Sunday, January 1, 2012
THE DALLAS POST
PAGE 5e
| ®Ticket Tom’ retires
Misericordia University Cam-
pus Safety Officer Thomas Mati-
nas, of Swoyersville, retired in
December after more than 21
years of befriending students, fac-
ulty and staff and patrolling the
more than 124-acre campus in the
Back Mountain.
Matinas quickly earned the
nickname, “Ticket Tom,” due to
the frequency in which he issued
parking tickets and enforced
parking regulations on campus.
Matinas also ardently pa-
trolled the upper and lower cam-
pus to ensure campus safety and
oftentimes directed guests to the
proper location on campus for
various cultural and academic
events.
The campus community recog-
nized Matinas and his wife, Car- Misericord
ia University President Michael A. MacDowell, right,
from MU
ol, at a surprise retirement party thanks Thomas Matinas on his last day of work for his years of
at T.C. Riley's Pub & Inn in dedicated service to Misericordia University and the campus
Trucksville on Nov. 30.
community.
CIVIC BRIEFS
Trees collected in
Kingston Township
The Annual Christmas Tree
Collection Program in Kingston
Township will be conducted
from January 3 through January
1B.
Residents are asked to have
the trees placed at the curbside
where they will be picked up
between the hours of 7 a.m. and
3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Residents are asked to remove
plastic bags, all ornaments,
lights and stands before placing
trees at the curbside.
The trees are mulched and
these items can damage equip-
ent.
Qi may also drop off
es at the composting site
behind the Public Works Facility
at 225 E. Center St.
For more information, contact
the Kingston Township Admin-
istration Office at 696-3809.
Alzheimer’s support
group meets
The Dallas Alzheimer’s Sup-
port Group will meet at 10:30
a.m. on Thursday, Jan.5 in the
board room of the Meadows
Nursing and Rehabilitation
@ E. Center Hill Rd.,
as.
Contra dance set
A New England Contra dance
will feature the music of the
Wyoming Valley House Band
and calling by Bob Nicholson at
7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7 at the
Church of Christ Uniting in
Kingston, Sprague Avenue,
Kingston.
No partner or previous experi-
ence is necessary.
Admission to the dance is $9
for adults and $24 for families.
For information, call 333-
4007.
Dallas workers will
collect Christmas trees
The Dallas Borough Road
Department will commence
curbside collection of Christmas
trees on January 9 and continue
until January 27.
Christmas trees must have all
decorations removed prior to
being placed curbside. Resi-
dents are to refrain from placing
their trees curbside prior to
weather predictions for snow
and/or freezing rain events.
Any questions or comments
may be directed to the road
department at 674-5362.
~~ i]
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; : .
. World of Pers Unleashed
JOAN HARRIS DANCERS
COLLECT TOYS
The Joan Harris Dancers once again joined forces with
Toys for Tots this holiday season to help needy children in our
community. New unwrapped toys were collected at all of their
recent productions of “The Holiday in. Whoville." From left,
are Jayslin Pritchard, Jackson Township; LCPL Steffon Mitch-
ell, USMC; LCPL Daniel Raymond, USMC; and Madelyn Bozin-
ski, Dallas.
Exhibit opens at Friedman Gallery
The art of American master
Edward Hopper will go on dis-
play beginning January 21 in
the Pauly Friedman Art Gallery
at Misericordia University.
The exhibition, “Edward
Hopper: Early Impressions,” is
a collection of Hopper’s early
works in charcoal, pen and ink,
pencil and graphite.
The exhibit, “Winslow
Homer: Woodcut Prints,” and
also a display of recent paint-
ings by Pennsylvania artist Mi-
chael Molnar will be on display
2
Member FDIC
The minimum balance to receive the 1.00% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is $10,000. APY is effective 12/19/2011. if ba
in the adjacent MacDonald Art
Gallery in Sandy and Marlene
Insalaco Hall.
The exhibits will open with a
free reception from 5 to 8 p.m.
on Saturday, Jan. 21 and run
through February 11. Pauly
Friedman Art Gallery hours are
10 am. to 8 p.m. Tuesday
through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. Friday; and Saturday and
Sunday, 1-5 p.m.
For more information, call
674-6250.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP
Taxes to remain steady
By SARAH HITE
shite@mydallaspost.com
Supervisors adopted the 2012
budget on Dec. 22, stabilizing
taxes for the upcoming year.
Supervisor Al Fox said prop-
erty taxes will remain at 1.32
mills, but getting there wasn’t
an easy process. He said in-
creased expenses forced the
board to make cuts throughout
the budget in order to keep the
tax rate steady.
A mill is $1 tax for every
$1,000 in assessed property val-
ue,
Expenses in the township in-
creased by about $185,000 be-
tween ‘last year and this year,
and Fox said slight cuts were
made to every budget item,
which resulted in an overall sav-
ings of about $47,000. He said
the move actually created more
revenue than if the board had
hiked the tax rates.
Fox also wanted residents to
know the cuts did not affect the
township’s various services, in-
cluding police, fire and ambu-
lance and a full-time secretary to
handle zoning and other inqui-
ries.
“There have been some tight-
ening of the belts this year,” said
Chairman John Wilkes Jr. “I
don’t like to use the word cuts,
but we made the budget leaner.”
The only increase residents
will see is a $20 hike in sewer
rates. Fox said over the past
three years the township has
been able to absorb rate increas-
es from the Dallas Area Munici-
pal Authority, but this year it
just wasn’t possible.
In other news ...
e Residents questioned the
board about a sewer replace-
ment project that has been ongo-
ing for two years.
Resident Mitch Smolow
asked why the project on Bul-
ford Road was being paid for by
those residents. He said there
are rumors swirling about how
the supervisors are handling the
project.
Solicitor Jeff Malak said the
project benefits mostly those 19
residents affected by the project,
and the township is splitting
some of the costs for the work,
including engineering fees and
road repairs.
Fox added no grants were
available for the project and
state Department of Environ-
mental Protection officials rec-
ommended the financial plan as
the only viable way to get the
work done.
Fox also said a meeting was
held with those residents prior
to construction and most agreed
with how the process would be
handled financially.
Wilkes said the reason a mu-
nicipal sewer system is being
constructed in the development
is because there were “many fail-
ures” of the existing system, and
the township didn’t want indi-
vidual residents to pay thou-
sands of dollars to replace the
sewers.
He said the area is one of a few
spots in the township that is not
part of the municipal sewer sys-
tem.
“You're going to be seeing this
a lot more in municipalities,”
Malak said about the cost-split-
ting plan.
® The board also wished Su-
pervisor Tim Evans a “speedy
recovery.” Evans has been ab-
sent from municipal meetings
for about a month due to an ex-
tended illness, said Wilkes.
e Wilkes also made a plea for
residents to become involved on
the township’s various commu-
nity boards, such as the zoning
hearing board, the planning
commission, the recreation
board and the SCI Dallas Citi-
zens Committee.
He said the township has been
seeking letters of interest for
more than two months, and very
few residents have expressed in-
terest in the position.
“These boards are taxed,”
said Wilkes. “We need residents
to serve.”
® The board’s reorganization
meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m.
on Tuesday, Jan. 3 in the munici-
pal building with the regular
monthly meeting to follow.
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP
Board of supervisors unanimous
In adopting new budget for 2012
By GERI GIBBONS
Dallas Post Correspondent
The board of supervisors
unanimously adopted a
2012 budget on Tuesday
night that includes a slight
increase in real estate tax-
es.
Supervisors Ted Dymond,
Michael Prokopchak and
William Miller voted in fa-
vor of a $288,625 spending
plan that Prokopchak said
would result in an average
additional cost of $4.16 per
township parcel.
The budget increases the
tax millage to .6 of a mill,
from the current .58 mill.
A mill equals $1 in tax for
every $1,000 of assessed
value.
Prokopchak noted the
budget was “basically the
same as last year.” He said
both revenues and expens-
es had remained relatively
flat.
Supervisors Ted Dymond, Michael Prokopchak and William Miller
voted in favor of a $288,625 spending plan that Prokopchak
said would result in an average additional cost of $4.16 per
township parcel. The budget increases the tax millage to .6 of a
mill, from the current .58 mill.
Richard Melvin, board
secretary/treasurer, said
that because grants reflect-
ed in the 2011 budget would
not be received during the
2012 fiscal year, there was a
slight reduction in the total
budget amount.
The supervisors meet
next at 7 p.m. on Tuesday,
Jan. 3 when they will reor-
ganize to name officers and
set meeting dates and
times for 2012.
Back Mountain
EP EIB OIBOEDEDEIREENS -»
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