President Rick Ainey, at the New Milford Borough Council meeting held on March 2nd, made the announcement that Councilman Shawn Carey turned in his resignation, effective immediately. Councilman Carey will be starting a new position as a member of the Blue Ridge School District School Board next week. Council accepted his resignation with deep regret and thanked him for his service. Councilman Carey thanked Council and assured them he will continue working on the website, hoping to have it completed by the middle of April.
Council President Ainey announced Kerin Welch was willing to serve on Council to fill the vacant position. Mayor Scott Smith swore Ms. Welch in, and she will be running in the general election for a permanent seat. Council warmly welcomed Ms. Welch into her new position.
Correspondence received included a letter from Blue Ridge Recreation requesting a donation for their summer program. Councilwoman Teri Gulick stated it’s a great program, and Council agreed. A motion was made to donate three hundred dollars and was unanimously approved.
New Milford Head Start requested use of the Borough facility in an emergency situation; Council motioned and unanimously approved.
A resident was concerned about Maple Street bridge and the threeton restriction. He stated residents who live across the bridge can’t get fuel or garbage picked up because of the restrictive tonnage. Council President Ainey stated he spoke with Councilman White who informed him that was the highest ton rating in the Borough; the other bridges a two-ton limit. Councilman White will speak with the residents affected by this restriction.
President Ainey spoke with Chuck Welch about the upcoming Low Volume Road Maintenance Grant and how they could use the funds for Johnson Street. President Ainey asked Mr. Welch to get in touch with the Susquehanna County Conservation District to see if the condition of the road would qualify for the grant. Council spoke for a few moments on the road flooding, water pooling, not flowing in the storm drains and how they would be able to rectify the issues.
Kerin Welch said she found someone who was willing to paint the gazebo; Mike Davis, MD Quality painting said he would remove the lead paint, put on two coats of primer, and paint it the dual color requested. Mr. Davis informed Ms. Welch there are several boards that need to be replaced, and he doesn’t do that type of work. Also, he wouldn’t be able to strip the paint from the gingerbread awning, but he would put on a primer sealer to seal the lead paint. It would take him approximately two weeks to strip off the paint, and not much longer to paint it for a price of six thousand, four hundred and fifty dollars. He assured Ms. Welch that he could have it completed before the Midtown Festival in June. Council thanked Ms. Welch for finding a painter for them, and voted unanimously to accept the quoted price. Council discussed for a few moments the job of finding a person to replace the damaged wood, and to look at the roof before Mr. Davis started the job. Secretary Amy Hine stated she would take on the job to obtain quotes for the carpentry and roofing.
Councilman Ken Carey stated the Recreation Board would like to put an ad in the paper to hire a pool manager for the upcoming season. He also shared photos of proposed new signs for both the Midtown and Blue Ridge parks. Council stated they liked the new signs’ appearance in red, white, and blue. They all agreed new signs were needed, and asked Mr. Carey to obtain more quotes for the signage.
Council has been working on a new winter parking ordinance and will be sending it to the solicitor for review.
Emery Thorn III was motioned and approved to be the on call seasonal public works employee. He will be called throughout the season when Mr. Welch need additional help to do a job for the Borough.
Eleanor Lempke said the spring banners would be going up around the twenty fourth of March, dependent upon the weather and Mr. Welch’s schedule.
Councilwoman Donna Cosmello said a person who purchased a property on Harford Road, approached her and asked if she would be able to operate her business from that location. She informed Councilwoman Cosmello she wouldn’t have a problem with parking since there was an old barn in the back that she would be able to take down to create parking spaces. Council stated she should set up an appointment with the Zoning Officer to get his opinion, since it’s a residential area.
Ms. Lempke informed Council the Zoning Hearing Board held their first meeting; Amy Hine is their Secretary and Attorney Paul Littman will be their solicitor.
Councilwoman Teri Gulick informed Council she regrettably had to rescind an earlier motion to change the Tax Collector’s compensation from five percent of total tax collected to a per bill amount. Councilwoman Gulick stated the Tax Collector started before Council eliminated the land and per capita tax. The collector is still doing the same amount of work, but with approximately ninety percent less money. Unfortunately, state regulation deems only five percent of total tax collected can be paid to the Tax Collector. Council, with regret motioned to pay the tax collector five percent of total tax collected, which was unanimously approved.
The Midtown Festival is moving along, stated Councilwoman Gulick The Festival Committee is working diligently to hold the Festival on Saturday, June 3rd from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This reporter mistakenly wrote in last months article the New Milford Recreation Board planned the Festival; my apologies. Ms. Gulick stated some Recreation Board members are part of the Midtown Festival Committee, but there are many other volunteers who are not part of the Recreation Board.
There was a lot to think about at the Blue Ridge School Board’s workshop on February 27th. A shortage of coaches, an audit that declared the District on a “good fiscal path,” resignation of a Board member, an expensive water supply repair. Some of it would appear again a week hence, but for the time being, a scrumptious beef-barley soup made it a lot easier.
The evening began an hour early with a meeting of the Board’s Athletics & Activities Committee, with an agenda presented by Middle/High School Principal Peter Supko, supported by Athletic Director Mary Clinton. A major concern was the difficulty attracting and keeping good coaches. Last year the Board came up with a program that would boost coaching salaries from a relatively low base (below average for nearby school districts) each year for 4 years, in an attempt to retain long-term coaching skills. It hasn’t worked.
Superintendent Matthew Button was tasked with coming up with some options to rectify the situation. The consensus seemed to be to increase coaching salaries to “100 percent” (presumably the 4-year maximum for each sport), then add an incentive of some sort to reward good performance and longevity. Member Fred Lewis told the full board that discussions would continue until a plan can be developed for the next school year.
Coaches aren’t the only problem. It’s just as difficult to find people to take tickets for those sports that impose an entrance fee (Blue Ridge currently charges admission only for volleyball, basketball and wrestling); scorekeepers (adults instead of the students doing it now?); timers and others. And, if admission is still charged, who pays what (staff, students, senior citizens)? Some options might be to do away with gate admission entirely, or to ask the booster clubs to take on the jobs.
Board president Chris Lewis noted that in the past, teachers had taken on these responsibilities as part of their jobs. He said that money has become more important, even among coaches who do it for love of the sport. Blue Ridge now spends between $60,000 and $65,000 per year for coaches. Fred Lewis remarked that his calculations showed that many coaches are now getting about 11 cents per hour for all that they do. That got a chuckle from some committee members, but at least one neighboring district pays its football coach almost $9,000, and many increase coaching salaries every year.
Mr. Supko also reported on a conference he and Ms. Conklin attended at the University of Scranton on how to create a “leadership council” for sports. He is putting together such a group at Blue Ridge consisting of the principal, 2 counselors, and 7 students, with the purpose of developing “leadership skills aligned with the district vision for education.” In fact, one of its first tasks will be to create an “athletic mission statement that connects to the district’s mission statement.” The local council will offer a summary of its work at the Bochicchio Sports Character Initiative Ninth Annual Conference on March 7. At that time, Mr. Supko himself will receive the William J. Garrity Award for deep commitment “to developing an exemplary culture of sport,” and making “important contributions to that cause.”
And lastly, Mr. Supko summarized requirements for professional development for coaches. The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) will make such training mandatory in July 2018. The training costs $90 per person for a 5-hour course covering first aid and “coaching principles.” The total cost for the district’s 35 paid coaches and 9 volunteers would be about $4,000, plus travel (to Scranton). It is expected that senior staff at Blue Ridge (such as the Athletic Director) would be able to provide the training locally, but the fee would remain. (Certification testing can be completed on-line.) So then the question becomes, who pays the fee? What happens if the district covers the cost and a coach then resigns?
All of these issues remained open for discussion as the committee adjourned in favor of the board’s workshop that actually began with a 3-minute business meeting. And the business meeting was delayed when President Lewis called an executive session. When the meeting resumed, Mr. Lewis said the closed session covered discussions about the Athletic Director’s position, about a “trainer,” and about a student disciplinary issue.
Once the board reassembled, they heard a report from Mike Dougherty, the district’s auditor, who pronounced the district’s financial health excellent, especially compared with many of the other 500 districts in Pennsylvania, particularly many of the comparably small, rural districts.
Mr. Dougherty reported that Blue Ridge ended its 2016 fiscal year last June with a surplus of some $1.4 million, which yielded a total fund balance of about $6.4 million. All of that is allocated to debt service, capital improvements, future health insurance claims, and especially to the looming future pension obligations. Blue Ridge funds its own health plan that he said has “worked out very good so far,” with a current balance of about $1.4 million.
Of course pension liabilities are the elephant in the budget room, as requirements imposed by the state continue to increase. Now, even the food service program at Blue Ridge is carrying a pension liability of almost $700,000, as a result of some changes in accounting rules in the last couple of years. The district as a whole has a pension liability of over $23,000,000, $1.3 million higher than for fiscal year 2015. “Not that this board can fix it,” he said, placing the major responsibility on Harrisburg.
Mr. Dougherty said that some Pennsylvania school districts are verging on financial failure, largely because of the burden of pension liabilities. But, “the last thing they [the state government] want to do is take over school districts.” On the other hand, at Blue Ridge, he declared, “You guys have done a great job.”
Once the business session actually got under way, board members accepted the resignation of Christina Whitney “with regret.” Mr. Lewis thanked Ms. Whitney (who was not present) for 8-10 years of service. He did not discuss options for filling the open seat.
The board then re-elected Harold Empett to another 3-year term as the Blue Ridge representative to the board of directors of the Northeastern Instructional Unit (NEIU) #19.
The workshop that followed began by covering some of the items that would be on the business agenda the following Monday. They include a decision on who to hire as official photographer among the 4 providers that have applied. Members will also decide on a new copier contract that promises to save the district some $140,000 over 5 years.
Mr. Lewis said that the board will also be asked to consider at least a statement about the proposed “property tax shift plan” under consideration in Harrisburg. The legislation would do away with property taxes … almost. Property levies will still be required to cover debt service, and that applies to many districts across the state, including Blue Ridge. But, said Mr. Lewis, the property tax would have to be replaced with some $14 billion in revenue from other sources – read, taxes of some other kind. Senator Lisa Baker, who represents the Blue Ridge area, supports the legislation. However enticing such an idea may seem at first glance, Mr. Lewis sees substantial risks for rural districts like Blue Ridge.
The other major item covered by the workshop was the work under way to repair and replace the water supply system on the campus. A failure a few weeks ago caused by an electrical surge that burned out a pump (and later, a second pump as well) has required some special measures to keep the buildings supplied with water while contractors try to trace the infrastructure that dates back to the 1950’s, and find a way to fix it. A second well has been drilled as a backup, and the district will try to file a claim against its insurance to help pay for the substantial cost of the work, now expected to top $30,000.
It was a busy evening, with another only 7 days away. Most meetings begin at 7:00am in the cafeteria in the Elementary School. With a new budget under development, taxpayers will be interested to hear some of the details, won’t they? So far board members have received Business Manager Brian Dolan’s figures in a fat binder. The materials have not yet been made available to the press or the public. With nearly $18 million on the block – with or without property taxes – it would be nice to know where it all goes.
Corporal Burman was in attendance at the Thompson Township Supervisor’s meeting on March 1st to address concerns about a Pennsylvania State Militia Group conducting training in the Township. Concerns voiced weren’t about the Militia; it was firing their weapons too close to resident’s homes, and roads. One resident said he identified multiple guns, including an AR15 by the shots fired. He stated it wasn’t more than one hundred feet away from his bedroom window, approximately fifty feet from his property line, and it went on for four to five hours of straight live fire.
This particular resident informed Corporal Burman he was concerned not only for the close proximity to his house, but the typography of the property. He stated the property is mostly rock, maybe six inches or so of dirt and the thought of bullets ricocheting and hitting his house, or a car traveling along Rt. 171 made him very nervous. He said he is a retired, disabled Marine suffering from PTSD and hours of continuous firing have left him with nightmares. He said the militia has used this property a few times previously, and he spoke with staff at the Sheriffs office in Montrose to see what he would be able to do to stop this from happening.
Corporal Burman stated the first time he heard of anyone shooting on the property was when the Thompson Township Supervisors phoned and asked him to look into it. He said he went immediately to the site and spoke with the person in charge, who informed him they are a group of citizen protectors, who are pro-community, pro-law enforcement and they were there to do training exercises. Channel 4, a New York news station was also on site filming a news report on the Militia. Corporal Burman stated he looked into the group; they are not a “watched” group, and the spokesperson had a valid license to carry permit. He said they were on the property with permission, and they weren’t doing anything illegal.
The resident then informed Corporal Burman that he tried to get in touch with the landowner and he wasn’t able to contact her. Corporal Burman stated he spoke with the landowner and she was unaware this was going on at her property. She stated she rented out the property, and she would get in touch with the renter to have him cease allowing any further training sessions on the land. He suggested the township residents allow the owner some time to get this rectified. Corporal Burman advised residents that if something is happening, please contact the State Police immediately, and he commended the Supervisors for acting so quickly.
Sandy Boyle and Bill Kern from the Countryside Conservancy attended the meeting to speak about their organization. Mr. Kern stated Countryside Conservancy is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting lands and water in and near the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed for the public benefit now and the future. He stated they currently have no preserves in Susquehanna County, but they are there to help people conserve their land. Mr. Kern said they are currently working with one family who owns one hundred and fifty-two acres of land in Susquehanna County that wish to preserve their land, and if people in attendance know others who would like to preserve their property to have them get in touch with Countryside.
Normal business for the Township followed with a report from Supervisor Alex Komar stating the road crew has been out cleaning ditches and pipes. He said the generator has been installed and is working properly.
Susan Jenkins stated she would be attending a Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, Federal Emergency Management Agency meeting on March 5th in her role as the Emergency Management Coordinator for the Township.
Business hours for the Township office are changing to a new time so all residents would be able to contact the office. The office will be open on Monday and Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., a more convenient time for working residents.
The Liquid Fuels allotment for 2017 is sixty-one thousand, one hundred seventy-eight dollars and seven cents.
One resident asked for an update on a proposed incinerator in New Milford Township. Supervisor Komar stated it was definitely on hold due to the Department of Environmental Protection identifying some issues with the facility.
There are concerns about Township roads due to the strange weather patterns this winter. The roads have been freezing and thawing at a rapid pace, and Supervisor Komar said a lot of damage has been done during the thawing period. He asked everyone to have patience until they were able to repair the roads; he’s aware of the situation.
Secretary Kim Wallace informed everyone the Thompson Fire Company now has an ISO Rating at Level 5. She stated sometimes insurance companies would ask homeowners if they know what their fire department rating is for obtaining lower rates.
Supervisor Komar informed everyone that PennDOT refused to attend the meeting that evening, and was coming to the Township at 12:30 the next day, March 2nd along with State Representative Jonathan Fritz to discuss road conditions during snow and ice storms. Residents stated they had to work, and wouldn’t be able to voice their concerns. One resident stated plow trucks took down some mailboxes in the last storm. Supervisor Komar said he tried very hard, but PennDOT officials refused. He said who ever could attend the meeting, it would be held in the garage next to the office.
The next scheduled Supervisor’s meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 5th at 7:00 p.m.
