Sunday, June 10, 2012 THE DALLAS POST PAGE 3 istrict employees say final ‘goodbyes’ at meeting By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Longtime employees of the district said their final “goodbye” at the Dallas School Board meet- ing on Monday evening. Five faculty retirees with a combined 115 years of service were honored by the board and given the opportunity to talk about their experiences at the district. Dallas Elementary kindergar- ten teacher Lucy Callahan will retire with 33 years of service. Dallas Elementary Principal Thomas Traver said Callahan was “extremely dynamic” and “way ahead of her time” when it came to teaching style. “I've never seen anyone who understands kindergarten kids more than Lucy,” said Traver. Callahan plans to travel and spend more time with her chil- dren and grandchildren during Five faculty retirees with a combined 115 years of service were honored by the board and given the opportunity to talk about their experiences at the district. her retirement. High school English and lan- guage arts teacher Candyce Fike will retire with 31 years of ser- vice. Superintendent Frank Gal- icki said Fike is “one of the most unique individuals” he’s ever met in his life. He talked about the time he, as Dallas High School principal, had to form a committee to find a way to change the school sched- ule. Fike was a member of that committee. “Whatever people thought was the right way, Candy had another way,” said Galicki. “They may have had the same end point, but some people chose that easy di- rection. Candy went around the block and did it her way.” High school band director Todd Hunter will retire with 24 years of service. Galicki said he and Hunter both served at Berwick Area High School in the 1980s, with Galicki coming to Dallas in 1982 and Hunter arriving at the school in 1988. “There were a lot of highs and maybe one or two lows, but mostly highs,” said Galicki. Hunter said it’s difficult to leave teaching after 35 years. “Maybe some of you are think- ing it’s time to go, but I don’t know if there’s ever a good time to go,” he said. “I'll continue to work with students, and teach on a part-time basis. I'm honored to have worked in this district.” See GOODBYES, Page 12 DALLAS TOWNSHIF Request for water tests are denied By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Supervisors were denied in their request for water testing at sites where a PVR Partners contractor spilled drilling mud within the township, officials said Tuesday. Atty. Jeffrey Malak, attorney for PVR Partners, formerly Chief Gathering LLC, stated in a letter the company would not provide water testing for prop- erty owners in the vicinity of two drilling mud spills that oc- curred near Kunkle-Alderson and Upper Demunds roads in ly May. The letter stated the compa- ny would not perform testing because the state Department of Environmental Protection has not requested it. Malak wrote that independent studies conducted by Wilkes Universi- ty concluded there were no chemicals in the wetlands near where the mud was spilled. He also said that because there have been no baseline tests conducted, there would be nothing with which to com- pare the water tests. Supervisor Bill Grant, who lives on Hildebrandt Road and s to test his own water, d the township will provide interested residents with infor- mation about water testing. He received estimates of be- tween $300 and $900 for the work, depending on the chem- icals being tested. “It’s pretty expensive,” said Grant. Supervisor Liz Martin said she spoke to George Turner, a professional geologist, who es- timated the tests required for the chemicals involved in the spills would cost between $450 and $500 per sample. “Unfortunately, the town- ship can’t pay to get this water tested,” said Martin. Martin said the boring for the pipeline should be done soon, and those kinds of issues are not likely to occur again. Wi A EE "ERT id Al © K ICS I = \ 4 The following are three third party water testing services as recommended to the township by Kirby Health Center: George Turner, 836-1055; Brian Oram, 335-1947; and Altest Environ- mental, 239-7086. “We just have to keep our eyes open,” she said of the pipeline construction process. Supervisors also addressed residents’ concerns about PVR Partners’ contractor working at the pipeline work site after hours. Grant said he received one complaint and the township engineer received three com- plaints about the pipeline con- tractor working beyond normal hours of operation last Sunday. Malak wrote in a letter that the company’s work hours are 7 am. to 5 p.m. six days a week, but because of dead- lines, some work during off- hours has been necessary. Grant said he understands the company will finish the work soon and will not work outside of normal operating hours again. PVR Partners is in the proc- ess of building a 30-mile pipe- line to flow natural gas from wells in Susquehanna County to the Transco interstate pipe- line, located near the Dallas School District. The company will also build a metering facility to measure the gas off Hildebrandt Road. In other news ... e Police Chief Robert Jolley addressed safety concerns about the upcoming Wilkes- Barre Triathlon that runs through Dallas and Harveys Lake boroughs and Dallas, Jackson, Lehman and Noxen townships. He said the race directors should increase the event's $1 million insurance policy and suggested the route be re-ex- amined as traffic concerns on See WATER, Page 12 Delores Stubeda, of Jackson Township, left, and Cynthia Beck, of Kingston Township, look over items for the mini-auction at the Back Mountain Memorial Library's Annual Kick-Off Dinner. Kicking off the library auction kicked things off for this year’s event with a dinner and mini- Th Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction Committee auction on June 4 at Newberry Estates. This year’s auction is slated for July 5-8 on the library grounds, Huntsville Road, Dallas. fi. SARA Soc Co o I ———— BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Brittany Gebhardt, left, Joyce Gebhardt, both of Kingston, Maureen and Morgan Lewis, of Dallas, and William Lewis, of Pittston, enjoy the festivities. Marilyn Feldman, left, of Shavertown, and Mary Lou Grant, of Dallas Township, sample hors d’ oeuvres at the Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction Annual Kick-Off Dinner. Some of the items on display for the mini-auction at the Back Mountain Memorial Library's Annual Kick-Off Dinner. ACKCNANT WNCLUID JACKSON TOWNSHIP Bulford Farms residents want answers about sewer system Fox urged residents to attend the soon-to-be scheduled planning commission and zoning hearing board meetings on the matter to voice their opinions. The zoning hearing is tentatively scheduled By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Residents raised concerns about a plan to revamp the Bul- ford Farms sewer system and a . proposed composting site at the . State Correctional Institution at + Dallas at a meeting Monday. Resident Mary Dockeray ' asked the supervisors about a township-wide sewer plan that was sent to the state Depart- - ment of Environmental Protec- . tion and why the Bulford Farms project was only “two sentences” ~ of the document. Solicitor Jeffrey Malak said . the plan only briefly mentions © the Bulford Farms sewer project use it addresses the entire wnship’s sewage needs. . Dockeray said she and “at least one other” neighbor are up- . set about paying the $22,875 to complete the project, which will revamp the sewer system in that section of the township. The township will also incur costs in the project, but Super- visor Al Fox said the majority of property owners in the Bulford Farms area have agreed to the project’s costs. Malak said some residents are concerned about paying taxes to- wards the project when it doesn’t affect their properties at all. “It goes both ways,” he said. Dockeray said she has yet to see documents sent to DEP justi- fying the project, though Malak said he has attempted to provide all the documents Dockeray has requested. “You should have really con- sulted a financial advisor before you started in on this project be- cause you clearly got no financial advice,” said Dockeray. Residents also asked the su- pervisors about a project pro- posed by the Dallas Area Munici- pal Authority to operate a com- for 7 p.m. Monday, June 25. posting site on land owned by SCI-Dallas. Supervisor John Wilkes Jr. said DAMA’s plans include mov- ing its compost operation from South Memorial Highway to state prison land. He said its in- tention is to combine the food compost from the prison with the nutria from all the participa- ting municipalities to make a “better product” than municipal- ities can create on their own. Bonnie Dombrowski said she has concerns about noise, traffic and safety of the area where the operation is planned. “If you can hear our grinder, then you'll hear this,” he said. “I mean, there’s no way around that. Their grinder is louder than ours — ours is a 500 horse- power engine compared to a The zoning hearing is tentative- 700.” Malak said DAMA is request- ing a use variance of the land it has leased from SCI-Dallas. He said the land is currently zoned especially for “prison activities.” Fox urged residents to attend the soon-to-be scheduled plan- ning commission and zoning hearing board meetings on the matter to voice their opinions. ly scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, June 25. Fox said his concern is wheth- er the township should host such a project that may cause is- sues when the township won't even be participating. Jackson Township is currently not a member of DAMA, but uses some of its sewage services. He said the supervisors also have some concerns abut the project, and will consider having Malak attend the hearings to ex- press the supervisors’ and resi- See SEWER, Page 12 Feds seize Jackson Township records The solicitor for Jackson Township confirmed Monday that federal agents recently sought administrative records from township, but said he did not know the nature of the inqui- ry. Attorney Jeffrey Malak said agents visited the township building some time around March and obtained records from 2010 and 2011. Malak did not know which federal agency the agents were from or any other details regard- ing the inquiry. He said the township is cooperating with the investigation. “We are confident we have done everything right in Jack- son Township and are waiting for them to contact us to see what the next step is,” Malak said. Supervisor John Wilkes Jr. de- clined to comment on the issue Monday night. -Terrie Morgan-Besecker
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