Vol.121 No. 17 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 June 24 - 30, 2012 50¢ WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER HARVEYS LAKE BOROUGH Police move IS Sore By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The borough is one step closer to relocating its police department after council au- thorized the solicitation of bids in a 3-2 vote at a meet- ing Tuesday. Council members Larry Radel, Fran Kopko and Boyd Barber voted in favor of ad- vertising bids, while Mi- chell’e Boice and Amy Wil- liams voted against the mea- sure. Council members Tho- mas Kehler and Ed Kelly were absent. The vote came after sever- al residents questioned the process through which coun- cil acquired local share ac- unt or gaming grant funds the project. Poice also made a motion to “slow down” the process of relocating the police de- partment until “further ef- fort and study” could be com- pleted towards the feasibility of the move. The borough received a $78,220 grant in March to re- locate the police department currently housed on State Route 415 to a vacant recre- ation center beside the Har- veys Lake Little League fields on Little League Road. Boice claimed council had rovided residents with mis- prmation on the grant ap- Wication process and how the money can be used at an April public hearing on the matter, to which Radel re- sponded she was “out of or- der.” Resident Ed Williams, who said he was representing the Marina Point Homeowners Association, told council he felt adequate public input about the project was not so- licited. “We would like a little bit better representation and communication with the council,” he said. “Was there a feasibility study ... ? Why can’t the grant be amended after the proper studies are subject Boice also made a motion to “slow down" the process of relocating the police depart- ment until “further effort and study” could be completed towards the feasibility of the move. done, taking into account the best possible location, the type of building and equip- ment needed and, above all, what is it going to cost?” Resident Rob Weaver sug- gested council look into ren- ovating the existing police station, which once was a bait and tackle store owned by Grotto Pizza owner Joe Pagliante. Weaver said he took a tour of the facility and, while he agreed there were plumbing issues that need to be resolv- ed, he disagreed the depart- ment should be moved alto- gether. “As far as the siding goes, that’s only a facial thing, and the crack in the concrete, that could be for nothing more than your freeze-thaw cycle, your ground shifts and that’s why you have a crack in there,” he said. “I think that I agree most of the residents do not want to see that move...” He said the move should be put on the ballot in the general election in Novem- ber as a referendum vote. “Is there any reason it can’t wait until next year?” asked Weaver. Radel said council could rewrite the grant to conduct renovations on the existing department, but there would be no guarantee that funding could be secured for that pro- ject as it would need to be re- viewed again. Weaver spoke to represen- tatives from the state Depart- ment of Community and Eco- nomic Development, from where the grant was issued, See POLICE, Page 12 BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Dallas High School seniors Sarah Pomfret, left, and Christine McCarthy pose for a self-portrait in the high school auditorium prior to commencement. Pomp and all that ... It was all pomp and cir- cumstance in the Back Mountain last week as the Class of 2012 from Lake- Lehman High School re- ceived its diplomas on June 13 and the Mountaineers of Dallas High School gradu- ated on June 15. For stories and additional photos, please turn to page 3. receiving her diploma. award-winning band By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com strument they played.” Hundreds of former high Remembering Lake-Lehman's days “I remember 99 percent of them, and which in- John Miliauskas Former Lake-Lehman band director school musicians marched to the Lake-Lehman Junior/Senior High School on June 16 to cele- brate a man many call "The Fa- ther of Lake-Lehman Band.” The reunion was for band members in classes that spanned longtime music teacher John Miliauskas’s career at the district, from 1956-89, but also included former and current school administrators, teachers, family members and friends. State Sen. Lisa Baker and state Rep. Karen Boback offered words of praise and appreciation for the 82-year-old retired musi- cian. Ginny Piatt Ide, of Dallas, and Liz Yurko Carmer, of Las Vegas, spearheaded the event. Planning BILL TARUTIS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Lake-Lehman alumni Carol Martin Rosser '80, left, and Charlie Kasko '81 present a street sign to former Lake Lehman Band Director John Miliauskas. % got underway last October, but the idea was in the works for about four years. “I was living in Anchorage, Alaska at the time and I had just found Facebook,” said former baton twirler Yurko Carmer, who graduated in 1981. “I saw that you could make groups and I had this dream of getting all the band alumni together.” Yurko Carmer shook hands, smiled and hugged her former bandmates during the event as more than 300 people mingled in the junior/senior high school lobby. “This is the dream,” she said. The Lake-Lehman Founda- tion, a nonprofit organization aimed at helping the school dis- trict and the community, aided the event by manning raffle ta- See BAND, Page 12 "#09815"20079 L
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