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