PAGE 10 THE DALLAS POST Sunday, August 14, 2011 ZONING Continued from Page 3 dent Jim DeMichele. He said it seemed like the process was “too easy” for the company to receive approval. Planning Commission Chair- man Jack Dodson said every project that comes through the commission eventually gets ap- proval, and the goal of the group is not to cause snags in the proc- ess. “All they've got to do is meet all the requirements,” he said. “..At least going through the process, we know the pipelines are going to be put in properly. I think that means a lot to a lot of people.” In other news, the planning commission also granted condi- tional approval to Misericordia University for its construction project of an approximately 40,000 square foot dormitory and classroom facility on the campus. George Anthony, of Borton Lawson, said the university re- cently changed its plans to not include a daycare facility on the first floor of the multi-use build- ing. Instead, the project will in- clude more classroom space and apartment-style housing for students, thus eliminating about nine parking spaces from the proposed site. LAKE TOWNSHIP Residents fear speeding trucks By EILEEN GODIN Dallas Post Corresondent Township residents voiced concerns about living in fear of speeding trucks and aggressive drivers at the supervisors meet- ing Wednesday evening. Supervisors listened as five res- idents told their stories of speed- ing dump trucks and gas tanker trucks traveling on state Route 29 through the township. Stories of drivers using Jake brakes during late night and early morning hours, shouting profanity at resi- dents and speeding were told by " residents. Jake brakes are a sec- ondary braking system utilizing compression engine brakes com- monly found on large trucks. One man, who asked to remain unidentified, said he tried to fol- low a speeding truck to see its li- cense plate. What he saw the driver do made him more con- cerned. “He drove through a Y intersec- tion without stopping at a stop sign,” he said. “He was traveling 70 mph or better.” He added the offending trucks are not long-distance haulers but dump trucks from local compa- nies and gas tankers. Supervisor chairman Lonnie Piatt said he has gotten many phone calls from residents ex- pressing their concern and fear over the situation. Tax collector Susan Stefanow- icz said the trucks are creating a dangerous situation for those liv- ing along the state road. “It is hard to pull out of your driveway,” she said. “It is danger- ous.” Piatt said township officials will call PennDOT to see what can be done. Ideas of lowering the speed limit, prohibiting Jake brakes and stationing a state po- lice officer in the area were dis- cussed. In other news ... e Supervisors approved a mo- tion to raise the mileage reim- bursement rate from 51 cents to 55.5 cents to be in compliance with the Internal Revenue Servic- es requirement. e Announced the bridge re- placement project on Sorber Mountain Road is nearing com- pletion. Piatt said Pickarski Con- struction has “dug out the area, getting it closer to install the new bridge.” The bridge was one of two bridges in the township damaged due to flooding in June 2006. The second bridge on North Moun- tain Road was recently replaced last month. e Secretary Carlene Price an- nounced the annual Fall Clean Up will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10 at the municipal building. Proof of residency will be re- quired at time of drop-off as well as a service charge of $15 per pick- up truck, $20 for large pick-ups and $6 per car load. An additional $6 fee will be ap- plied for the following items: washers, dryers, carpets, over- stuffed chairs, couches, dressers, televisions, hot water heaters, boilers, furnaces, stoves and large appliances. The following items will not be accepted: tires, hazardous wastes, chemicals, brush, tree stumps, cinder blocks, animal or human waste, shingles, sheet rock or other building materials, leaves, grass, garbage, freezers, refrigerators containing Freon and air conditioners. e Price also announced the secretary’s office will be closed from August 16-18 for vacation. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST The Shavertown United Methodist Church Praise Band provides entertainment and inspiration. to staff the ticket food booth. Dallas neighbors Brenden Ehret, left, and Maggie Michael team up YOUTH Continued from Page 1 based in Senegal, Africa, spoke to the tens of thousands of youth in the audience and Marquart definitely heard the message — and wanted to know more. Vaughn's organization aids young girls in West Africa in completing their education and learning entrepreneurial skills — no small feat for an area with staggeringly dismal education statistics. According to Vaughn, out of every 60,000 girls who attend DianeThompson, left, and Sylvia Kropp arrange articles for sale. first grade, just 4,500, will attend middle school and only 1,500 will attend high school. From the 1,500 who made it to high school, just 150 will attend col- lege and only 15 will actually re- ceive a diploma. Marquart contacted Vaughn, received a scholarship from MIT to aid the construction of a com- puter lab at the Kaolack, Senegal center and went on to become the US. coordinator for the 10,000 Girls program. “For me, it was an unbelieva- ble experience,” she said. For those in attendance at the Summer Showcase, a morning of local entertainment, good food and bargain buys is a welcomed way to support the church youth. “I love these kinds of events,” said Cheryl Myers, of Dallas. “We love to do family things with stuff for the kids to do and the support the community.” TAX Continued from Page 3 storms and the situation has be- come dangerous to her family. Reino said there is a lawsuit pending with a property owner in the area where a pipe has col- lapsed and causes drainage prob- lems. He said there is not much the board can do until that lawsuit is settled, and the board has re- quested the court move forward with the lawsuit. Beverly Moranski, of Trucks- ville, said a brand new catch basin near Bunker Hill Road does not collect water properly. She said the most recent storms are erod- ing her street and believes the is- sue lies in the hands of the town- ship. Reino said the township is do- ing all it can do to solve these is- sues, especially with such a tight budget. In othernews, the board... e Approved a liquor license transfer to Bali Enterprises Inc., which operates the Valero gas sta- tion on North Memorial Highway in Shavertown, pending approval from the liquor control board. ¢ Approved the planning com- mission’s recommendation in fa- vor of the Chapple minor subdivi- sion on Longdale and Glenview avenues. ¢ Approved the planning com- mission’s recommendation to ac- cept the Bernice Hill minor subdi- vision. e Accepted the 2012-2016 cap- ital program. e Authorized the township so- licitor to draft an ordinance to al- low the township manager to transfer up to $100,000 from the capital improvements fund to the general fund should the need arise within the 2011 fiscal year. e Approved a change order for the Terrace Avenue Storm Drain- age Improvements project in the amount of $6,851.09 for a170 foot gutter, inlet box and piping to be paid from the remaining funds in the Luzerne County Office of Community Development grant. ATTORNEY Continued from Page 3 pointed and I'm sure everyone else will be disappointed as well because I ensure the safety of my children to you all,” said To- lomello. “And if something hap- pens, I hope to God I'm not in that house, I hope my daugh- ter’s not in that house, I hope that she’s not here and I'm at work. I just hope that you all say a good prayer before you all go to sleep at night.” Buildings and Grounds Su- pervisor Mark Kraynack also provided the board with an up- date on the new high school construction project. The school is set to open on Sept. 12, and Kraynack said site work is being completed very quickly now that the end of the project is near. He said the dem- olition of the old school build- ing should be finished by the end of the week and it is hoped that other curbing and drainage projects will be done by the for- mal dedication on Aug. 28. Kraynack said there will be advertisements for three addi- tional housekeepers and one custodian for the new high school. Before asking if the board had any questions for him, Kray- nack reassured the board and the public that the project would be completed on time. “As long as we're going to make it, that sounds good to me,” said Goeringer. In other news, the board... e Approved the college tech- nologist internship of Eric Goeringer of the Pennsylvania School of Technology effective July 11. Bruce Goeringer ab- stained from the vote, as Eric Goeringer is his son. eo Approved the following prices for lunch at all schools in the district: $1.70 for elemen- tary lunch, $1.80 for middle school lunch, $1.90 for high school lunch and $.40 for re- duced lunch. e Approved an agreement to pay an amount not to exceed $20,000 to settle and compro- mise all claims raised by the par- ents of an eligible student. Su- perintendent Frank Galicki would not elaborate further on the matter. Board member Den- nis Gochoel Jr. voted against the measure. e Accepted bids for shop equipment at the new high school in the amount of $61,925. Galicki said the curri- culum for the class is still being written. Board members Karen Kyle and Gochoel voted against the item. e Appointed the following teachers as elementary subject area coordinators, which aid in developing curriculum accord- ing to state standards, for the 2011-12 school year: Nicole Val- kenburg in Science, Kerry Spe- ziale in Mathematics, Kristi Taylor in Social Studies and Caitlin Cooper in Language Arts. e Approved Mary Kratz as special education department chairperson for the 2011-12 year with a stipend of $499 in addi- tion to her salary. e Approved the following teachers for tenure: Mark Adams, Diana Alichnie, Lynn Bull, Maria Bustin, Melissa Chrusch, Rachael Dunn, Sean Eagan, Rachael Hayes, Rebecca Hyduk, Karen Heltzel, Daniel Nestorik, Amy Pavia, Kylie Ro- sengrant, Jason Rushmer, Ste- phanie Schlude, Jennifer Swi- derski, Susan Timlin, Allison Yourechko and Fred Weaver. ¢ Approved the following as- sistant coaches for the 2011-12 season with compensation in accordance with the collective bargaining unit agreement: Ashley Hules for high school girls’ volleyball, Amanda Jez for high school field hockey and Gary Steir for middle school football. e Approved the following vol- unteer assistant coaches for the 2011 fall season: Kenslie Ker- estes for high school cross coun- try and Chris Plaviak and Cody Friedel for high school football. ¢ Accepted a letter of resigna- tion of Arie Vankuyk, diving coach. e Appointed the following high school music directors and advisors: Mike Potoeski as 'y ] marching band director with ag ™ stipend of $4,343; Kevin Daven- port as marching coordinator with a stipend of $1,864; Jeff Kelly as rhythmic coordinator with a stipend of $1,864 and Lo- rie Potoeski as brand front coor- dinator with a stipend of $1,864. e Approved the following bus drivers for the 2011-12 school year: Jackie Backus, Robert Brown, Joyce Chapin, Greg Co- bleigh, Angelo Concert Jr., Jef- frey Emanuel, Jeffrey Emanuel | II, Sally Emanuel, Bruce Grana- han, Joseph Granahan, James Gregory, Judith Hartman, Wil- liams Hartman, Eileen Head- man, Robb Henderson, Ken- neth Hislop, Christopher Ho- well, Richard Huey, Eve Jones, Christine Manzella, Darleen McGeehan, Rachel Miers, James Monahan, David Rowett, Deborah Stredny, Heather Stoss, Thomas VanHorn, Mi- chelle Vannoy, and Harry Weav- er. GAS Continued from Page 1 weren't many problems report- ed. After spending time at the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors’ con- ventions and attending work- shops on his own and with his fellow supervisors, Wagner feels he has an arsenal of information to utilize when dealing with nat- ural gas issues. But he said one can never know too much. On this most recent trip, he said he had never seen a drilling rig up close be- fore. He was impressed by the scarred mountains being prepped for pipelines. “I never realized what was in- volved at a pad,” he said. “I went up myself a couple times and each time I couldnt pass. We were at places that we couldn’t go in but you could stand on the bank and look down on a drill- ing pad and what all is involved and the surrounding areas and how it affects them.” Another surprising element of the trip was a visit to the Varg- son property in Towanda where property owners have a well pad, compressor station, metering station and pipeline surrounding their home. The developments on the property were built by Chesapeake Energy. “Beautiful farm, but (gas de- velopments) affected her water and the windows are open in her house yearround because of gas,” said Wagner. “They took a charcoal lighter, she turned on the faucet, she held it there and it catches fire right in the sink. She can’t have curtains on the windows or nothing like that.” Wagner said Chesapeake gives the Vargsons just five gal- lons of fresh water a day to use for drinking and cleaning. Any- thing else beyond that amount, he said, comes out of their pock- ets. He said the woman who lives there can’t even park in her dri- veway because of a right-of-way for a compressor engine. “This is the fine print in be- tween,” said Wagner. “(The gas company) said there was noth- ing wrong with her water, but at the same time she drew a glass of water and out of the five (gas company representatives) that were there, nobody would drink the water. So what does that tell you?” After seeing that experience firsthand, Wagner considers Dal- las Township very lucky. He said he’s proud of the zoning laws the township has in place and how the supervisors and other offi- cials have been working to pro- h, tect citizens. “(The gas companies) struck a boulder here that they never anticipated,” he said. Wager says he’s realistic about the situation in Dallas Township — legally the township cannot re- fuse a company from doing busi- ness in the community, and he believes the pipelines are going to be in the area. He said he doesn’t want to at- tempt to refuse the companies — otherwise, the courts will decide what will happen within the township. | But he said residents signing private right-of-ways should be careful, too. “I don’t know what it will be in the end, but all in all, people - should be more concerned when they get these right-of-ways for having pipelines on their proper- ties,” he said. “Read the fine print. Don’t just get a lawyer — get a lawyer that knows what's ¢ involved with the environment “ ‘and the rules and laws of Dallas Township.” One positive aspect of the nat- ural gas industry Wagner viewed was the rebuilding of roads. He said townships are going to ben- efit from this work, because re- paving is often the largest part of a township’s budget. “They’re like superhighways in the middle of nowhere,” he said.
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