Barely 10 people turned out for the February meeting of the New Milford Township Supervisors on the 15th. With the proposed incinerator project at least indefinitely suspended, the agenda was mostly routine notices from various gas and pipeline companies, bids for stone … oh, and two bridge replacement projects. There was crowd enough for only one armed guard this time. And even the township solicitor took the evening off.
Presiding Supervisor Don Shibley reported that the lawyers are still reviewing public comments and suggestions with an eye to amending and improving the “clean-air” ordinance offered at a public hearing more than a month ago. A final draft will be presented at a later date, and advertised for a month or so before final adoption. With the project effectively canceled for now, the urgency for the ordinance has receded.
Rory McGlasson, a representative of something called Walsh Granite gave a presentation in a lilting Scots accent covering a project to begin this summer to replace 2 bridges in the township. These are part of a “public-private partnership” with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to replace some 558 failing or obsolete bridges across the commonwealth. Two of these are in New Milford Township. With a broader perspective, County Commissioner Alan Hall attended the meeting to hear the presentation.
A project to replace the 65-foot span on U.S. Route 11 crossing Salt Lick Creek will take 6 months or more to complete, but because that highway already has 3 lanes, the work will be similar to the recently completed project in New Milford Borough: 1 or 2 lanes will always be kept open; neither a stop light nor a detour will be necessary.
The other one, on Old Route 11 (aka Old Lackawanna Trail) across Beaver Creek, has been a problem for some time. Old Route 11 has only 2 lanes, so it will be closed while the 50-foot bridge is being replaced. The work is expected to begin in mid-June and take about 10 weeks. The detour completely around the project site will encompass some 12 miles, so there was some concern in two major areas:
- Truck traffic, much of it servicing wellpads and pipelines in the area, will be discommoded, and some of the alternate routes over the mountain may not be suitable.
- As Township Secretary Julene Graham noted, the schedule is “cutting it close” for school bus traffic since Blue Ridge will open the week before Labor Day.
Mr. McGlasson responded that project managers would review both the schedule and the proposed detour with those issues in mind. He said that the original intention was to complete one project at a time, but because of delays due to regulatory reviews, in order to fulfill contract requirements, they had both to be done in the same time frame.
These bridge replacements are part of what PennDOT is calling the Pennsylvania Rapid Bridge Replacement project. The construction firms Walsh Group and Granite have formed a consortium to carry out the project under the moniker Walsh Granite, for which Mr. McGlasson is a Public Information Coordinator. More information about the overall Rapid Bridge Replacement initiative can be found at parapidbridges.com. By drilling down from the ‘Bridges by County’ navigation link you can get a lot of detailed information about local projects, which the operators pledge will be kept regularly updated.
The Supervisors eventually moved on to open bids for supplies. They accepted all 4 bids for stone from Popple Construction (primary supplier), Lopke, Eastern Industries, and Pennsy Supply. They accepted bids from both Vestal Asphalt and Suit-Kote for calcium chloride for dust control. They accepted the bid of Lindsay Oil to supply gasoline and diesel fuel. And they accepted the bid of Mirabito Energy to provide propane.
The township’s Emergency Management Coordinator reported that he would be meeting with New Milford Borough emergency management officials to try to work out a collaborative exchange arrangement so that the borough and the township can back each other up.
The New Milford Township organizational lineup remains the same as last year following the annual meeting on January 3. Its budget for 2017 shows a projected surplus of almost half a million dollars, with total expenses of about $1.3 million. It didn’t hurt that the township sold some equipment recently for $80,000. But that is overbalanced by expected expenditure of about $275,000 on equipment this year. Over half a million dollars of revenue is expected from “impact fees” on the natural gas business; the budget is careful to note that the figure is not guaranteed, and the fee income, being subject to state legislation and control, is not even guaranteed at all. Use it while ya got it.
The New Milford Township Supervisors generally meet on the 3rd Wednesday of each month beginning at 7:30pm at the township office on U.S. Route 11 north of the Borough. The next public meeting will take place on Wednesday, March 15, 2017.
A variety of fiscal facts confronted Susquehanna Community School Board Directors at their work session and monthly meeting, held respectively on February 14 and 15. The District's 2017-18 budget is in the early stage of planning. Business Manager Gary Kiernan has an eagle eye on the District's rapidly-increasing PSERS rate and the less robust growth in property tax revenues over the last three years.
Superintendent Bronson Stone presented the Board with an array of viewpoints on proposals emanating from the Governor and General Assembly which could have significant impact on the District's 2017-18 budget. Senate Bill 76 (SB-76), a proposal gathering momentum across the Commonwealth, would (theoretically) eliminate school property taxes with increases in sales taxes and personal income taxes. The Governor's Budget proposal would provide SCSD with an increase in its Basic Education Subsidy to the tune of $69,000-which sounds generous, except that it would not cover even one-half of the district's increase in PSERS contributions, let alone increases in salary and benefit packages. Notably, Governor Wolf has also proposed mandatory competitive bidding for school bus services. SCSD currently utilizes three bus services, none of which competitively bid on bus services. The Governor believes that a competitive procurement process will drive down transportation costs, and his state budget proposal reduces that line item to presumptively reflect those assumed savings.
Present for SCSD's 7 to 7:30 p.m. official meeting were board members Steven Stanford, Amanda Cook, Evelyn Cottrell, Ashley Depew, Carol Jackson, Jamie Koziol, Martha Stanford, and Clay Weaver. Also on hand were Superintendent Stone, Business Manager Kiernan, HS Principal Carmella Bullick, Facilities Manager Kevin Price, and Union (SCEA) Representative (and President) Lawrence Tompkins.
While fiscal matters were at the forefront of the meeting's interest, the board also took up a number of other matters for discussion and approval. Among them were:
(1) Election of a board member-Amanda Cook-to serve as SCSD's board member on the NEIU 10 Board of Directors from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2020.
(2) Final approval of Sideline Concussion Protocols (to maximize athlete safety and to hold athletes' parents accountable for the athlete's medical clearance and care after a possible concussion incident).
(3) Approval of PSSA Policies 251 (Homeless Students) and Policy 255 (Educational Stability for Children in Foster Care). Note: these are policy updates recommended by PSSA, not an indication that the District has had a sudden influx of homeless or foster-care students.
Superintendent Stone also presented School Directors with a proposed 2017-18 school calendar with the following features:
(1) a school year start a week later in August (precludes any conflict with the Harford Fair);
(2) last day date of June 1, 2018;
(3) graduation date of June 9, 2018;
(4) in-service educator days scheduled on days of two-hour delayed-start basis, instead of current practice of afternoons of half-day school days for students;
(5) Five snow days at the end of the year are built into the schedule. And in a conservative approach should it be a severe winter, the following protocols are proposed: (a) If the first snow day occurs prior to January 1, 2018, Martin Luther King, Jr., Day would be used as a make-up day. (b) If there is a snow day between January 2 and February 2, 2018, President's Day would be used as a make-up day. (c) If there were two snow days after January 2, 2018, but before March 9, 2018, the Thursday before Easter would be used as a snow day.
Returning to fiscal matters, Superintendent Stone explained some of the implications of SB-76 should it ultimately become law. First of all, school districts could legally retain a school property tax IF the proceeds were used to retire debt previously incurred. Some 488 of 500 school districts have debt, and it seems likely most of them would continue a school property tax until that debt is retired. SCSD is one of 12 districts which has zero debt; SB-76 would, therefore, completely eliminate school property taxes here. Mr. Stone noted that taxpayers who itemize their income tax would have one less deduction. He noted also that personal income tax rates would be raised-from 3.07% to 4.95%. Also the state sales/use tax would be increased from 6% to 7%, and the sales/use tax would be broadened to include a number of items that were previously exempted from taxation. Finally, non-resident property owners may well be the biggest winners since they would be relieved of school property taxes, while paying sales taxes only to the extent they make purchases within the state. Concerns include the typical decrease in income and sales tax collections during periods of economic recession/depression, and how those declines would impact school programs. District residents may wish to contact their state legislators to discuss this bill, be they for or against it.
Governor Tom Wolf's February 7 Budget Address proposes a State Budget decrease of $2 billion. The state's education budget would nevertheless increase by 1.9%. For SCSD the Basic Ed Subsidy would increase by $69,095 and Susky's Special Ed Subsidy would increase by $12,666. These increases pale in comparison to the burden imposed by PSERS-a $120,000 increase, and overall 32.57% match to salaries of instructional staff. The PSERS rate is 30.03% this school year, and was a mere 21.40% as recently as the 2014-15 school year. Estimated increases for SCSD salaries, and for SCSD health care are $200,000 and $150,000, respectively, for the 2017-18 school year. No structural reform of PSERS is yet the focus of reform in Harrisburg. Legislators have been at least vaguely aware of the problems of unfunded liabilities inherent to the current pension system since at least Gov. Rendell's tenure.
One of the places Gov. Wolf proposes a decrease in the state's education budget is the line-item for Pupil Transportation Funding. For this he proposes a $50 million (9.1%) reduction in pupil transportation. The administration's stated intent is to develop a new funding formula that incentivizes efficiency. The goal is for all school districts which contract for transportation services (Some districts own their buses rather than contract.) to bid transportation contracts.
Superintendent Stone noted that only 19 school districts in the state fall into the category defined by Gov. Wolf. Some 14 years ago, SCSD had six bus companies that divided up routes within the District's 102 square miles. This year the District is down to only three bus companies. The District is looking forward to how this bid process is planned to work, and whether the a bid requirement will actually result in a 9.1% savings in transportation costs. But whether it saves money or not, the 9.1% decrease in funding is being built into the budgeting process a the state level right now.
The number of instructional staff in the SCSD has declined by 20 over the last 14 years observed Superintendent Stone. Further cuts in staffing are no longer possible; from here on out each retiring teacher will have to be replaced by a new teacher. There exists no more belt to tighten in this already lean district, said Mr. Stone.
On a lighter note, Principal Bullick introduced two seniors-Saige Perry and Hannah Day-recognized in February's senior spotlight. Both students spoke briefly of their experience at Susquehanna Community HS, and mentioned their plans for college matriculation. Miss Perry was involved in Student Council, track & field, cheerleading, Envirothon, and National Honor Society. Miss Day's extracurricular activities included Student Council, cross country, and the Drama Club.
When the School Board adjourned from its meeting members assembled for a group Yearbook picture. Mr. Kiernan, meanwhile, took orders for cake-carrot or strawberry-and sliced & diced to order. Kudos to the baker who did such a terrific job on both!
SCSD School Directors will reassemble on the third Wednesday in March for their next meeting.
In personnel actions, the district ...
- Approved hiring the following: Wesley Parks - Short Term Special Education Teacher; Natasha Callendar - Jr. High Assistant Softball Coach for the 2017 season; and Jessica Glover - Bus Aide.
- Approved the following Substitutes: Shane Decker - Elementary and HS Substitute Teacher; Andrea Gately - Substitute Teacher; Denise Osterhout - Substitute Aide, Personal Care & Food Service; and Jim McAllister - Substitute Driver.
- Approved the following Volunteers: Jeremy Wayman - continuing to volunteer as a Jr. High Football Coach for the 2017 Season; Curtis Mills - continuing to volunteer as a Football Coach for the 2017 Season; and Bev Smith - volunteer Maintenance worker.
