The Thompson Township reorganizational meeting held on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 was attended by Supervisor Rick Wademan, Supervisor Alex Komar, and Secretary Kim Conklin.  After nominating Supervisor Alex Komar as temporary Chairman, Supervisor Komar motioned to nominate Supervisor Rick Wademan as permanent Chairman, which was unanimously approved, followed by a unanimous appointment of Susan Jenkins as Vice Chair.  Secretary, Kim Conklin was nominated and unanimously appointed into her role as Secretary/Bookkeeper with a current rate of twelve dollars per hour.

Supervisor Komar was unanimously appointed Road Master/Foreman at a rate the Township Auditors will determine, and Clyde Gorton as Road Worker. Jason Beardsley was appointed as Legal Council and Ardith Callender was appointed Vacancy Board Chair.

The Supervisors also determined the building fee schedule will remain the same for 2017; and Peoples Security Bank will remain the Township’s depository.

Office hours for the Township will remain the same, Monday and Wednesday, hours are eleven until three.  Supervisor Komar stated people might also call for an appointment if they cannot come in during these hours.

Thompson Township Supervisors recognize the following holidays for their employees; New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Supervisor Wademan discussed the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS), and who would serve as the Township delegator.  Supervisor Komar stated he would continue to be the delegate for the Township. 

The Road Department has been busy plowing, cindering, and working on the summer equipment reported Supervisor Komar.

Supervisors discussed the current pay for employees, stating they want to be confident they are competitive with salaries in the area.  Supervisor Komar motioned to raise Secretary Kim Conklin’s and new hires in the Road Department salaries to fourteen dollars an hour, which was unanimously approved.  Supervisors are planning to look at options to give employees insurance coverage.  If this is not possible due to cost, they will review Clyde Gorton’s salary for a possible increase.

Supervisor Komar stated the following positions are up for reelection: Auditor, six-year term; Auditor, four-year term; Auditor, two-year term; Tax Collector, four-year term; and one Supervisor for a six-year term.

Township Auditors were to hold their meeting on Wednesday, January 4th at 5:00 p.m.

The next Supervisor’s meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 1st at 7:00 p.m.

Mayor Scott Smith during his report at the New Milford Borough meeting held on January 5th stated he’s very troubled thinking about the next snowstorm.  He reported he rode with Chuck Welch on the plow truck during the last storm and he was concerned the current tires on the plow truck did not have enough traction for the roads in slippery conditions.  Mayor Smith is also concerned about residents shoveling, or blowing the snow into the roads.  He said this is a safety issue, piling snow back onto roads which have already been plowed.  Council members agreed with the Mayor and they discussed several options to rectify the Mayor’s concerns.

Snow tires and rims will be priced, and purchased with the cost not exceeding thirty-five hundred dollars, including mounting was motioned and approved by Council.

Council will research if there is current state law prohibiting the removal of snow from personal property onto roads, or if they need to adopt an Ordinance.  The Mayor and Council also discussed residents having their cars off the road when the borough is plowing.  The mayor thanked Chuck Welch for plowing, and getting them through the winter mess, because it’s not an easy job, especially when he has to fit the truck on the narrow streets and go around cars.  He said the Borough was very lucky to have such good plow drivers.

Council conducted the annual appointments at the start of the meeting.  Phil Hari was appointed as Vacancy Board Chairman; Michael Briechle was appointed Solicitor; Amy Hine was appointed Secretary/Treasurer.  Peoples Security & Trust was named designated bank; Susquehanna County Independent, and the Susquehanna County Transcript were named newspaper of record.  Jim Carpenetti stated he was no longer willing to be the Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC), in light of this Council appointed Ken Bondurand, Interim EMC, and Deputy.  Scott Fisher was appointed to the Planning Commission, Don Button to the Municipal Authority, and Terri Gulick to the Recreation Board replacing Wendy Carey who elected not to serve another term.

Adam Millard, representing True View Security Solutions attended the meeting to inquire if council was interested in obtaining a price quote for a security camera system for the park.  Mr. Millard said he would recommend placing the cameras in the pool area, back corner of the park by the creek, the pavilion and if interested connect it to the smaller park.  President Rick Ainey suggested he attend the Parks & Recreation Committee meeting on January 24th and speak with the committee members.

President Ainey informed council they received from the Susquehanna County Planning Commission a land development, and subdivision proposal concerning the Dollar General.  He said he reviewed the map, and the subdivision proposal is indicating both properties commercial.  President Ainey said they would send the proposal to Greg Sheer, the Codes Enforcement Officer, to review since he’s fairly confident one piece of property should be residential.  He said the Planning Commission could review both proposals at their next meeting, since they would have to be approved within a specific amount of time.

A new law has taken effect in Pennsylvania concerning demolition funding, which states townships and boroughs can lobby their commissioners to enact by setting up funding for this particular use, stated President Ainey.

The Planning Commission will have a hot topic at their next meeting addressing the proposed Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO), stated Councilwoman Teri Gulick.  President Ainey said they received, from Milnes Engineering the Fee Schedule and a general Procedure Manual, which he would like the Planning Commission to review.  He stated Milnes Engineering would be responsible for reviewing any submitted proposals and will give their recommendation to the Planning Commission to enact.

Councilwoman Kathy Wages reported there were fewer cats than what they originally thought.  She is waiting for Petco to respond regarding a grant to help trap, neuter and return the cats.

Council motioned and unanimously approved a three percent raise for the Secretary/Treasurer and the Public Works employee.

Eleanor Lempke provided the report for the New Milford Beautification Committee.  She stated the committee came up with a suggested schedule to put up the street banners and flags, along with the holiday decorations, which she will submit to the Public Works Department.  She expressed her concern about the price Penelec charges for installing new electrical outlets on the poles for holiday lights.  Ms. Lempke said it was less expensive per pole the more outlets, they installed.  She asked Council to investigate how much it would cost to install ten outlets before the committee purchased any more lighted decorations.  Secretary Hein will contact Penelec to obtain pricing.

The New Milford Beautification Committee also discussed the annual planting of geraniums around the gazebo.  Ms. Lempke said once the geraniums were planted they needed to mulch the beds, as well as volunteers to deadhead and prune the flowers.  She said committee members were thinking about obtaining planters; they would need four.  Ms. Lempke said the planters would be easier to maintain, easier to cut the grass around them, and they could use the planters for seasonal flowers such as mums during the fall.  Money would be saved by not purchasing the mulch needed to nurture the flowers each year.  It was an idea they will be exploring further. 

The Harford Township Supervisors made short work of organizing themselves for the new year.  Just about everything remains as is, with the important exception that for the time being there are only 2 Supervisors.  Doug Phelps and Sue Furney elected themselves chair and vice chair respectively.  With the concurrence of attorney Jamie Hailstone, Mr. Phelps voted with Ms. Furney to reappoint his brother, Jim Phelps, to the position of Roadmaster.  Rob Weida becomes assistant roadmaster.

Mr. Phelps and Ms. Furney voted to accept the latest resignation of Conrad Owens from the Board of Supervisors, leaving the matter of appointing a replacement to the follow-on January meeting.

A minor dust-up arose when Dale Ferger objected to the treatment of the petition he and some others offered at the firehouse during the voting in November.  Mr. Phelps said that he himself had nothing to do with the decision by members of the fire company to ask them to leave.  Mr. Ferger complained that Mr. Hailstone’s letter about the matter was inappropriate.  Mr. Hailstone said that his email was a reasoned reply to an inquiry by Supervisor Phelps.

That out of the way, the Supervisors launched into the “regular” January meeting.  Ms. Furney had to approve last month’s minutes alone; Mr. Phelps did not attend that meeting and abstained on the minutes.

The Supervisors accepted a revision to a 1995 sewage holding-tank ordinance recommended by the township’s engineers, JHA.  The revision covers commercial properties and results from a couple of recent commercial operations, a saw shop on Fair Hill Road, and a compressor station on Tingley Lake Road.

The Supervisors renewed the township’s agreement with JHA for code enforcement and engineering services.  Township Secretary Caroline Jennings said that the fee schedule remains the same.

Mr. Phelps and Ms. Furney then had to come up with a way to fill the seat at the table vacated by Mr. Owens.  Mr. Hailstone said that they must try to fill the vacancy within 30 days.  He also said that advertising for the position is not required, but might be nice as a “courtesy.”  The Supervisors decided on a special meeting on February 1, 2017 – to be combined with a regular business meeting – to appoint someone to the seat.  Should the Township fail to fill the position, then Judge Legg of the Court of Common Pleas may appoint someone.  It wasn’t clear what would happen if no one steps forward.  The “normal” meeting schedule for February will also be followed, with a session on Tuesday, February 21.

Mr. Hailstone reported continuing discussions with Cabot Oil & Gas about a spill on Pennay Hill Road.  He said that Cabot wanted the name of the spill’s “generator,” and nominated the Township, which the Township rejects.

A party to the litigation resulting from some work on Tyler Lake Road a couple years ago objected to the minutes of a prior meeting that indicated that the legal dispute was “closed.”  She said that the matter is still open, pending acceptance of the results of the work carried out under the settlement agreement.

Considering that the meeting was a two-fer, reorganization and business meeting, it adjourned in near record time, barely 50 minutes.  Stay tuned for further developments.  And, if you have an interest in serving, please let the Township know.  You must have lived in Harford Township continuously for at least a year.  This means you!

Starrucca Borough Council's Tuesday, January 3 meeting proceeded to form typical of the last few months. That is, Councilmen split 3-2-2 and 2-3-2 on mirror-image motions concerning payment of borough bills. Otherwise, the meeting was noteworthy only for its brevity, less than 20 minutes.

To set the stage for the great debt-divide votes, a review of the Treasurer's Report is in order. As of the meeting's date, January 3, Secretary/Treasurer Keith Payne calculated fund balances as follows: General Fund - $11,717.13; Liquid Fuels Fund - $4,943.33; and UCC - unchanged from previous month at $1,397.33. Councilmen voted unanimous approval of Treasurer Payne's sharp cyphering.

From there, Secretary Payne delved into the amounts duly owed for bill payment. Lavery Law was and is owed $10,774.08, same as last month. All other bills totaled out at $3,736.12, of which $2,125.00 required payment from Liquid Fuels, $315.00 from UCC, and $1,296.12 from the General Fund.

At this point fissures appeared when President Kirk Rhone made a motion, with Councilman Art Kopp's seconding, to pay all bills (totaling $3,736.12), less Lavery Law's bill of $10,774.08. Councilman Charles Levchak joined with aforesaid councilmen in voting approval. Councilmen Lou Gurske and Jason Heeman opposed; Councilmen Darl and Donald Haynes, Jr., abstained.

But that wasn't the end of the issue. Councilman Lou Gurske posited that Council SHOULD make a payment of "a significant amount" toward Lavery Law's bill. Upon further questioning and discussion, Mr. Gurske included the figure of $8,000 in his motion toward satisfaction of Lavery Law's bill. Councilman Heeman seconded the Gurske's Motion and voted with him for its approval. Nevertheless, the Gurske Motion could garner no third "aye," and the plan went down to defeat on the votes of Councilmen Rhone, Kopp, and Levchak voting "nay." As with the previous bill-payment motion, both Haynes councilmen abstained.

In his opposition to Councilman Gurske's motion, President Rhone explained that Harrisburg, for example, owes a hefty amount of money to Lavery, and Lavery isn't pestering them for payment. Moreover, the borough solicitor is still working on obtaining a loan for Starrucca. In the meantime, President Rhone noted, the borough should not be caught short of funds in case of extraordinary snow plowing costs or other short-fused contingencies. Unspoken, but obvious, is that all parties' interests are inextricably intertwined and inseparable so long as payment to Lavery Law is contingent upon consummation of the settlement negotiated by Lavery in mediation. And that consummation is contingent upon the borough's successful procurement of a loan.

In old business, Secretary Payne reported that he was only this day in receipt of a notice from the Court of Common Pleas in Honesdale concerning Darl Haynes' civil case against the borough. The years-old case has been discontinued by the plaintiff, Darl Haynes. That discontinuance was an integral part of the comprehensive settlement negotiated in May 2016.

Other old business was not tied up so neatly. Issues still in pending status include:

- Ghost Properties, LLC civil suit against the borough, being handled by DGK Insurance;

- the borough's petition to fund "unfunded debt," being handling by Solicitor Beardsley; and

- the borough's dirt/gravel & CDBG grant, awaiting final determination and notification.

In Public Participation Starrucca residents Jack Downton and Dave Soden made inquiries of council. Mr. Downton had questions about the rate of pay, as well as the contracts, relating to winter road maintenance. Secretary Payne did not have the contracts handy, but promised to make copies for each councilman and have them available for next council meeting. That will ensure all questions can be satisfactorily and completely answered by reference to source documents.

Mr. Downton also inquired as to who was overseeing the work on Kellogg Road and what was the current state of progress. President Rhone replied, "the road committee." Councilmen Kopp and Donald Haynes constitute the road committee. Councilman Kopp explained that not much work could go on or was going on up there until the snow is gone.

Next up, Mr. Soden inquired about the monies owed to Lavery Law. In response President Rhone clarified the process for borrowing funds-which will result in eventual payment. And in reply to Mr. Downton's snappy follow-up question as to whether Lavery Law is charging interest, President Rhone delivered a flat-out "no."

Before wrapping up for the evening, President Rhone called for a volunteer to serve as Emergency Management Coordinator. That call has gone out, unanswered for 11 consecutive months. Borough Council's next monthly meeting convenes on the first Monday of the month.