Sunday, April 29, 2012 THE DALLAS POST PAGE 3 ~ WW EM EAL TA 4 ~ SLE 4 % M Vv U N | A 1 MN { M B By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The Back Mountain Commu- nity Partnership continued its discussion April 19 about plans for a regional emergency man- agement agency building to be constructed in Lehman Town- ship. Lehman Township was award- ed a $975,000 grant from gaming funds on behalf of the partnership last month for the project. The partnership initially re- quested $1.2 million in the grant application. Chairman James Re- w ya! ntinue for regional EMA building to be built Reino said the major change in the project plans includes remov- ing the proposed pole barn and instead building an addition on the existing building. The site is a former medical building locat- ed off State Route 118. Reino said this change will save money while better utilizing existing space at the site. ino Jr. said a committee consist- ing of partnership members was formed and discussions were held with EMA officials to deter- mine whether the project could be scaled down. Reino said the major change in the project plans includes remov- ing the proposed pole barn and instead building an addition on the existing building. The siteisa former medical building located off State Route 118. Reino said this change will save money while better utilizing existing space at the site. He also said discussions with EMA officials led the group to in- clude an additional $30,000 worth of emergency equipment than what was initially requested in the grant application. Reino said furniture was anoth- er piece of the project that was scaled back to correspond with the monies available. The project was developed af- ter two tropical storms wreaked havoc on the Back Mountain late last year. In other news ... e Lynn Banta of the Back Mountain Chamber of Com- merce told members the busi- ness expo held at Misericordia University on April 18 was a well- attended and successful event. She also said the Back Moun- tain Community Partnership’s membership in the chamber has officially been processed and re- search conducted by an intern proved the partnership is the on- ly governmental organization of its kind in the state. e Vice Chairman John Wilkes Jr. said municipalities should provide a training session for road department workers for a jointly-purchased radar speed trailer. He said the mechanism is more complicated than originally thought, and a training session with those who would be relocat- ing the equipment would be ben- eficial. e Ray Iwanoski, of Lehman Township, said the group should make a point to personally thank Michael MacDowell, president of Misericordia University, for his contributions to the partnership and the community. The morning before the part- nership meeting, MacDowell an- nounced his plans to retire on June 30, 2013. e The next Back Mountain Community Partnership meeting will be at 3 p.m. Thursday, May 17 at Misericordia University. Supervisors move to stop dumping By Eileen Godin Dallas Post Correspondent Supervisors took action to stop illegal dumping on a quiet coun- try road and approved three quotes through the state COS- TARS Program at their April 11 meeting. Sunny Acres Road fits the de- scription of a quiet country road, sparsely populated, that can fre- quently fall victim to illegal ping. When word reached Y:upervisors, supervisors took action to prevent it. Chairman Lonnie Piatt said material from outside the town- ship was being taken to a proper- ty on Sunny Acres Road and dumped. The townships ordi- nance, number 1-85, restricts and regulates dumping within the township. Supervisors authorized town- ship Attorney Mark McNealis as enforcement representative to send a registered letter to the property owner on the violation. Also, the Department of Envi- ronmental Protection was noti- and recently met with the erty owner. Piatt said the owner is working with DEP to clean it up the property. “Normally, they give 30 to 45 days for the homeowner to clean up the debris,” Piatt said. Planning ahead, supervisors decided to take advantage of quotes for material through the state run COSTARS Program. The COSTARS program is a joint effort by the Pennsylvania De- partment of Transportation and the Department of General Ser- vices to give municipalities the ability to find competitive prices on necessary items. Usually, bids are approved and materials held until the munici- pality needs them, Piatt said. Supervisors approved a quote from Central Clay Products for $9.99 per 50-pound bag of mag- nesium chloride. Every year the municipality orders 16 tons of magnesium chloride for the next winter season. Piatt said the road crew prefers the bags for the ease of filling the hoppers on the trucks for spreading. “It is the type of material you only need in certain areas,” he said. Other bids were from Bradco Supply Company, Towanda, for $11.40 per bag; and John Bonham Road Equipment and Supply, Ho- nesdale, for $11.45 a bag. Supervisors also approved quotes from Central Clay Prod- ucts to purchase six pipes at $9.50 a foot and six pipe bands for $12.23 a piece. Other quotes were received from Bradco Supply and John Bonham Road Equipment and Supply but were a few cents high- er than thequote from Central Clay Products, Piatt said. American Asphalt’s quote for blacktop was also approved. That quote, through the COSTARS program, was $63.75 for 9.5 milli- liter, per ton and $57.50 for 19 milliliters per ton. Sr. center location sought Trula Hollywood, director for the Area Agency on Agency for Luzerne and Wyoming counties, said requests for proposals are currently being sought for a new Dallas Senior Center. Requests for proposals for a new building to house the center were advertised in a local news- paper on April 21. The deadline for proposals is May 6. Hollywood hopes the project can be approved at least six weeks after the deadline. She also said interested facilities in the Dallas area have told her they won’t need much time to prepare for an opening. “We are making it a priority,” said Hollywood. She also said many residents have been using the Edwardsville center in the meantime. Hollywood said residents hav- ing trouble with transportation can call her office directly at 822- 1158 ext. 2316 or e-mail her at thollywood@aging.luzerne- wyoming.org. Sarah Hite tain Trail. CLEANING UP THE TRAIL olunteers gathered on April 21 in honor of Earth Day to do spring clean up at the Back Mountain Trail. Those who par- ticipated met behind the Knights of Columbus parking lot in Luzerne with rakes, leaf blowers, gloves and bags for trash pickup and cleaned the trail. Trail. RIGHT PHOTO; Organizer Mark Albrecht, left, gives instructions to volunteers Noah Hiedcavage, 6, right, of Luzerne; Evan Nice, 10, and Dave Nice, both of Swoyersville, and Melissa Hiedcavage, of Luzerne, before they depart from the Knights of Columbus parking lot to help with spring cleanup of the Back Mountain BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Jackie Newhart, of Kingston, right, Georgette Oann, of Old Forge, and Molly Whalen, of Kingston, collect litter near the Back Moun- ER i Nancy Lane, of Dallas, right, Tammy Grear, of Kingston, and Deana Nat, of Wilkes-Barre, search for litter near the Back Mountain Trail in Luzerne. PRES Continued from Page 1 interview. “The average length of a uni- versity president is about six and a half years, so I thought it was a good time to go,” said MacDow- ell. MacDowell came to Misericor- dia in 1998 after spending nine years as vice president of institu- tional advancement and econom- ics professor at Hartwick College Oneonta, N.Y. said despite some issues, he Pd what was once known as College Misericordia to have “great promise” and “very good programs.” “I saw the idea of getting visi- bility for the institution, increas- ing enrollment and trying to raise more money as my three goals and I've stuck to those through- out my time here,” he said. MacDowell was impressed with the college’s sense of mis- sion. When he served as presi- dent of the National Council on Economic Education based in New York City, he noticed many small schools didn’t have a mis- sion or sense of direction. “I think the legacy of this place (Misericordia University) is the Sisters of Mercy and their charis- ma,” said MacDowell. “If you have a sense of what’s important and what isn’t, then it’s pretty easy to manage the place. If any- thing is open to you and you can go any way, then you don’t have any Occam's razor (the law of par- simony, economy or succinct- ness) by which to make deci- sions.” During his tenure, MacDowell oversaw the transition from Col- lege Misericordia to Misericordia University in 2007, a process he describes as “time-consuming” and “active” but one that was needed to improve the efficiency of administration. He said prior to reaching uni- versity status, the college had been divided into four parts — sci- ence, humanities, business edu- cation and health sciences — which were headed by appointed faculty members. Becoming a university allowed the school to divide into colleges - the College of Heath Science, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Professional Studies — which allowed each part to function according to its needs with hired deans at the helm. “It just made sense we'd evolve to that point, and hence the uni- versity status was not just the no- menclature,” said MacDowell. He said university status al- lowed more attention to individu- al needs of students in each field, promoted research and allowed departments more control over programs. Physical changes to the Dallas Township campus have been on- going since MacDowell’s arrival. The Mary Kintz Bevevino Li- brary was in the process of being built during his inaugural year and nearly every building on campus has been improved or constructed during his presiden- Currently, the university is in the process of building a new dor- mitory and preparing athletic fields for the arrival of its first Di- vision III football season this fall. MacDowell said the decision was an economic one, which will allow programs with excess ca- pacity to accept more students. He said the addition of football will also add to the décor and community spirit of the campus. Despite his west coast origins, MacDowell was integral to the creation of several community or- ganizations such as the Back Mountain Historical Association and the Back Mountain Commu- nity Partnership. “All of these things we were in- volved in, in both leading and fol- lowing,” he said. “If somebody asks us to do something, we’ll do it ... It’s amazing how much you can do if you don’t want to take credit for it.” MacDowell has lived in Cali- fornia, Texas, Indiana, Louisiana, Illinois and New York and says he hasn’t come across a community as proud and as caring as North- eastern Pennsylvania. “We're going to stay at our place out on the lake, and we love it out there, so we're going to be here,” he said. “We're going to spend some time where it’s warm in the winter — we have a house in Florida — but we voted with our feet and we're staying.” MacDowell is most proud of the students who have gone through the university. “All the buildings and all the growth of the student body and the endowment and the fundrais- ing and all the community activ- ities are really for not if the stu- dents don’t come here and do well,” he said. MacDowell hopes to spend more time teaching economics through the Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics Foundation, of which he is a board member, during his retirement.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers