Ee et \ Sunday, May 15, 2011 THE DALLAS POST PAGE 3 SCHOOL BRIEFS Sem presents big band program The Wyoming Seminary Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble will present a pro- gram of big band music at 7 .m. on Tuesday, May 17 in the Buckingham Performing Arts Center, North Sprague Avenue, Kingston. The program will feature student soloists and jazz en- sembles and is free and open to the public. For more in- formation, call 270-2190. Lock-In Committee meets The Dallas High School 2011 Graduation Lock-In Com- mittee will meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 26 in the Dal- las High School auditorium. Sem students present last recital Wyoming Seminary student musicians will present the annual Farewell /Senior Recit- al at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 27 in the Great Hall of Wyoming Seminary, 228 Wyoming Ave., just north of Kingston Cor- ners. The students will perform their favorite pieces for the last time as Sem students. The performance is free and open to the public. For more in- formation, call 270-2190. Qf lunteers will run A o “gasoline. With the current price rough Lock-In There will also be a manda- tory run-through at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 31 in the Dallas High School auditorium for all volunteers working the night of the 2011 Dallas High School Lock-In. The Lock-In is an alcohol- free, drug-free, fully chap- eroned, all-night party for the graduating class. This year’s Lock-In will be held after grad- uation on Friday, June 3. Auction plant tent seeks donations While you're working in your garden this spring, please con- sider donating to the plant tent for the Back Mountain Memo- rial Library Auction. Thinning out perennials? The plant tent committee would love to have your extras. Just call and someone will pick them up. If you are purchasing plants for your garden, why not buy an extra as a donation? If you love gardening, maybe u would like to join the volun- =weers at the plant booth. It’s a great way to share your knowl- edge and meet others of like mind. To donate, volunteer or for more information, call Diana at 6750167 or e-mail dlber- ry@epix.net. PIPELINE Continued from Page 1 John Halbing and Charles Kish- baugh, were absent. “The planning commission is an agency of the township — it is not a policy-making agency,” he said. “It does not determine what will be permitted or what will not be permitted in the township.” . Besecker made a motion for Williams’ engineering firm, Milnes Engineering Co., and the’ township engineers and others involved in the project to have an open dialogue. Township En- gineer Thomas Doughton said he’ll need time to assemble com- ments between himself and sev- eral engineers and review the analysis before forwarding infor- mation to the planning commis- sion. Resident Rob Friedman of Lower Demunds Road request- ed to include a letter from his at- torney, Earl Philips of the Con- necticut-based Robinson and Cole law firm, in the meeting minutes. He said the information he re- quested the day prior to the meeting was inaccurate because it included plans for the meter- ing station. He also said a public notice was not made for the new application and asked that the planning commission “deny the Williams application as incom- plete and inconsistent with the plans submitted.” McCall said public meeting notices are not required for the planning commission and it meets on the second Tuesday of the month throughout the year to address whatever matter is on its agenda. Several residents questioned whether the planning commis- sion received accurate plans for review of the project. Dodson al- so said it is standard procedure for the planning commission to have its first look at applications at a meeting - not beforehand. Several members had an older version of the Williams’ plans, and Zoning Officer Leonard Kozick was able to provide the commission with new docu- ments later in the evening. Resident Duke Barrett asked a question relating to a “hazard ra- dius,” which he described as an equation that would determine “what a safe distance if for some reason that at any given point there would be a blast ... from any occupied building.” UP NEXT The zoning hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. May 16 in the Dallas Mid- dle School auditorium for Williams’ application for special exceptions to build a metering station off Hildebrandt Road, about 1,800 feet from the Dallas schools. A continuation of the planning commission meeting will be held at 7 p.m. June 14 in the municipal building for Williams’ applications for land development and subdivision of its pipeline project. David Bradford, a project manager for the Williams pro- posed pipeline, said the compa- ny follows all federal guidelines required for pipeline construc- tion. He said when the pipeline crosses from the Wyoming County border to Luzerne County, the thickness of the pipe increases to accommodate safety regulations for a more populated area. McCall noted that safety and design concerns are usually ad- dressed by the zoning hearing board, not the planning commis- sion. Other residents were able to ask questions of the Williams representatives relating to mat- ters such as the company’s com- pliance with the township and the location of the proposed pipeline. Resident Wayne Dottor, of Fairground Road, had concerns about the location of the: pro- posed pipeline, as well as its con- nection to the planned metering station. “What good is a pipeline with- out a metering station?” he asked. Dickinson said the company will “definitely need to have a way to measure gas in the pipe- line.” He said upon withdrawing the land development applica- tion for the metering station, the company now has time to search for alternative sites. Dottor also asked why the proposed projects are being planned “600 feet” from his home and the Dallas schools. Dickinson said the area was chosen because it’s “away from high traffic areas, outside of commercially developed areas, undeveloped, (and) away from a lot of high population areas.” Resident Scott Watkins then ‘asked how close the metering station would need to be to ef- fectively measure the gas. “Preferably as close as possi- ble to where the gas changes hands,” said Dickinson, refer- ring to where the Springville Gathering Line would tap into the Transco interstate line. He said the farther away from the transfer site, there would be fewer options to flow additional gas to the interstate line and the measurement of the gas may be less accurate. Resident Norm Tomchak wanted to learn more about the pressure of the gas located in both the Springville line and the Transco line. Bradford said the maximum operating pressure of the Tran- sco line is 1,200 pounds per square inch (psi) and the Spring- ville line will need to operate ata higher pressure to deliver the gas to the interstate line. He also said the Springville line will have a maximum operating pressure of 1,400 psi. Bradford also answered Tom- chak’s second question about where the odorant mercaptan, which gives natural gas its rot- ten-egg-like smell, would be added. He said it would be add- ed at the metering site and gas flowing through the pipeline in Dallas Township would be odor- less. Jane Tolomello, also of Fair- ground Road, asked why the company is still pursuing its May 16 zoning hearing for the metering station if other sites are being scouted. “That’s a great question,” said Bradford. Chief Gathering LLC is cur- rently involved in a Dallas Town- ship zoning hearing for its appli- cation to build a natural gas me- tering station near the Dallas schools about 500 feet from the proposed Williams site. Pro- ceedings began in February, and more witnesses still need to be called to testify on behalf of the project. It will be continued on May 31. McCall said the receiving a recommendation from the plan- ning commission could take months, as well. If a decision has not been reached in 90 days, the company can either file an ex- tension for the planning com- mission’s decision or the com- mission will have to vote on the project at that time. “In the past, matters of major land development programs take months and months be- cause of the detail required in the engineering review and the response of the applicant to the commentary that is generated by the engineers,” he said. The pipeline would begin near Springville Township in Susquehanna County, weave through Wyoming County to a compressor station near Tunkhannock Township and cross 24 properties in Lu- zerne County to end at a maintenance and tap site on 2 of 4 acres owned by William and Priscilla Perry. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Leonard Ziolkowski, of Dallas, disposes of his old medication. Drop-off a success Harveys Lake police collect 28 pounds of unused medication at DEA event. Leonard Ziolkowski, Dallas, brought in a bag of old prescrip- tion drugs to be disposed proper- ly of by Harveys Lake Police Chief Charles Musial at an un- used prescription drop-off on Sat- urday, April 30. The Harveys Lake Police De- partment collected 28 pounds in its first year participating in the event, which was spearheaded by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Ad- ministration last year. “I thought it was a success,” said Musial. “Participants were happy to have a drop off. So many (people) are afraid to have them in their cabinets or to flush them down the drain.” Musial said 25 participants dropped off unused prescription medication, and he said there were no illegal narcotics involved in the event. “There were people that had expired prescriptions for years, and just held onto them because they had no idea what to do with them,” said Musial. “It was relief for them to be able to dispose of the drugs properly.” The event was also held in Kingston Township, which col- lected about 35 pounds of unused medication. BMT EMA LAUDED BY The Back Mountain Regional Emergency Management Agen- cy recently received recognition for its Community Leadership Award from Senator Lisa Baker. The award was received from the Pennsylvania Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS). The Back Mountain Regional Emergency Management Agency is comprised of Dallas Borough, Jackson Township and Lehman Township with each municipality having a Regional Chief repre- senting its community and working together as a partnership during emergencies. From left, are Tim Carroll, Dallas Borough mayor; Atty. Jeffrey solicitor; Harry Vivian, Back Mountain Re- gional EMA chief; Ray Iwanowski, Lehman Township supervisor; Senator Lisa Baker, Jim Reino, Back Mountain Community Part- nership chairman; and John Jay Wilkes Jr., Jackson Township supervisor and Back Mountain Regional EMA deputy chief. Ab- sent at the time of the photo was Jim Welby, Back Mountain Re- gional EMA assistant chief. Swapping shovel for mower Too many years in south Florida has thinned my blood and it wasn’t until last a week when the temperature stayed in the 60s that the winter parka was put away. The snow shovel found its place in the corner of the cellar along with the bucket of rock salt, only to be replaced with a weed whacker and a bucket of hand trimmers on the front porch. The recent rains must have contained steroids since every blade of grass here in Lehman is owing faster than the price of of gas comes a dilemma. Do you run the riding mower at full throttle as usual, consume three tanks (3 gallons) of fuel and get all the grass cut in about four hours or do you run half throt- tle, use two tanks of fuel and take six hours? We're talking almost $16 in fuel per week if you only cut once. Guess the days of the neighbor kid coming by with an old non-motorized push mower HARPIN ON THINGS HARP HEFFERNAN to cut your grass for $5 are gone. I can just envision an en- trepreneurial youngster with a mower today. Earrings glisten- ing, talking with a lisp due to the stud in his tongue, hat on backwards, tattoos and looking at his feet while talking instead of making eye contact, after having pulled up in his father’s Avalanche with a custom trailer towing a riding mower that has more gadgets than a James Bond car. The mower would have re- mote control start and no back- up pull start cord. Wouldn’t want to get a blister now, would we? Mag wheels, mini Flow Master muffler, custom riding seat with head rest, chrome roll bar and lights underneath. It was almost too much to think about last week so going out to the fly fishing stretch of Bowman’s Creek was looking better but the Mrs. wanted to get outside and said she'd help with the lawn chores. Who am I to turn down help? I would use the push mower and she could use the zero turn riding mower with the two handles to maneuver. Getting it started, I explained how to push both handles forward to go forward and pull back to re- verse. Pull the left one back and right one forward to turn left and right one back and left forward to turn right. I gave it some throttle and told her to practice. She pushed both handles forward, the mower jerked and, after losing her balance, yanked back on the left. I jumped out of the way as she started spinning around like Kevin Harvick doing donuts after winning a race. After the third revolution, she let go of both handles, gave me the “look” and said she would use the push mower. I explained about priming the engine, holding the handle down so it would run and how to use the pull cord. I waited to hear the engine come to life but all I heard was grunting. I turn- ed to see her trying to pull the cord but not getting anywhere. I went back to see what the prob- lem was and she explained that the pull cord was on the right side and she’s left handed. Wanting to see if this was just an excuse to get out of helping, I had her try the weed whacker and leaf blower with the same result. She just doesn’t have enough strength in her right arm. We managed to get the lawn completed but I had to start every piece of equipment we used. The situation made me think about left-handed people so I decided to check a few of the local lawn equipment places. Stopping at C.H. Waltz Sons, I talked to parts manager Dale Edwards and his mechanic Da- vid Stokes. I asked if they had any lawnmowers or other equip- ‘ment with left-handed pull starts. Neither had seen any- thing like that but Stokes did say it’s possible to reverse the pull start on a weed whacker to pull with the left hand, although it would be at a bad angle. Explaining my dilemma to parts and sales manager Keith Williams at Hilbert’s Equip- ment, I was told he didn’t know of a company that makes gas- powered mowers, blowers or trimmers that start on the left- hand side. I looked into the office for Larry Hilbert and there he was writing away with his left hand. As it turns out Larry is a southpaw who had to train himself to adjust to the right-handed world. Atta girl ... The Atta Girl of the Week goes to Tammy Carroll, owner of Back Mountain Floral who has been in business for the past seven years on the Dallas High- way and makes a wide variety of flower arrangements for all occasions. . Atta Girl, Tammy, for the beautiful displays you provide to local residents. Harp Heffernan was the associate publisher, outdoor editor and chief photographer of the Sunday Inde- pendent, a newspaper that was in his family for 87 years in Wilkes-Barre. You can e-mail him at news@mydal- laspost.com. Dallas plans road work through June Dallas Borough plans to re- surface West Center Hill Road from just above Gerald Avenue to State Route 415 and East Center Hill Road from State Route 415 to Lake Street dur- ing the time period of May 23 through mid June as weather permits. Once the street has been re- surfaced, the borough will not approve any utility pave cuts (other than for emergencies) for a period of up to five years. Any residents considering the installation of water, gas or oth- er utility repairs or improve- ments are advised that any and all utility cuts to the roadway will be required to be complet- ed prior to the street resurfac- ing projects and then prohibit- ed for the five-year moratori- um. Residents are asked to call the Dallas Borough Road De- partment at 674-5362 with any questions pertaining to this road resurfacing project. EE a i i a i i i i hl LU i i Cl Le ¥ JY 1%
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers