During the Forest City School Board meeting held on April 13, 2015, Kcba Architects presented a submission previously provided to Board members during an Executive Session for public view.  The FCSB has been working with Mike Kelly and Ed Mangold, Architects from Kcba, conducting an ongoing study since the fall of 2014 to provide solutions to a building that is lacking in space. The study included an assessment of the basic capacity of the school and a projection of future enrollment.  Mr. Kelly and Mr. Mangold presented their solutions to a number of concerns that the Board had previously discussed with them.  During their study they found multiple areas that were not ADA compliant, outdated heating unit ventilators, and classroom spaces that are limited in space with no access to natural light.  They also assessed the outside area, which has problems with paving and lighting.  There is no secure entrance to the High School, Elementary, or District Administrative offices.  The entrance ramp to the Elementary school is open and children have to walk in all types of weather.  Another concern is people have to walk through the cafeteria to get to the auditorium.

What they did find worthwhile is that the school has a good structure and renovations would be possible.  The Architects provided detailed drawings of how the school would look once the renovations were completed.  Included in the drawings was an addition to the front of the High School, Elementary, and Administrative offices, Centralized Satellite Core Literacy room, enclosed ramp leading to the Elementary school, an egress supplying access to the auditorium without going through the cafeteria, larger space for the STEM studies to support the program, and ADA fixtures replacing noncompliant fixtures were some of the highlights of the model.

In addition to providing the model, Kcba Architects provided different starting point options with projected expenses associated with the particular project option.  School Board Member William Heller asked Mr. Kelly and Mr. Mangold if they chose Option 2, how would it work with the construction not disrupting the school year.  Mr. Mangold explained that the plan would be for the majority of the work to be conducted during the summer months.  There still would be some disruption but not enough to interfere with the capability to teach the students.  Mr. Heller stated that the completed study was very well done, and easy to read.

Mr. Mangold informed the Board that Governor Wolf has plans to put a mortitorium on reimbursement on July 1, 2015.  If the Board plans to move forward with any option of the plan they need to fill out a Part A Form before July 1st or they may risk losing the reimbursement.  Superintendent Kopecki asked if the moratorium was on new projects only or if ones that were submitted would be affected.  Mr. Mangold stated he didn’t know the answer to that question.  School Board Vice President Chris Baron asked when would the reimbursement occur from the state.  Mr. Mangold replied the state has 30 years to reimburse the school, so budget your bond as if you will not receive any reimbursement.  Superintendent Kopecki asked if within the intent of the plan, would there be an issue if they changed some items.  Mr. Mangold replied this is an initial concept, and the Board could make decisions on what changes they would like to make to move forward.

During this meeting Paige Zach and Joseph Dombkowski were recognized as Outstanding Seniors and received an award.  Both students have completed Senior Projects that have helped the underprivileged.  After graduation Paige will attend college and Joseph plans to work full time with the Local 5 Bricklayers Union in Scranton.

Three teachers will be retiring after the last day of the school year. Annette Seber, Theresa Nebzydoski, and Ann Marie Petak submitted their resignations, which were accepted by the Board by motion during Monday night’s meeting.

Superintendent Kopecki stated the retiring teachers have faithfully served the district and he appreciates their efforts and sincerely wishes them the best, good health and happiness. 

Grades K-3 had significant reading improvements.  This was reported by NWEA, an assessment company that has been in business for over 50 years.  There was a reported 12% gain over the national average, and they will be assessed again at the end of the school year.  The goal is to have 100% of the kids able to read by third grade. 

The PA Dept. of Education has approved the Strategic Plan that the FCSD submitted.  Forest City meets all the requirements and Superintendent Kopecki compliments the staff and teachers for this achievement.

Principal Peter Jordan put together a “Dangers of Social Media” presentation which will be shown to students during the day on April 21st, and will be available to the public the night of April 21st.

A presentation was already underway when this reporter arrived at the April 6th meeting of the Montrose borough council. Three conservation department representatives had attended to discuss the borough’s deer problem, and what, if anything, could be done to address it.

WCO Michael Webb said that he wasn’t sure how the borough would go about enforcing a ban on deer feeding. It was related that some of the communities that did enact this as part of their management plan relied on their codes enforcement officer to help enforce it. A hand out was to be given to the council regarding information on a deer management plan, and an excerpt read giving an exception for farm animals and small seed eating animals, such as birds and squirrels.

Mr. Webb related that seven or eight years ago the Board of Commission that guided the PA Game Commission had opted to change the rifle season for deer, changing the antler season. He said that a change from 12 days to 7 took a lot of pressure off the antlerless deer herd. This was done in response to what the “squeaky wheel” said, which was that there weren’t a lot of deer. He felt that the increase in the deer here was in response to the people who said that there weren’t enough deer out there. He encouraged the council to contact the Commission about their deer herd.

Mr. Lamont asked about an increase in twins and triplets. Kevin Wenner replied that from a habitat perspective, when the herd was thinned there was more food. From that came better habitat and healthier deer, who would have more doubles and triples.

Mr. Chamberlain said asked if there were places in the Poconos that had a feeding ban which worked. Mr. Wenner said that there was. Hemlock Farms was a private community in Pike county, having probably 5,000 plus homes. They had their own police department and were a borough on their own. They were largely surrounded by state lands. He said there was a strange dynamic in that situation with complaints from the surrounding community saying that by them removing deer in the community they were also removing deer from the state game lands. He said that deer, especially antlerless deer, establish a home range, and largely stay in that home range. Therefore they needed to manage them where they were. He had handed out a Community Guide to Deer Management, a document which he said was available on the game commission's website.

Ms. O Malley asked if they had recommendations for the borough. Mr. Wenner replied that it had to be a culmination of things. He said the community itself first needed to come to an agreement that they had a deer problem. The only municipalities, he asserted, which conducted removal programs that didn’t end up in court, strife, or struggle, were those that held a community vote, and then decided on the vote. Those who made such decisions without this were sometimes the places that could end up on the news due to ugly situations. While it might not seem like an important issue to residents at the time council made a decision, once it was about to proceed was when the injunction and signatures would occur, and it could turn into somewhat of a nightmare.

Mr. Webb said the guide went over how to proceed in a setting like the borough, giving ideas for each step of the process. It said that as a local governing body they had to involve the general public. He spoke about various ways the public had been alerted in the past. They didn’t, he opined, want Montrose on TV for a deer problem. Mr. Wenner added that they recognized that council was elected to make decisions on the part of the community, but that with a deer problem it became such an emotional issue that lots of people lost common sense.

Mr. Schuster asked about expense. Benjamin Rebuck said that he had seen on the news that the largest cull was going on in Lebanon and cost $500 a deer to have them removed.

Ms. O’Malley asked, if they established a home range, could they stop the community from feeding them, or would the deer just find a different food source. Mr. Rebuck replied that by giving them easy feed, they were giving the deer low hanging fruit. Stopping feeding would take away the simplest food. Mr. Webb added that part of the problem with artificial feed was that it altered the deer’s behavior They weren’t foraging, and it could lead to them expending more energy in the winter than foraging would have required. It also drew a lot of deer to a centralized area to compete for a central food source. The community exacerbated the problem, and the deer would bring their friends. He said if they took away the artificial food source they would decrease the reason the deer came in. They’d still be in the area, but they would go back to foraging.

Mr. Schuster asked if there were any grants for sharp shooters. Mr. Webb replied that there were not.

It was said that the borough might be required to incorporate hunting as part of their plan. Mr. Granahan asked how they incorporated hunting in the borough. It was responded that they had to identify property that either met the safety zone guidelines, or residents willing to forego the safety zone requirements. The safety zone stated that it was unlawful to hunt within someone’s safety zone. These requirements were set at 150 yards for firearms, and 50 yards for archery - which included cross boroughs. Mr. Webb thought the latter would be key to the borough. A landowner could, if he wanted, grant permission for a hunter to be in his safety zone, and hunt on his property. The hunting still needed to be done in season. The hunter would also need permission from all of the safety zones that were going to be violated, not just the zone he was shooting from. If there was a hunting incident violating these regulations, it would be reported to the Game Commission.

Mr. Wenner thought that the USDA Deer Management Assistance Program could be a good tool for the borough, along with discussing the program with area landowners. A nice thing about it, he said, was that if they or a private landowner were applying they maintained direct control over who they gave the involved coupons to, so they could select responsible hunters who knew where the problem was. Ms. Skinner asked how many farms participated in this program; they estimated that they probably had easily 50 to 75 participants in the Susquehanna County area. Mr. Webb said that the number of people enrolling and applying was going up as the deer population went up. He said farmers and the garden center were complaining about crop damage. Ms. Skinner suggested that it stood to reason as more pipelines were on farms. Mr. Lamont noted that deer loved that new seeding. Officer Webb suggested that the new pipeline wasn't exactly something that the farmer was going to cultivate, a lot of time they would have that area replanted in a wildlife mix. Therefore a lot of times the landowner was attracting deer.

Officer Webb said that he thought the Management Program was their best option, along with promoting safe and ethical archery hunting in the borough. This wouldn’t waste a resource, and it was free to the borough. Mr. Wenner said at that point in time it was the easiest tool they had to their advantage. He said they were not the only group in Susquehanna County identifying the increase.

He also said that the board of commission was to meet that week in Harrisburg. He recommended an e-mail to their local commissioner.

Mr. Schuster asked if there was an acreage stipulation, and it was replied that there was one tag for every five acres of land. An individual in the borough would have to have five to ten acres, and it would need to be justified- so it probably would not be a program for an individual in the borough.

Mr. Webb gave examples of properties near the borough that could participate, however. He said that it was illegal for somebody to feed and cause to habituate bears. Even unintentionally. He agreed that the DEMAP would be the easiest and most effective solution right now, though there would be work involved.

Mr. Lamont said he felt that as a council they first had to get together to agree that they did have a problem. Mr. Wenner noted an application deadline of May first for DEMAP. He again encouraged them to contact the commission, as that week they were going to be voting on the number of antler less licenses to allot to the area that included the borough.

Mr. Schuster asked about changing it all to a commencement, with buck and doe hunting the whole season. Mr. Wenner replied that had been a staff recommendation for some time. He said they could accomplish the same things with a 12 day season as with a 7 day season, by changing the allocation. The board didn't see it that way, however, and they were entertaining calls from hunters saying there were no deer.

Mr. Schuster asked if the men present did lectures on Lyme Disease. It was responded that there was information out there, and that the CDC website was a fantastic reference. Mr. Rebuck said that the borough could also put in a request, and they could usually accommodate it.

The representatives left a bunch of information at the borough. After the deer discussion closed, the rest of the meeting proceeded.

The borough secretary said that Mr. DiPhillips was having a very hard time finding the bulbs for the lights in the borough room. She said she didn't know why those lights were put in in the first place, because businesses were informed that flourescant lights were going to be phasing out. First Energy was giving a rebate of .$7 cents per fixture that was switched out. She requested permission to apply for this. There was also a kit for transitioning them without changing the fixtures.

Mr. DiPhillips gave an update on road work. He related that within the next three weeks Leatherstocking was going to stop digging and just do restoration until it was done. They were going to go back over the streets that were already done, and redo the ones that were done that they weren't happy with. Mr. Granahan asked him how they were going to deal with where they damaged the roads. It was responded that they were going to hire out a company. Mr. DiPhillips said they'd been pretty good about complaints.

A motion was made to give permission for a Memorial Day parade. This was approved. Mr. Granahan suggested that somebody should contact Leatherstocking if a parade was planned.

It was noted that the borough council used to give a certificate congratulating the Citizen of the Year. That year it was Craig Reimel. The motion was made and approved to recognize Mr. Reimel as the Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year.

There was some brief talk of changing lawn mowing enforcement. Mr. Chamberlain said they were looking at something which would basically give the cops the ability to clean up some of the problem properties. It would be more of a judgment call for the cops, who could take a complaint of grass and file a citation. It would put things on a fast track.

Susquehanna Community School District Board Directors took the following personnel actions during their regular meeting on Wednesday, April 15, 2015.

Approved hiring the following substitutes, pending all appropriate clearances: Michelle Oakley - LPN; Dylan Krall - Bus Driver; Kimberly Tuttle - Health Office.

Approved hiring for the 2014-2015 school year, pending all appropriate clearances: Andrew Bennett - Jr. High Co-Coach; Michael Lloyd - Track Helper.

Approved hiring for the 2015/16 & 2016/17 school years, pending all appropriate clearances: Lawrence Tompkins - Boys Varsity Basketball Coach & Sr. Class Advisor; Richard Emmons - Boys Jr. Varsity Basketball Coach; Robin Carmody - Cross Country Scorer & Football Ticket-Taker; Gina Baker & Jennifer Bennett - Football Ticket-Taker; Joni Miller & Carmen Maby - Jr. Class Advisor; Matt Misiura - Sr. Class Advisor.

Approved the following volunteers, as Chaperones, pending all appropriate clearances: Tara Kelly, Margo Pulling, Pamela Jones, Amy Rodriguez-Chilewski, Barbara Oney, Shannon Rockwell, Kiera Hennessey, Deidre Hobart, Amy Collins, Melissa Lankford, Tara Ruckle, Brian Woodruff, Paul Downton, and Bridget Perry.

Accepted the following resignation: Kim Marco - H.S. Aide.

Note to readers: The phrase “pending all appropriate clearances” is directly linked to state law, effective January 1, 2015 requiring a heightened level of investigative background checks for all volunteers, district employees, and contractors who may come into contact with minors. “Appropriate clearances” are required upon commencement of volunteer/contractual association with the school district and every three years thereafter. Not only are government-related background checks required, but also school district checks with the candidates’ past employers.

Susquehanna Community School District students who have not yet felt the full impact of PA Common Core will get intimately familiar with its “rigorousness,” to quote Superintendent Bronson Stone, when Common Core Curricula is fully implemented this fall. By unanimous vote SCSD board members voted to adopt “Everyday Mathematics (McGraw Hill) in grades K5 through 5th grade for the 2015/2016 school year.”

President Steven Stanford presided over the 30-minute meeting on Wednesday, April 15th’s meeting. Board members present were Lori Canfield, Jason Chamberlain, Amanda Cook, Evelyn Cottrell, Holly Kubus and Martha Stanford. Others in attendance included Superintendent Stone, H.S. Principal Carmella Bullick, Business Manager Gary Kiernan, Facilities Manager Donnie Norris, and Union Representative Kathleen Hinkley.

The advent of Common Core is probably no news to most parents. In matter of fact Common Core standards have been gradually implemented over the last several years in every school district in Pennsylvania. What the board did at this meeting was to put in place the last step at the local level.

PA Common Core wasn’t, of course, the only subject of discussion at the board’s meeting. Taxpayers will also be interested in current budget numbers. From the previous night’s school board work session it was reported that “There are no firm budget numbers yet from the state, but we [the administration] will have a firm budget by the May 12th [work] meeting. The budget will call for a 2.8% increase in local revenue in property taxes. Governor Wolf has requested that any new funds districts received above the index go for ‘new’ programming or to bring back programs that were cut. Unfortunately, the bills districts are facing are wages, salaries and PSERS; bringing back old programs or developing new programs are not priorities of districts.”

Also coming in for discussion at the work session were PSBA policy revisions related to investments and student teachers/interns. Both policies were approved by unanimous vote at the April 14 public meeting. Superintendent Stone noted that he will recommend “additions” to the dress code prohibiting “yoga pants” and “jeggings.” I’m assuming most readers are familiar with yoga pants, but jeggings? I admit I had to do some research to find out what this clothing item is. According to the online resource, “Wikipedia,” jeggings are leggings that are made to look like skin-tight denim jeans. Since jeggings are typically made of a denim/spandex blend, they are often worn on their own as opposed to under a skirt or dress. Some jeggings have front fastening facilities while others just have an elastic waistband and no pockets. Gentle readers may come to their own logical conclusions as to the basis for school authorities’ objections to the aforementioned items of clothing.

School campus safety and security remain a high priority. By unanimous vote the board approved “the service agreement between the Susquehanna Community School District and the Borough of Lanesboro for Campus Safety and Security for the 2015-2016 school year.” The renewed contract will provide for a 3% cost increase. In making his recommendation for approval of the contract Superintendent Stone noted that having a police presence on campus was one of the five best decisions by the board in the last 20 years. He lavished praise on both the patrolling police officers and the Borough of Lanesboro. This creatively designed program is mutually beneficial to both authorities, even as it nurtures good behavior and character on campus.

A discussion of futuristic education trends at the board’s work session involved a possible BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program for the high school next year. Students will be able to bring internet-capable devices for school use. The senior class has been selected for the pilot program insofar as cell phones in the classroom. Before the program is implemented protocols and procedures will be delineated and approved. Also discussed was the possibility of going “one to one” students to Chrome books in the near future. For both elementary and high school students this goal is aspirational, but flexible to circumstances and constraints.

In a bit of “inside baseball” Superintendent Stone gave an update on “Differentiated Supervision.” (Differentiated supervision refers to the methods of evaluating teacher performance.) Currently three modes are used: Portfolio, Walk-Through, and Formal Observation. Portfolio Mode is being eliminated at the end of the current school year. As a result teachers will be placed on staggered schedules with each teacher being evaluated two years in Walk-Through Mode and one in Formal Observation for each three-year cycle.

Superintendent Stone thanked Kinder-Morgan for their grant of $15,000 to the school district and was effusive in his praise of their cooperation and close relationship with the school district. (See related press release and photo.) The grant will be used to buy a piece of playground equipment appropriate for 4-year olds.

The board also took action to approve a long list of school field trips. Among them were day-trips to Ross Park & Discovery Center, Roberson Museum, Hershey Park, Gettysburg, and Cooperstown & Howe Caverns. The Class of 2015 will be taking their Senior Class Trip (to multiple locations in-state) on June 8 and 9. In praising the chaperones who accompany faculty and students on these trips, Mr. Stone noted that chaperones must obtain “appropriate clearances” in accordance with state law which came into effect on January 1st. Although a chaperone may only be making one trip in an entire school year, clearances must still be obtained, and these often cost the applicant as much as $40. The red tape and cost, he noted, can be frustrating and time-consuming. So then, it is no small thing for chaperones to put themselves through the process for a one-day event.

At 7:30 Martha Stanford, as is her custom, moved for adjournment. Mr. Kiernan served up baked goods made by students of Ms. Franks’ Life-Skills Class, and all was right for the world at that moment. The baked goods included coffee cake and various sweet breads. Mr. Stone happily noted the class’s entrepreneurship in that each Friday class members wheel a cart around the high school selling the fruits of their labors. The proceeds of these sales go to buy ingredients for items to be baked the following week.

While meeting participants normally slip away at meeting’s close or after refreshments, this night was different. I approached Superintendent Stone and asked him to elaborate on Common Core math standards. Not a board member left as Mr. Stone made direct comparisons of current 5th grade math and what students face under Common Core. The differences are indeed stark--night and day, to use a cliché. To demonstrate the vast difference between what was and what is to be Superintendent Stone provided examples of typical mathematical problems which students encounter on PSSA examinations. Mr. Stone lectured at length about Pennsylvania’s standards, “The rigor of the standardized assessments [are] 8th toughest [of the 50 states]. Definitely Pennsylvania has some of the toughest academic standards-based assessments in the nation.” The proof is in the pudding: graduates with a Pennsylvania education are readily hired over those of other states in many, many cases.

Next school board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13. The month’s work session (Information & Deliberation) will be held on Tuesday, May 12.

The big table in the little office was awash with paper when the Harford Supervisors met on April 14th. The township had received more bids than anyone could remember for road materials, hauling services, fuel and a storage building. Opening all those bids, comparing them, and selecting vendors took up the largest part of the nearly two-hour meeting. There was other business, however.

Taking the agenda items out of order, Supervisor Doug Phelps called on the township’s auditors for their annual report. Connie Breese read from a letter filed with the state attesting to the soundness of the township’s books. She said she and her colleagues, Bob DeLuca and Linda Bonham, found “everything … in order.” They made “no specific recommendations,” and commended the township secretaries, Sue Furney and Carolyn Jennings for their “diligence.”

Moving right along, Mr. Phelps noted that the County Commissioners have announced a ban on open burning until May 2, including all outside burning except propane and charcoal grills. The prohibition is enforced by the State Police; violations incur a fine of $100 for the first offence, $200 for the second, and $300 for the third. (Perhaps they figure that three’s the charm.)

The Supervisors then approved Rhonda Smith (Captain), Steve Smith (Lieutenant), Jeff Winemiller (Lieutenant), Wayne Frederici, Terry Van Gorden and Bob DeLuca (senior) as fire police. They will also be allowed to help out during the Memorial Day and July 4th festivities in Montrose.

The Supervisors then proceeded to approve road maintenance agreements with Williams Field Services and the Constitution Pipeline company. Williams and Cabot Oil will be cooperating on renovation (FDR – Full-Depth Reclamation) of the 1.9-mile length of Blanding Lake Road, including the installation of new sluice pipe. Roadmaster Jim Phelps asked and received permission to contract with Barhite Excavating for 5-7 10-hour days of ditching work along that road in advance of the resurfacing project for a cost of $8,750.

Constitution will be building a 30-inch transmission pipeline through the western part of the township. And Cabot, together with Williams, will be installing a new wellpad and associated gathering lines near Blanding Lake Road. The companies also received permits for new driveways and township road crossings.

Once they started in on the bids, they began with hauling services. The Supervisors hope to save money by purchasing stone at offered “freight-on-board” (FOB) pricing, and hiring independent trucking services, rather than purchasing from a stone supplier at additional cost for delivery. They accepted a bid from Barhite for “general hauling” services at $72 per hour. They accepted all three bids – B&H (Gary Blewett), Barhite and Young’s Transport – for hauling road materials, all of them at $75 per hour.

When the road crew needs stone delivered to a work site, they like it spread as evenly as possible by the delivery truck (“tailgating”). A representative of Young’s attended the meeting and said he had only one truck. Supervisor Conrad Owen told him that the township would try him out and, if the service was found satisfactory, he could expect more work. With only one truck, however, availability might be an issue; the township generally can provide a few days notice of a delivery requirement.

Once the haulers were selected, then the Supervisors could examine the bids of the stone providers. If the township was to benefit from independent hauling, the suppliers would have to be reasonably close by, to minimize the time and distance. They chose Lopke Stone Products as primary supplier, and Eastern Industries as a secondary alternate, based on the best overall prices consistent with the needs of the township.

The Supervisors opened 4 bids for supply of black cinders and chose Kiefer Trucking, which offered them at the lowest price of $14.25 per yard.

They accepted both bids for calcium chloride for dust control. The primary supplier will be Vestal Asphalt; Suit-Kote will be a secondary source. Both bids were in the neighborhood of $1.00 per gallon.

For the first time in recent memory, the township received more than one bid for fuels. Not that it matters much, since suppliers usually price diesel, gasoline and kerosene based on widely available industry prices, and allow the prices to fluctuate as often as weekly. The price is usually based on the OPIS (Oil Price Information Service) “rack” price, in the case of Mirabito, the price in Harrisburg on Monday; the “rack” price is the price at a wholesaler’s distribution terminal (the rack). The Supervisors didn’t select a provider immediately, but will await further clarification of one of the bid packages.

The Supervisors accepted the sole bid by Snyder Equipment to provide and install a “Brite-Span” storage shed at the township yard to protect road materials, particularly in the winter. The bid totaled $99,250 to be paid at a series of milestones as the shed is erected. The total cost of the project will be substantially higher, since the bid price did not include site preparation or the construction of the required concrete walls. Roadmaster Phelps said that the township could expect a grant of $10,000 from the Constitution Pipeline company to help pay for the project.

At the request of Doug Phelps, the Supervisors will also solicit telephone bids for work renovating South Harmony and Shoup Roads. The township has been hiring contractors for larger road restoration projects in order to allow the township’s own crew to concentrate on annual and seasonal maintenance chores.

One of those chores is the annual “cleanup” in the first week of June. The program this year will charge the same price as last year — $50 for a pickup load. Tires are extra. And, because the county recycling center no longer accepts electronics, neither will Harford. The township is still looking for some outfit that will accept discarded electronics, which can no longer be legally deposited in landfills.

At the tail end of the meeting Mr. Doug Phelps announced an executive session would follow, to discuss legal issues related to the dispute about drainage on Tyler Lake Road. The bill list this month included legal fees over $4,000, most of it related to the Tyler Lake Road tangle. Mr. Phelps said that there had been 2 court sessions already, with additional depositions and other matters related to it. Some residents of the area complained that a project that was supposed to solve drainage problems along the road down the hill to Tyler Lake was not successful, and are attempting to force the township to remedy the situation.

The next public meeting of the Harford Township Supervisors is scheduled for Tuesday, May 12, 2015, beginning at 7:00pm at the Township Office on Route 547.

Spring has finally sprung and the borough of Lanesboro is loaded for action. That over-arching theme dominated the borough’s Tuesday, April 14th meeting. President Dan Boughton gaveled the 35-minute meeting to order at 7 p.m. sharp. Council members Ed Arzouian, Regina Dilello, and Dale Rockwell were present, along with Mayor Chris Maby, Police Chief Jim Smith, and Secretary/Treasurer Gail Hanrahan.

Discussion of the Community Center followed preliminaries. The change of season has brought an up-tick of rentals for the community center. Secretary Hanrahan reported rentals for April 25, May 2, 9, and 30, as well as June 20. More seating may be needed for these events. Mayor Maby volunteered to assist Councilman Arzouian in acquiring more chairs and tables over the next few weeks. And so as to comply with state regulations the borough will soon be arranging for installation of signage at entrance to and exit from the parking lot which wraps around the community center.

Potholes, grates, and planned roadwork occupied discourse in the Streets Report. Council noted that potholes will be filled as soon as fear of frost is alleviated. Two grates will be repaired at the intersection of Turnpike and Main Streets and another grate in front of the Lair residence on Main Street. Side Avenue and Grand Street roadwork (to be done under the aegis of 2013 grant money) was also green-lighted, with the county (Redevelopment Authority) to put the project out for bid at the earliest opportunity. Mayor Maby noted that 2014 grant money (requested for sidewalks) is likely to finally show up next year. “Though the mills grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small.”

Parks and Recreation discussion first focused on this year’s Easter egg hunt. Members commented that it was held on March 28th, but that it was a cold--and brief--hunt. Beyond the hunt’s thrill, remembrances of grass growing . . . and mowing--animated cogitation. Not only will parks need mowing, but so too the several properties of FEMA-buyout provenance. Council agreed that a borough employee should do the mowing, under at-will employment conditions, with pay being $10 per hour. Based on weather and precipitation, cost to the borough may range from $1,300 to $2,500, Mayor Maby opined.

Chief Smith presented the Police Report for the month of March. It showed LPD worked 113 hours, with 10 hours billed to Thompson Borough. An additional 157 hours were spent patrolling Susquehanna Community School District. Police made 18 traffic stops with six citations and 12 warnings issued for the following reasons: speeding (5), equipment violations (6), inspection violations (3), stop sign violations (2), and registration violations (2). More serious interactions involved serving an arrest warrant, filing charges in separate cases of drug possession and careless driving, and closing the case of “dirt bike on roadway.”

Chief Smith also reported that police had participated in extricating a vehicle from Pig Pen Alley. The driver had been following instructions, contrary to negative road conditions readily observable, from his GPS instrumentation. Drivers might consider that GPS instructions are not without error from time to time.

Concerning the borough’s sewer system, excessive flow (on Viaduct Street) was being monitored by Tri-boro Municipal Authority. Council members and Mayor discussed the matter at length. Ultimately council voted unanimously to authorize necessary repairs and to make payment in consequence.

No decision was made per an offer earlier this year from a borough resident for donation of a defibrillator to the community center. Councilman Arzouian looked into the laws and regulations concerning defibrillators, but ongoing discussions revealed legal liability concerns still exist.

Next monthly meeting of Lanesboro Borough Council is scheduled for the second Tuesday of May.

BENCH WARRANTS

The Susquehanna County DOMESTIC RELATIONS Section has outstanding BENCH WARRANT’S for the following individuals as of 10:30 a.m. on April 17, 2015: Allen S. Bowman, Michael J. Burger, Brian N. Carter, Anthony M. Choplosky, Tina M. Clark, Ronald S. Cook, Benjamin D. Fassett, David J. Fischer, Justin T. Giberson, Charles R. Groover, Jeremy W. Hall, Timothy M. Holmes, Todd J. Layton, Charlie J. Legere, Derrick Lezinsky, Matthew J. Peters, Vincent J. Petriello, Veronica D. Phelps, Desiree L. Shifler, Tessa E. Thomas, Kurtis Tracy, Steven G. Warner, Kevin H. Welch, Kyle D. Wilbur, Jamie L. Williams, Sr. Please contact the Domestic Relations Section at 570-278-4600 ext. 4050 with any information on the location of these individuals.