Vol. 122 No. 4 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 March 25 - 31, 2012 ®The DALLAS POST. WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER Seniors forced out of Dallas center By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The Dallas Senior Center closed earlier this month due to safety and visibility concerns, and local se- niors are worried another center won’t come soon enough. Trula Hollywood, executive di- rector of the Area Agency on Aging for Luzerne and Wyoming coun- ties, said an issue with flooring posed safety concerns and would have been too expensive to fix. “We vacated that building be- cause of safety issues,” she said. “There were issues with possible Now seniors are left to attend centers in other communities, including Edwardsville, Kingston and Tunkhannock, until a new senior center can be secured in Dallas. falling, and cars having difficulty making turns in the parking lot. We wanted to be more visible in the community and have a larger space, as well.” She also said there were mois- ture problems in the building, which caused the floor to buckle. The flooring was installed in 2009 through a grant, and Luzerne County chose the contractor in- volved in the project. The center was a tenant at the 22 Rice St., Dallas location for about 25 years. The building was once the site of the Back Mountain Me- morial Library Auction, and the surrounding grounds were used for firemen’s bazaars. Tim Carroll, owner of the build- ing and borough mayor, said the agency must pay for the flooring because its installation was a viola- tion of the lease. He said he was never notified that there was an issue with the for- mer flooring and was surprised to see new flooring installed in 2009. He said it wasn’t installed properly, which caused the linoleum floor- ing to bubble in areas. Carroll estimated it would cost about $4,800 to repair the floor. Carroll said he also was never told of any other problems within the building. He said other issues that were expressed to him were promptly remedied. “I got a note from ladies at the center asking to fix the toilet and I See SENIORS, Page 12 BILL TARUTIS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Dallas residents Joe and Alfreda (Susie) Malak work on a puzzle at the Edwardsville Senior Center. The Malaks now visit the Ed- wardsville center after the Dallas Senior Center closed due to safety issues. With gaming unds In By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The Back Mountain Com- munity Partnership dis- cussed how to proceed with its emergency management agency center at a meeting March 15 after receiving money from gaming funds. The partnership applied ¥ir a grant to renovate a for- "mer medical building on Route 118 in Lehman Town- ship into a regional emer- gency management agency center. Dallas Fire & Ambulance Inc. purchased the building in 2010 with the hopes of eventually building a similar center. The project also in- cludes the construction of a pole building on the 9-acre property. The space will be used for equipment and medical sup- ply storage, partnership and other civic organization meetings, emergency re- sponder training, sleeping quarters for evacuees and a control center for the Back Mountain Regional Emer- gency Management Agency. Joe Chacke of NEPA Alli- ance said the partnership must decide whether its plans to scale back on the project or attempt to secure other funding for the pro- ject. The group initially re- quested $1.2 million for the project but received $975,000. Chacke said the partner- ship could choose to scale back the facility’s plans or find funding elsewhere. Chairman James Reino Jr. said the partnership has many options, but wanted to discuss the issue with mem- bers of Dallas Fire & Ambu- lance Inc., the building’s owner, before making a deci- sion. The partnership also heard from Roger Heydt of Central Tax/Don Wilkinson Agency, who presented ways officials can research wheth- er an address is located OE ¢'R0981512007 hand, roup proceeds The space will be used for equipment and medical supply storage, partnership and other civic organization meetings, emergency respon- der training, sleeping quar- ters for evacuees and a con- trol center for the Back Mountain Regional Emergency Management Agency. within, and paying proper taxes to, a municipality. He said the passage of Act 32 will help remedy some of those concerns, but public websites allow officials to double-check residents’ ad- dresses. Reino said the municipal- ities want a workable elec- tronic document to check addresses against the infor- mation they find through personal research. Heydt said it’s possible to provide that information, but the method would need to be approved by the Tax Collection Committee. The partnership also ap- proved a motion to send a letter to local legislators to support state House bills 1329 and 1685 related to changing the prevailing wage laws. The current prevailing wage law, passed in 1961, re- quires that workers on gov- ernment projects exceeding $25,000 be paid a rate set by the state secretary of labor and industry rather than a number based on local mar- ket rates. House Bill 1329 would set the project rate at $185,000 to correspond with market inflation. House Bill 1685 would require the secretary of labor and industry to de- velop a uniform list of work- er classifications. Reino said the current law covers most projects within townships, which can cause financial hardships. The next Back Mountain Community Partnership meeting will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday, April 19 in the Sandy & Marlene In- salaco Hall at Misericordia University, 301 Lake St., Dallas Township. — BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Strategizing on how to build an aluminum foil and straw raft are, from left, Tracey, Bob, J.R. and Samantha Redmond, of Dallas. WORKING TOGETHER By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.co The crunching sound of metal- lic foil moving in all directions marked the first-ever Family Sci- ence Challenge at Wycallis Ele- mentary on March 8. Seventy-three families, or 295 people, raced to see who could plan and create a float that could hold the most pennies using alu- minum foil and plastic straws in an hour. Nicole Valkenburg, fourth- grade teacher and elementary sci- ence coordinator, found informa- tion about the program through the National Science Teachers As- sociation and contacted the founding teacher to see how to get started. “It was an article about doing something like this with a class, something simple,” she said. “I brought it up to the Parent-Teach- er Organization president to do this as a family event and I was shocked by the response — 20 fam- ilies wanted to participate by then.” The project was kept a secret until the night of the event, and families chatted nervously in an- ticipation for the task at hand. Diane Pocono, of Shavertown, Worked. With fies twa Gaudisers First place - Nelson Family, 203 pennies Second place - Motley Family, 131 pennies Third place = Sutzko Family, 112 pennies and husband on the simple sci- ence project. “I think this was a great idea — what a turn out,” she said of the crowded cafeteria. She said 9-year-old Shelby raced home with the permission slip in hand and begged her moth- er to participate. “I love science and I love creat- ing stuff,” said Shelby Pocono. The Nelson family’s float heavi- ly depended on the skills of Mar- cia, the Nelson boys’ grandmoth- er, during the event. She strug- gled to twist the foil around the straws as young Dominic Nelson Palmatier looked on. “She cooks at home and uses a lot of aluminum foil, so I thought she would be good at this,” joked Marcia Nelson’s husband, Ge- orge. “I expect to win.” And they did. Their float held the most pennies of the night — 203. Leigh McGlynn, of Shaver- ownasock hep Sor Casey tthe Greg and Diane Pocono, right, of Shavertown, assist their daugh- ch ters Cara, 7, and Shelby, 9, in building a raft made of aluminum foil and straws at the Wycallis Elementary Family Science Challenge Night. “She cooks at home and uses a lot of aluminum foil, so | thought she would be good at this. | ex- pect to win." George Nelson Family Science Challenge competitor science challenge not expecting to win, but to spend more time to- gether. “We don’t get to do things like this too often,” said McGlynn. “It’s nice to have new activities and to have fun.” The Redmond family quickly got to work once the instructions were revealed. Bob Redmond toyed with the straws as his chil- dren, Samantha and R.J., drew up plans for their float. “It's about buoyancy and weight distribution, but I won’t say anything else,” said Bob Red- mond as he kept his plans secret. Tracie Redmond, the matriarch of the family, was the brains of the 3 operation while her husband was the brawn. “My husband loves this — he loves any type of challenge,” she said. Wyeallis principal Dr. Paul Re- inert walked around the cafeteria, observing families’ projects. “This helps the parents under- stand what engaging learning is all about,” he said. “This is a great use of the community building and kids get to spend time with their parents. It’s great stuff.” Valkenburg hopes it will be- come an annual event. “In this bad economy, it’s nice to have free things like this to do,” she said
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