The full membership of the Susquehanna Borough Council found a full meeting hall on Tuesday, Dec. 11th. As the end of the year draws close the meeting was full of review and reflection. Some bright stars shone on the horizon however, from students seeking opportunities to volunteer, and a cooperative effort by the Lions Club and boy scouts to help beautify the neighborhood. Not only would this help involve the community’s youth, but it would help keep the town employees from using large portions of their 32 hour schedule on the multiple park spaces throughout the borough.

The Starrucca House renovation came back under discussion. As this is under legal review the council members would only say that the meeting was not the venue for its consideration or comment. While on the topics of meetings and practices, the council announced that, as of January meetings will be rescheduled to the third Wednesday of the month, time and venue will remain unchanged. The next meeting will still be on December 27th and will have the budget (which is available for inspection at the town office) as its main focus.

The mayor wished to thank everyone who had participated in the town’s tree lighting festivities. With nearly 100 residents in attendance it was considered a festive start to the holiday season.

Legal review of the past years’ issues would span 20 minutes near the end of the meeting. Most likely to affect the borough were the topics of a change to the UCC under act 90 of 2010. This would allow for a stricter interpretation of several parts of the code and would enable more control over the interpretation of “blight”. If accepted, after final review this would enable the borough to more diligently persue property owners to the set level of conformity for appearance of a property. Additionally the need to review and update the flood plain maps for the borough was touched on briefly. In order for Susquehanna Borough to be compliant with new standards a thorough mapping needs to be worked, and information updated to facilitate requests for funding in the event of a disaster.

The Harford Township Supervisors altered the customary order of their monthly meetings on December 11th to entertain petitioners representing the Harford Water Association, Inc., the 77-year-old, largely volunteer group that manages the water supply for Harford village. Lawyer Charles Wages and a few representatives of the Association chatted with the Supervisors over maps and other documents in an attempt to straighten out a complex tangle of property rights and leases. With 5 or 6 separate conversations going on in the small office at once, it was a little difficult to follow the discussion, but the key people managed to understand one another well enough in about half an hour to make some progress.

It seems that in about 1973 the Water Association formed something called the “Harford Municipal Authority” in order to facilitate a loan to replace its reliance on water from Tyler Lake with a new well. Ultimately the name “Harford Municipal Authority” became untenable, since it would confuse the responsibility for the newer Harford Sewer System being developed for some areas of the township.

In the meantime, the Water Association, or the “Harford Municipal Authority,” or something, had an 89-year lease with the township for the use of some 1.38 acres for its facilities. It appears to own the discontiguous well property outright.

Now, with natural gas drilling rights at issue, the Water Association and the township want to get the situation straightened out. Part of the deal involves a swap of just over a tenth of an acre with another landowner, plus a whole bunch of paperwork designed to clear the titles and perpetuate the lease on a more solid footing.

Having gotten the signatures of the Supervisors on a document, the team adjourned to go find Charlie Morrison, believed to be the sole surviving member of the Association who was also part of the “Harford Municipal Authority.”

Once the main part of the meeting got under way, the Supervisors opened bids for some of the old green-and-white road signs that have been replaced with newfangled highly reflective white-on-blue. Signs for Tingley Street, Beaver Meadow Road, Tingley Lake Road, Podunk Road and Reservior [sic] Road and a few others were sold to the highest bidders for a total of nearly $1,000, all of which will go to the Harford-Lenox Baseball Association. (In the interest of full disclosure, this writer made successful bids on 3 of the signs.)

The Supervisors announced that Bluestone Pipeline, and Price-Gregory, the company doing most of the recent pipeline construction, collected for disposal at no cost to the township about 100 tires that had accumulated behind the township garage from the annual June cleanup campaigns. The companies have also donated stone for maintenance of some sections of township roadways. And they have also been forthcoming in soliciting comments on the work they have done in the township.

The next pipeline, by the Williams Companies, finished a section in the Jeffers area, but before the township signs off on it, officials will visit and inspect the area.

Supervisor Garry Foltz noted that the township is looking for buyers for an old roller (and perhaps some other derelict equipment). Since the roller’s engine doesn’t run, there’s no way to tell if the roller would do anything else useful.

Mr. Foltz and Supervisor Doug Phelps reported that the township had received a large supply of the millings from the work on the nearby interstate highway, which has been profitably applied to township roads.

Mr. Foltz also announced that he met with the new Mountain View school Superintendent, Francine Shea, at her request, the first time anything like that had happened that anyone could remember. The Superintendent invited representatives of all of the municipalities that send students to her schools to collaborate, particularly on transportation issues.

Toward the end of the meeting Mr. Foltz tried to describe the demands of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for ordinances and documents to conform to their regulations relating to flood plain management. FEMA claims that in August 2011 they sent something called a “Flood Insurance Study” to the township, part of the national flood insurance program. They have since sent a letter demanding some response by last October, and are now requiring a “simplified” yet still complicated “flood plain management program” in the form of a “legally enforceable” document together with an enabling ordinance by next April. They sent along a collection of new flood plain maps and about an inch of other documents for the township to sift through in a search for meaning. It seems that in the absence of such a documented and enforceable plan, people choosing to reside in flood-prone areas might have trouble getting flood insurance even if they can afford it.

Mr. Foltz said that in his tenure so far as a Supervisor he had written several grant applications and ordinances, all without remuneration. Having consulted with the state townships association, he implied that he would like to be compensated for work he might do on such a large project as figuring out this flood plain gobbled gook.

The Supervisors were to meet in an executive session on some personnel matters following the public meeting. Their next public meeting will be only a week hence – before you read this – to give formal adoption to a budget for 2013. Thanks to the “impact fee” paid by natural gas drillers, Harford will keep its property tax rates level for another year, although the sewer fee will increase by $3 per month. Supervisor and Township Secretary Sue Furney said that 4 or 5 more liens had been placed on properties for delinquencies in sewer fee payments.

One more meeting, on Tuesday, December 18, and the Supervisors will be done for this year. Stay tuned.

The Susquehanna County DOMESTIC RELATIONS Section has outstanding BENCH WARRANT’S for the following individuals as of 9:00 a.m. on December 14, 2012: Elbert G. Allen, Jeremy E. Anderson, Sr, Christopher R. Brenner, Daniel M. Brown, Jason J. Carroll, William J. Casey, Thomas D. Earley, Jonathan Fathi, David J. Fischer, Keith R. Hurd, John J. Jenisky, Jr, Richard E. Kalinowski, James Karhnak, Kay L. Knolles, Lee Labor, Todd J. Layton, Charlie J. Legere, Derrick J. Lezinsky, Ricahrd A. Murphy III, Anastacia V. Poff, Anthony Reed, Joseph M. Rhodes, Perry Rohan, Bruce A. Schurr, Desiree L. Shifler, David J. Shiner, Jerome W. Slick, Eric J. Snell, Stephen Sorensen, Jennifer L. Thatcher, Justin S. Thompson, Earl H. Thompson, Jr, Steven G. Warner, Jamie L. Williams, Sr., Kelly Lynn Yarbrough, Please contact the Domestic Relations Section at 570-278-4600 ext. 170 with any information on the location of these individuals.

The County Commissioners do most of their work out of the eyes of the public. When the meetings are called to order, it’s always the case that a detailed agenda shows their progress on multiple topics, which clearly require hours of time to process. Among the disbursements and bids are usually the acts of politic which are overlooked but still important. Public comment usually takes up the large measure of each meeting, and the public are always heard.

 One could understand that the meetings are brief as the commissioners attempt to bundle items for ease of handling. On December 12 the meeting would be no different. The board handled lease agreements, the issuance of a memorandum of understanding to help stream line communication between the commissioners and the conservation district, and accepted bids for bottled water; much minutia that fills their days.

As the public took the opportunity to comment, it was much the same on the public side. Noise concerns from compressor stations, pollution concerns from drilling operations, and this time of year budget concerns. The commissioners reminded all in attendance that the budget was available to review in the office, but that it would not be distributed to the libraries for public review. While there were requests for staff members to be trained and outfitted with sound equipment to monitor decibel levels at work sites the commissioners would make no hasty decision to hire, or train individuals for this task. Even the act 13 funds were discussed. Primary on the fund usage was 911 and public safety. Even agricultural preservation also made the list and was static with last years’ funds.

The salary board would meet briefly to adjust job descriptions and salary ranges.

The county continues to work toward the goal of hiring the best personnel for every job, while offering compensation which can draw staff into the open positions. The meeting closed at 9:18.