Vol. 122 No. 45
THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889
January 8 - 14, 2012
€
ALLAS
OST.
WILKES-BARRE, PA.
www.mydallaspost.com
AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER
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By SARAH HITE
shite@mydallaspost.com
The board of supervisors reor-
ganized and residents grilled a
natural gas company representa-
tive at a meeting Tuesday night.
Liz Martin was sworn in as a
new supervisor. She was also ap-
pointed as vice chairman.
Supervisor Frank Wagner was
appointed chairman. The two
agreed to table a decision on a re-
placement supervisor after Philip
Walter, who served in the posi-
tion for more than 40 years,
abruptly resigned at the supervi-
sors’ last meeting.
Martin announced the 12 can-
didates who have supplied re-
sumes for the position. They in-
clude Jeff Dickson, Melvin Mor-
ris, Alan Pugh, John Ruckno,
Robert Wagner, John Barilla,
remaining
Roger Howell, Martin Barry, Tim
Haddle Sr., Jack Dodson, William
Grant and Susan Collini.
Craig Tupper will serve as the
vacancy board member in the
event Martin and Wagner cannot
agree on an appointment. The su-
pervisors have 30 days from Wal-
ter’s resignation to select a per-
son to serve until the next super-
visor election in two years. If
Martin and Wagner cannot
agree, they will have 15 days to
work with Tupper on the deci-
sion.
If the supervisors cannot reach
an agreement after 15 days, the
decision will be taken to Luzerne
County Court.
The board also announced the
retirement of longtime zoning of-
ficer Leonard Kozick. Wagner
said the board will search for a re-
placement with township clerk
Tammy Miller serving as acting
SUPErvISors agr
CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST
Elizabeth Martin is sworn in as co-chairman of the Dallas Town-
ship supervisors by Magistrate Jim Tupper. Martin is the first
female supervisor in the township.
zoning officer until then.
Martin was also appointed as
treasurer.
Mary Rodriguez was selected
assistant township secretary and as an alternate to the zoning
ee on a third?
hearing board which includes
Gary Hozempa, Bob Bayer and
Conrad Higgins.
Jeff Dickson was selected as an
alternate planning commission
member. The planning commis-
sion includes Jack Dodson, Bob
Besecker Jr., Charles Kishbaugh,
Dan Jones and Walter Belchack.
At a regular meeting that fol-
lowed, Fairground Road resident
Wayne Dottor told the supervi-
sors about an incident that oc-
curred near his house on New
Years Day.
He said throughout the day he
heard a loud noise coming from
an area where work is being com-
pleted on the Williams Field Ser-
vices LLC pipeline.
Williams is finishing construc-
tion on a 33-mile gathering line to
tap into the Transco pipeline that
runs through Dallas Township.
The pipeline will carry gas from
wells in Susquehanna and other
counties to the Transco, and the
gas will be sent to market.
Resident Jane Tolomello con-
firmed this incident with other
neighbors on Fairground Road,
who also reported vibrations in
their houses. She questioned
why residents were not notified
about the incident and said emer-
gency officials were also unaware
of the work.
Helen Humphreys, a Williams
spokesperson, said there was a
hydrostatic test of the pipeline in
which pressurized water is sent
through the line to test for weak-
nesses.
She also said a smart pig, a de-
vice used to clean the line, was
forced through, using pressur-
ized air in order to remove excess
water from the pipeline after the
See AGREE, Page 9
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By SARAH HITE
shite@mydallaspost.com
Three council members were
sworn in and council reorganized
on Monday night.
Charles Youngman was sworn
in as a first-time council member.
ee Eckert and Chris Matus were
@- in for another term. Both
ave served on council for the
past four years.
Council now has six serving
members. Last year council pet-
itioned Luzerne County Court to
decrease its size from seven to
five members. The petition was
approved and the decrease will
be complete by next election.
Eckert was voted as president
and council member Robert Ed-
gerton was chosen as vice presi-
dent. Matus had previously
served in the position.
Council also voted to change
its meeting schedule from 7:30
pm. to 7 p.m. on the third
Wednesday of every month.
The following persons were re-
appointed to positions in the bor-
ough: Tracey Michael Carr as
borough manager, borough sec-
retary and zoning officer; Carl Al-
ber as assistant zoning officer
and code enforcement officer;
Mary Herbert as treasurer; Jef-
frey Malak as solicitor; Karen Fio-
rello as administrative assistant;
Harry Vivian as emergency man-
agement coordinator; the Dallas
joins two
members
Area Municipal Authority as sew-
age enforcement officer; Mark
Van Etten as real estate tax certi-
fier; and James Drury as chief of
police.
PNC Bank, Citizens Bank, Lu-
zerne Bank, First National Com-
munity Bank and the Pennsylva-
nia Local Governments Invest-
ment Trust were designated as
official depositories for the bor-
ough.
Eckert, Matus, Edgerton and
Herbert were designated as au-
thorized signatories for borough
accounts.
Eckert, Matus, Carr, borough
resident Robert Richardson and
unnamed representatives from
the police and road departments
were designated as pension com-
mittee members.
Drew Regan, Margaret Baney
and Kathy Kupstas were appoint-
ed to the zoning hearing board.
Frank Rollman, Joseph Gilroy
and Barbara King were appointed
to the planning commission.
Nancy Eckert, Vivian and Jo-
seph Fiorello were appointed to
the property maintenance code
appeals board.
Harold Clarke Lewis and John
Pieczynski were appointed as
representatives to the Back
Mountain Area Uniform Con-
struction Code Board of Appeals.
Mayor Tim Carroll was ap-
pointed as a representative to the
Dallas Area Municipal Authority
See MEMBERS, Page 9
CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST
Lee Eckert, left, and Charles Youngman are sworn in as Dallas
Borough Council members by Magistrate Jim Tupper. Chris Ma-
tus, who was re-elected to a council position, was not available for
the picture.
the new high
CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST
Kelly Martin Johnson is the new Dallas High School girls basket-
ball coach.
CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST
Doug Miller is the new boys’ basketball coach at Dallas High
School.
New basketball coaches at Dallas High
By SARAH HITE
shite@mydallaspost.com
The Dallas High School bas-
ketball program has two new
leaders this season.
Kelly Martin Johnson, of
Trucksville, recently replaced
former head girls basketball
coach Mary Jo Hromchak, but
she’s not new to coaching within
the district.
Originally from Williamsport,
Martin Johnson has been a Dal-
las coach for the last six years,
and she has been able to move
up the ranks with many players
she has mentored during her
tenure with the district.
She’s been coaching for a total
of 11 years, with experience on
the seventh and eighth-grade
girls team, the freshman team
and the junior varsity team.
“It’s very rewarding to see the
kids get better over time,” she
said.
The longtime coach has been
in love with the game since she
was a little girl when her father
coached a church basketball
league.
“Me and my two sisters were
cheerleaders,” she laughed. “We
spent a lot of time in the gym and
I developed a passion for the
game.”
Martin Johnson continued
her basketball career through
middle and high school and
played for Slippery Rock Univer-
sity after receiving a scholarship
for her basketball prowess.
She emphasizes fundamental
basketball skills in her coaching
style and wants her players to
understand the life lessons in-
volved in basketball, too.
“It’s important to be in good
physical shape, to develop team-
work and respect for other play-
ers and the game,” she said.
“Schedule coordination is im-
portant, too, with balancing aca-
demics and basketball.”
Martin Johnson’s favorite pas-
times outside of basketball in-
clude even more basketball. She
coaches a youth league with her
husband, Mark Johnson, on
which her twin daughters, Oli-
via and Hanna Johnson, play. An-
other daughter, Samantha Mar-
tin, graduated from Dallas last
year and was a member of the
girls basketball team. She now
plays for Albright College. Mar-
tin Johnson also has a stepson,
Matthew Johnson.
“We spend a lot of time in the
gym,” said Martin Johnson. “My
family and I are together a lot.”
Doug Miller, of Exeter, will
serve as head boys’ basketball
coach after Ted Jackson Jr. re-
signed in November from the po-
sition he held for seven years.
See COACHES, Page 9
A |
MNS
New schedule would allow for extra courses
By SARAH HITE
shite@mydallaspost.com
The Dallas School Board dis-
cussed Monday an expansion of
the high school schedule that
will allow students to take on
extra courses next year.
Superintendent Frank Galicki
said the board is considering
switching from the four-period
block-style schedule to a five-pe-
riod schedule.
Currently, students have four
81-minute periods in a day, with
some courses lasting only nine
weeks and others all year long.
There is also a flex period at the
end of the day which students
utilize to get one-on-one help
with teachers or meet with aca-
demic clubs.
He said the goal is to utilize
hi
school facility to
its fullest potential while also
offering students more educa-
tional opportunities.
Each period would be de-
creased to 73 minutes. The first
period of the day would be 76
minutes with the elimination of
homeroom, during which teach-
ers track students’ attendance.
The flex period will be elim-
inated with the new scheduling,
but there may be time built into
the schedule to allow students
some free time for personal pur-
suits.
Galicki said high school prin-
cipal Jeff Shaffer has been work-
ing on a new scheduling system
for two years, but delayed its in-
ception due to the completion
of the high school in Septem-
ber.
The school was built with
more space for related arts
courses, including food technol-
FAS pe
ogy, prototyping and broadcast
journalism courses, but Galicki
said students had trouble add-
ing these classes to their sched-
ules because of the four-period
limitation.
“We've had a lot of feedback
from the kids, a lot of feedback
from the community, that they
would love very much some
more options, some more op-
portunities, to get into some of
these courses,” he said.
Board President Catherine
Wega said no new teachers
would be needed to expand up-
on current course offerings. She
said adding the extra period in
the day would also unlock cur-
rent teachers’ schedules, allow-
ing them to instruct extra
courses.
Galicki said there may be a
need for some additional staff
training, but he expects teach-
ers to embrace the scheduling
change.
Wega also said there would
be a need for some course mate-
rials, but most of the necessities
have already been purchased for
the new classes.
“Right now we're going to
have to maximize what we
have,” said Galicki.
The block schedule has been
in place since 1995, and the
school previously worked on a
conventional, eight-period
See SCHEDULE, Page 9
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