in esmes . TET Ip | Hi F) i CR A A a5 ni 2 SR 5 5 J iN Sunday, February 13, 2011 THE DALLAS POST PAGE 3 DALLAS SCHOOL DISTRICT Crowd cheers When board ~ opposes station By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The Dallas School Board took a stance on the proposed natural gas compressor to be built about 1,150 feet from the district campus property line Monday night. : Nearly 80 residents packed into the board room for the work session, which usually does not permit public com- ment. Board President Bruce Goeringer told the audience that statements could be made due to the circumstanc- es and the number of attend- ants. Before any citizen could speak, board member Ri- chard Coslett made a motion for the board to resolve to make a recommendation to the Dallas Township Zoning Hearing Board and the Plan- yning Commission to deny hief Gathering LLC’s appli- cation for special exceptions to build the compressor sta- tion, as its close proximity to the schools would have an ad- verse effect on the health and safety of students in the dis- trict. Members of the crowd, with some standing along the walls and in the hallway of the administration building, roared with cheers and ap- plause for the board’s deci- sion. Several residents spoke at the meeting, including Jus- tine Fierman, whose two chil- dren attend Wycallis Elemen- tary. She spoke at''length about the potential health ef- fects the compressor station would have on youngsters nearby. “This is in regards to chil- dren’s health,” she said. “What we really have to focus on is the children.” She said children are short- er and can more easily breathe in pollutants that are closer to the ground, provid- ing findings in thick binders for the board to review. “Do we allow our children of the Dallas School District '0 become guinea pigs?” she asked. Her 11-year-old daughter, Olivia Ostrowski, and a friend, Maddy Arthur, pre- sented the board with a pet- y 13} | = go 11 0g: Ay vid -5l eed al y, be lar pa | ition that included 54 signa- ~ tures from Wycallis students in opposition of the proposed compressor facility. Resident Wendy Cominski pleaded to the board to gar- ner its support in opposition for the project. “Please, please, please put pressure on the zoning board,” she said. * Franklin Township resi- dent Maureen Oremus ex- pressed her concerns as a 17- year volunteer fire firefighter in the area. She said emergen- cy evacuations need to occur within a half mile of a disas- ter, and the schools would be within half of that distance, which she referred to as the hot zone. She said in all of her train- ing, she was told to “never go into the hot zone.” Oremus also said the chaot- ic scene in the event of a near- emergency at the facility could prevent first respon- ders from being able to do their jobs. She admitted par- ents would be frantic to get to their children, and traffic could make the situation worse. The board had previously stated it was not sure what stance to take, and some members of the audience wanted to understand how the board came to its decision to oppose the project. “I live just a quarter of a mile away from the site, on the other side,” said Goerin- UP NEXT .. The regular meeting of the Dal- las School Board will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 14 in the administration building next to Wycallis Ele- mentary. ger. Coslett told members of the audience how much he appreciated their passion and enthusiasm in “fighting cor- porate America.” “It just makes no sense to put our treasure in jeopardy,” he said. Superintendent Frank Gal- icki, board member Dennis Goechol and Goeringer said they would attend the zoning hearing board meeting on Feb. 9 in support of the board’s resolution and speak on behalf of the district. Galicki also told the audi- ence a call would go out to parents on Tuesday evening to let them know about the meeting and ask for support. Solicitor Benjamin Jones III explained the process of the zoning hearing board to the residents and offered to voluntarily meet with them on Wednesday morning to discuss the nature of Chief Gathering LLC’s application. Jones expressed concerns about the residents’ abilities to find expert witnesses to testify at the hearing and prove their case against a cor- poration with access to envi- ronmental experts on a na- tional level and powerful law- yers. !1 Jones’ said he doesn’t see why a continuance would not be granted. He suggested that residents could file an appeal to the common courts if un- satisfied with the ruling on Wednesday. One resident asked Jones what the worst case scenario could be if the special excep- tions are granted. “All the things we heard about or saw in the video could come into reality,” he said, referring to a YouTube video sent to board members about natural gas compressor stations. Residents also had con- cerns about the board’s reac- tion to hearing the news on Jan. 12, when Galicki and business manager Grant Pal- fey met with Chief represen- tatives for a brief 30-minute meeting. “We were going to report back to the board today,” said Palfey. “Once we saw the ac- celeration of information, we told the board (on Jan. 25).” In other news... e Marc Kurowski of K&W Engineering presented the board with a compromise be- tween United Water and the district that would settle a discrepancy on a disputed wa- ter line. Kurowski told the board that United Water has agreed to relocate the disputed wa- ter line at its expense as well as install a new combined 6- inch water meter rate for the two elementary schools and the middle school. He said the water line in- stallation for the new high school was completed two years ago and is no longer in dispute. The only expense the dis- trict would need to pay for is the installation of two water laterals at a cost of $63,788. The district would also be billed on the 6-inch water line tariff rate, which. Kurowski said would save the district money. “This to me represents a more than reasonable com- promise”" said Kurowski. The board voted 6-1 in favor of the resolution. Two board members, Charles Preece and Russell Bigus, were absent. Hall. Vietnamese New Year is celebrated 8 By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Father Vincent Dang greet- ed more than 200 people at the Franklin Township Fire Hall who came to celebrate the Vietnamese New Year on Feb. 6. Families set up the Hoa Mai tree, traditional Vietnamese décor for the celebration by ' taking red ribbons decorated with gold Vietnamese-lan- guage messages and gently hanging them on the yellow- flowered tree. The flower is said to bring luck, and the messages written on the rib- bons only reinforce the wishes for good fortune. “In Vietnam, this tree is in every house, like the Ameri- can Christmas tree,” said Dan Nguyen, of Wilkes-Barre. “The flower on the tree opens on New Year’s Day, and (the tree VIETNAMESE MASS Every third Sunday of the month at 2 p.m., Dang hosts a Vietname- se-language Mass at his parish, St. Francis Cabrini Church on Mount Olivet Road. For more information, call the church at 696-3737 or visit their website at http://home.com- cast.net/~sfcbs/. is) decorated with everything you wish for in the New Year.” Nguyen has lived in Wilkes- Barre "Sificé 1993 and Tifiet Dang, an assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Wilkes- Barre at the time, a few years later. Dang has been a touch- stone for the local Vietnamese community ever since he was ordained as a minister in 1995 and has hosted a large Viet- namese New Year celebration every year since then. “It is the most important ho- liday in Vietnam,” said Dang. “You really set the tone for the new year because everything CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Father Vincent Dang, pastor of St. Francis Cabrini Church, celebrates Mass and the Vietnamese New Year at the Franklin Twp. Fire Kevin Vo and Hanh Le prepare roast pig, a traditional Vietnamese New Year's Day item at the Franklin Twp. Fire Hall. is new.” Vietnamese families prepare for the celebration by purchas- ing new clothes, speaking tra- ‘ditional greetings to family and friends, visiting others, offering money inside a red envelope and eating tradition- al foods. The celebration at the fire hall did not skimp on Vietnamese traditions — in ad- dition to the Hoa Mai tree and passing of the red envelopes, volunteers prepared an elabo- rate meal. Whole pigs with cherries for eyes laid across a table while volunteers prepared other dis- hes, such as sticky rice filled with meat and tightly wrap- ped with Dong leaves and can- died water chestnuts and gin- ger pieces. The large buffet that.spanned the length of the fire hall also featured pizza and chicken wings as a way to combine the American and Vietnamese cultures. Volunteers go the distance when it comes to preparing for the event, including driv- ing a few hundred miles to find just the right cuisine. “We got the pigs from Phila- See YEAR, Page 10 JACKSON TOWNSHIP Residents question addres By EILEEN GODIN Dallas Post Correspondent There are 214 township resi- dents affected by the Luzerne County 911 standardized address changes, said John Wilkes Jr., su- pervisor chairman at the town- ship supervisors meeting Mon- day night. The Luzerne County 911 office began reviewing addresses and changing rural route addresses two and a half years ago, Wilkes said. “It was part of the 911 Standar- dized Address Act,” he said. In response to several calls by residents, township attorney Jef- fery Malak explained the ad- dress changes were sent from the Luzerne County 911 office. “The township supervisors were not involved in the address changes,” Malak said. “It is out- side of the township’s jurisdic- tion.” Supervisor Tim Evans said he could imagine how confusing it could be to a paramedic to get a call for “Hillside Road” and see one in Dallas Borough and one in Jackson Township. Wilkes said the readdressing affected areas from Dallas Bor- ough to the top of Larksville Mountain, which had duplicate street names and numbers. Aiming to try to protect the township from the natural gas industry, Malak gave a report on the updates to the zoning ordi- nance. UP NEXT .. 3 a The next Jackson Township supervisors’ meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 7 in the municipal building. Under the zoning revisions, gas drilling will be allowed in an M-1 district, the area off Chase Road in the vicinity of American Asphalt. If a gas company has a lease outside of this area, a “condition- al use” variance needs to be fil- ed. Malak said a special meeting will be scheduled to hear the re- quest. Then supervisors will vote on it. . The gas drilling section of the zoning ordinance also has sever- al criteria gas drillers mustmeet, including noise, fencing and hours of operation. The zoning ordinance was last updated in 2005. “It is similar throughout the state,” Malak said. Other ‘items “covered in the zoning ordinance will be wind- mills, indoor and outdoor bur- ners. Supervisor Al Fox said the the zoning ordinance was last updated in 2005. Wilkes was appointed to the Pennsylvania Emergency Man- agement Agency's Intrastate Mutual Aid Committee. The three-year position will al- low Wilkes to serve on a state level advisory committee to help plan mutual assistance from oth- er municipalities for the preven- tion of and response to a variety of emergency situations. He said the new position will not hinder his ability to continue s changes for 9ll serving his township and hopes the new experience will provide him with new knowledge to ben- efit the Back Mountain commu- nities. “I am excited and honored to be chosen,” he said. Wilkes has served the town- ship as supervisor for about 15 years and has been involved with the Jackson Township Vol- unteer Fire Company and Road Department for about 25 years. In other news ... e Supervisors approved an agreement with the Back Moun- tain Volunteer Firemen’s Associ- ation to provide mutual aid for fire, EMS, rescue, Hazmat and any other emergency. ¢ Josh Evans of Plymouth and Kevin Lewis of Plains Township were hired as part-time police of- ficers on a six-month probation. KINGSTON TOWNSHIP The Kingston Township su- pervisors approved the begin- ning of legal proceedings against Luzerne County at their monthly meeting Wednesday night at the municipal building. According to Supervisor Chairman James Reino, town- ship officials determined the compensation for the town- ship’s tax collector is not ade- quately equivalent to the com- pensation of other tax collectors and the township is owed as much as an estimated $40,000 in back payments. Numerous at- tempts to communicate with county officials have been un- successful, township officials said. The board also approved sev- eral other motions, including the creation of a Facebook page for Kingston Township. The page will be an information-only site; however, residents will be Supers approve proceedings vs. county able to post questions and re- ceive responses. The Facebook page is now in the process of cre- ation and approval. Another motion was passed to write a letter to Comcast re- garding Kingston Township's dissatisfaction with payment to the township and service , leav- ing residents frustrated, officials said. Amanda Myrkalo
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