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