funding to municipalities and non- profit organizations for the acquisi- tion and development of parks and trails and the preservation of open space through the Department of Conservation and Natural Re- sources’ (DCNR) Community Conservation Partnership Pro- gram (C2P2). “Outdoor recreational opportu- available to municipalities nities and open space truly impact the quality of life in our communi- ties,” said Boback. “When a family is looking for a new home, one of the major considerations is its proximity to parks, trails and other recreational opportunities. People want to live in areas where their children will have access to healthy recreation and the outdoors.” The grants can be used for recre- ation, park and conservation facil- ities, river corridors and resources, greenways and trails, heritage ar- eas and facilities and critical hab- itat, natural areas and open space. Funding for the grants comes from a combination of state and federal sources. Applications are due by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20. More information is available at Boback’s website, RepBoback- .com, by accessing the Community Conservation Partnership Pro- gram tab. Daddow-Isaacs Dallas American Legion Post 672 will conduct its annual essay contest Daddow-Isaacs Dallas American Legion Post 672 is conducting its annual essay contest. : This year’s essay contest topic is “What Are the Pros and Cons of Off-Shore Drill- ing?” Any student enrolled in grades nine through 12 in a public, private or parochial school or who is home-school- ed is eligible to participate. All essays must be no less than 500 words and no more than 1,000 words. There is also county, dis- trict, interdistrict, sectional and state competition. Prize money is awarded and the first-place winner will be awarded a $3,500 scholarship by the Pennsylvania State American Legion. Information can be obtained at the various schools or by contacting Clarence J. Michael at 675-0488. Joe Kelley is Commander of Post 672. HARPIN' ON THINGS This is NEPA. You need to learn how to drive in the snow already! Can anyone tell me when driv- ers in Luzerne County decided to use their four way flashers more than their turn signals, especially at the first sign of snow? I'm talking about the people com- ing home from second shift or the ones going in for third shift; I'm talking about the ones on the road at night in a snowstorm who are either out for a joy ride but have found out it really isn’t that much fun driving on slippery roads or the ones attempting to see if their ve- hicle really will get 35 miles a gal- lon. You know who they are. Like not Heffernan the person in a new Toyota Prius on Route 292 doing exactly 35 miles an hour, uphill and down, trying to squeeze out that last mile of the promised 39 mpg on the sticker they're holding in one hand with the cell phone in the other ready to call the car dealer and complain their car doesn’t get what was promised. Guess they didn’t read the fine print that states the average was attained on a closed, flat track near sea level devoid of hills in a stripped down model with prop- erly inflated tires by a profession- al driver who has a 2x4 under the pedal so it can only be com- pressed a quarter of the way and not with three other family mem- bers and the dog squished into the car like sardines on the way to the buffet at The Golden Cor- ral. Last week I was on my way home from a night of bowling (a very important reason to be out in a snowstorm since the Mrs. said I needed to relax and wanted the remote for a few hours) and had the pleasure of getting stuck behind one of those drivers with the flashers on, the wipers going full blast, high beams on and do- ing a whopping 15 miles an hour uphill on the Cross Valley. Getting onto the highway from ‘Wilkes-Barre was easy for a change since there was no traffic coming from the mall but I could see flashers in the distance. De- ciding to take it easy even though there was pavement showing through the snow, I rapidly closed the distance on the vehi- cle and within half a minute real- ized it was not stopped, just go- ing very slowly near the Plains exit. As I pulled into the passing lane a good 200 feet behind the vehicle, the driver must have de- cided he was going to set the | speed limit on the highway and no one was going to get by as he moved left from the clear pave- ment onto the snow to stop my pass. I have never seen a car the size of a Mini Cooper take up two lanes and the shoulder of a road before but he was trying his best. I moved back into the right lane since I figured he wanted to be in the left and started to accelerate when he cut right back in front of me. I'm driving an 8,000 pound, V-10, four-wheel drive truck and visions of tapping the rear quar- ter panel of the car like Dale Earnhardt Sr. would do when catching the leader on the last lap at Bristol flashed through my mind. Rubbing’s racing, right? We are going so slow, I consider jogging up to his window and asking if he has any Grey Poupon but shelf that idea as the vehicle behind now gets to my bumper and all I can see is a big, gold Chevrolet bowtie on the front of the TV, asks how the roads are a hopped up truck in the mirror. Obviously a Ford hater, this guy wants to get by so I let him have a shot at the little car. He holds his line as the car starts to veer left to cut him off. Realizing the truck is not going to slow down, the car turns right a little too sharply and goes onto the right shoulder. The door has opened and I am past the carina flash, only to find another one of these drivers in the rock cut. Not wanting to add another color to the concrete barrier, I stay behind and pray he will not turn onto Hillside Road. He slow- ly approaches Alan Dukes’ ga- rage but decides it would be bet- ter to stay on the highway since there are no new tire tracks in the turning lane. I make the turn and get home a little while later. The Mrs. greets me at the door and, over the racket of three talk- ing heads yelling at each other on and how I bowled. I answer that a 121 three-game average is not good for the team and, as I retired to the man cave, ask her where the toilet plunger is so I can attach a flag to it which says “Idiot” and stick it on the car of the next guy I get behind in a snowstorm like the comedian Gallagher did in one of his skits. The Atta Boy and Girl of the week go to Chae Taek and Young Yu, owners of Dallas Dry Clean- ers in the Dallas Shopping Cen- ter who have been providing ex- cellent service to residents of the Back Mountain for the last five and a half years. Harp Heffernan was the associ- ate publisher, outdoor editor and chief photographer of the Sunday Independent, a newspaper that was nm his family for 87 years in Wilkes-Barre. You can e-mail him at news@mydallaspost.com.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers