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There won't be any large scale paving this year in New Milford. At its April meeting on the 18th, the Borough Council rejected all bids, and accepted the Streets Committee's recommendation to "bank" the $75,000 allocated in the 2024 budget and look to next year. All of the bids were much higher than expected. The town will continue to patch and maintain as best it can for this year.

On the other hand, the sidewalk project, so long in the making, is expected to go forward. Two bids were received by the County Housing Authority, which is overseeing the project. Both were higher than the funds allocated by a grant of $150,000, but Council decided that they could afford to bankroll the difference of $20,000 to $40,000, depending on which bid was ultimately accepted. Phase One will replace the sidewalks on both sides of Main Street from the Dollar General down to Johnston Street.

While there is plenty of money – almost $4 million – for repairs to the bridge on Johnston Street, it may be more than enough. (The bill list this month included about $18,000 for engineering at the site.) Council is hoping that, assuming Johnston Street doesn't need all of that money, some of it can be redirected to repairing bridges on Maple Street and Church Street.

With the fate of the Great Bend Police Department up in the air as its Officer in Charge, Katie Stanziale takes a new full-time job in the Scranton area, Council awaits some decisions from the Great Bend Borough Council. There was some confusion as to the amount that Great Bend wanted to charge its neighbors for the service – $42 or $43 per hour, increased from the current $39 – there is also some concern over the viability of the police department. New Milford had already agreed to a $3 per hour increase; this time they agreed to go along with an additional dollar per hour, but the hours would also be cut further, to 25 per month, in order to stay within the budget.

The local "Summer Adventures" program submitted its annual request for support, and Council agreed to donate $350 to the long-running and very popular summer recreation program at the Blue Ridge School.

The school district was also commended for paying $600 to have the buildings that were defaced by vandals at Blue Ridge Park pressure washed.

The pool at Blue Ridge Park, the only public outdoor pool in Susquehanna County, is expected to open by mid to late May. The pool's overseer, Karen Gudykunst, said that she expected a generous benefactor to come through again this year to help keep the pool afloat, so to speak. She is also continuing to pursue grant opportunities for a sorely needed major renovation of the pool. She asked, and Council agreed, to keep the fees the same this year: $2 per day, $75 for a family for the 10-week season; for one day only, the day of the Mid-Town Festival on June 1, a family pass can be had for only $50.

A proposal to adopt an ordinance similar to one adopted in Clifford Township that would prohibit camping on town streets was deprecated by the Borough's solicitor, Michael Briechle. Mr. Briechle told Council that New Milford already has ordinances that cover the issue, and that, in any case, Clifford's ordinance "needs some work" to be acceptable for New Milford. The matter was referred to Council's ordinance committee for further discussion.

Council voted to hire a new part-time summer employee to join Coleman McCain under the supervision of Chuck Welch to help out with summertime work around town.

And finally, Borough Secretary Amy Hine reported that 50 vendors had signed up so far for the Mid-Town Festival scheduled for Saturday, June 1. Sponsors have contributed over $7,000 so far for the annual event.

You can join them, and you can offer some input at the next scheduled meeting of the New Milford Borough Council on Thursday, May 16, 2024 beginning at 6:30pm in the Borough building on Main Street.

Pete Hatton and Bruce Kane, President and representative for Hunts for Healing came to the Susquehanna County Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) meeting held on April 13, 2024.

They shared information about Hunts for Healing, a local organization that provides outdoor activities, social interaction, home-cooked meals and care for disabled US service members. It is a small non-profit, manned by volunteers who themselves are veterans and other caring people. The activities that Hunts for Healing provides aids in the physical, emotional and spiritual healing for the injured veterans who are warriors from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This organization was established in February, 2009 and is located outside Laceyville, PA at the Ringneck Ridge Hunting Preserve.

Our DAR group found the presentation very interesting and inspiring. One can find complete information at HuntsForHealing.org; or email them at info@huntsforhealing.org.

To learn more about the Susquehanna County DAR group, visit: www.susquehannacountydar.org. Our meetings are held the second Saturday of each month in New Milford. There are no meetings in January, February, July and August. All potential members are assisted to find their "patriot" from the Revolutionary War. If you want to be part of a meaningful group, that is focused on Service to God, Home and Country, we are for you.

A meeting of the Mountain View School Board on April 15th started off with the appearance of several members of the Elementary Student Council. The body of some 36 members was represented by 5 poised youngsters describing the events at their school, all of them wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the name of their organization.

The meeting's agenda was amended on a motion by Tracy Flynn to open bids for food services. To no one's surprise, there was only one bid, from the incumbent Nutrition Group, Inc. The bid was, of course, accepted, since Mountain View is in no position to operate its own cafeteria. The most important part of the bid seemed to be its pledge to limit loss to about $25,000 that would presumably have to be made up from the district's general fund. Aside from the costs associated with meals provided to students and staff, Nutrition Group assesses a management fee upwards of $50,000 per year.

Representatives of Nutrition Group attending the meeting highlighted a program sponsored by the PA Beef Council that may cut costs for beef in school lunches by as much as 50%. While there is no guarantee that beef used at Mountain View will come from local producers, they said that it would all be sourced in the state. There was some discussion about using locally-grown produce, but the Nutrition people said that schools with greenhouses generally don't produce enough volume to use on a regular basis, although special "farm-to-table" events could be arranged.

Three departments offered requests for the new budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year beginning in July. Superintendent Michael Elia spoke for the absent Special Services Director Erica Loftus. Elementary Principal Patrick McGarry and High School Principal Mark Lemoncelli provided spreadsheets to Board members, the latter also including athletics. Each of the budget requests topped $1 million; they don't include salaries and benefits that make up the lion's share of the overall district budget. Board members had few questions or comments on the presentations, apparently deferring to Dr. Elia's assurances that he and his administrators will be concentrating on honing the figures over the next couple of weeks, before the Board will vote on a preliminary budget to be offered to the taxpayers.

Business Manager Tom Witiak laid out the schedule that will culminate in adoption of a final budget at a meeting in June. He said that the Board must decide on any tax increase that might be needed to balance the budget. Under Act 1 of 2006, the Pennsylvania Department of Education publishes an "index" each year for each school district in the state. Districts that elect to forgo a vote by taxpayers may not exceed the index, the maximum property tax increase allowed. For Mountain View this year the index is 5.3%. For the past several years Mountain View has boosted tax rates by the maximum, struggling to balance budgets that can't depend on accumulated surpluses, known as the "fund balance." Mountain View began the current year with a fund balance of precisely zero.

The treasurer's report for the month, showing balances as of the end of March, showed the general fund holding its own, with expenditures roughly equal to income, leaving a balance of about $3.5 million. Overall, the district had almost $4.5 million in the bank on March 31.

The district will be hiring. The Board approved a motion to advertise for 2 teaching positions in the Elementary School, and another "anticipated special education position." According to Dr. Elia, the latter would be a new, additional position.

The Board also approved a "service agreement" with Drexel University. Dr. Elia said that the measure supports a placement for student teaching.

In administrator reports, Mr. McGarry reported some 50 registrations so far for kindergarten next year. He anticipates more than 30 registrations for pre-K. He also said that the upcoming PSSA exams would be conducted on-line for the first time, for which his teachers and students are actively preparing. Dr. Lemoncelli reported that 6 students have qualified to attend the national convention of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) in June in Florida.

The Mountain View School Board will meet again on Monday, April 29, 2024 beginning at 7:00pm when they will have to decide how the budget is to be balanced. It will be formally presented to the public for review at another meeting on May 20. All meetings take place in the Zick Boardroom in the Elementary School building.