In Montrose, the first weekend in August means blueberry pie, blueberry buckle and even blueberry topped pizza served fresh and ready on the Village Green in Montrose, all slices of the annual Montrose Blueberry Festival.

Celebrating its 38th year, the festival also means quality used books, great music and handmade crafts, proceeds from which all go to benefiting an important part of the county, the Susquehanna County library system.

Singer songwriter Alex Creamer entertains the crowds at the 38th Annual Montrose Blueberry Festival Saturday, August 5th

Musician Alex Creamer, who entertained hundreds with her guitar and voice, has been attending the Blueberry Festival since she was little and has been performing there for years.

 “I’ve been coming here since I was little.  They asked me to play one year and they just kept asking me.  It’s fun.  I really like it,” said the 19-year-old Binghamton, N.Y., based singer songwriter.

“I love books, so a fundraiser for the library is a good idea.  It’s a good time.  It’s fun,” Creamer said.  Creamer will soon appear at New York City’s The Bitter End, September 3rd.

Another of the day’s entertainers was the Brackney String Band, which performed the traditional American song “Nail That Catfish To A Tree.”

Others visit the Blueberry Festival strictly for the blueberries.

Eli Youmans and Krista Hallett, both 16 and of Montrose, pose with their newly purchased Santa Claus hats during the 38th annual Montrose Blueberry Festival

Half off of 25 cents means twelve and a half cents and that’s how much the Santa Claus hats 16-year-old Krista Hallett and her friend Eli Youmans, also 16, were wearing cost.  Both are from Montrose and work at Camp Montrose.

Asked why she and her friend were wearing Santa Claus hats in August on the Montrose Town Green, Hallett said, giggling through her explanation, that she needed them for a family holiday photo which had already been taken.  The two then exchanged furtive glances and broke into laughter, as if to acknowledge how this made absolutely no sense.  

Hallett visited the Blueberry Festival, “ ‘cause I love blueberries and I asked him if he wanted a ride,” she explained, still giggling.

Tina Aston runs the hectic food stand for the Bridgewater Church which sells blueberry buckle, blueberry pies, blueberry ice cream – and a lot of it.  Aston said the stand runs out of buckle every year.  The desserts are made by local churches.  Other blueberry specialties available at the festival are blueberry muffins and, of course, blueberry pizza.

“We even have blueberry pizza, which might sound horrible.  It’s a cheese pizza with blueberries on top,” said librarian Sue Stone.

Rebekah Ball and Hannah Aston, both of Montrose, rush to keep up with orders for blueberry pies and buckle during the 38th Annual Montrose Blueberry Festival

Other popular stops include the snack bar run by the Montrose Area High School Band-Aides, the used book tent and White Elephant Sale.

This year’s festival also celebrates the June opening of the county’s new $4 million library at 458 High School Road in Montrose.

The library’s move from its familiar location on the Town Green out to Montrose High School is a melancholy but necessary move for Stone, who has worked for the library system since the 1970s. The county historical society, which shared the building with the library, will stay.

“I grew up in that building and I loved it,” Stone said.  The Blueberry Festival, Stone explained, is the biggest public financial contributor to the county library system and its 27 employees.

“The support of this community is tremendous,” Stone said, acknowledging that in two days the festival brings in about $70,000.

State aid helps too, but has dropped about 30 percent since 2009 from a high of about $300,000.

“We’ve struggled since 2009.  I’m not unsympathetic.  I understand the problems with the state,” Stone said

Despite the looming financial pressures on the library, Stone says she always looks forward to the Blueberry Festival.

“It’s always a heartwarming weekend for me because we see what kind of people we have in this county; they’re truly awesome,” she said.

One Susquehanna Borough Council member will not be seeking another term in office for 2018, and another one will not seek another term in 2019 stated Councilman Roy Williams.  He said over the years it has been very difficult recruiting men and women who are willing to run for office during Councils meeting on August 9th.  The people currently on Council have worked well together to move the Borough towards goals they have set. “It’s hard to find active people able to work together towards a common goal,” stated Councilman Williams so he is suggesting they petition to reduce the number of Council members from seven to five. 

Mayor Nancy Hurley stated she thought it was a good idea, since there has been a lack of interest over the years to serve on Borough Council.  Council discussed the subject for a few moments, since the proposal was brought before Council at a prior meeting and was rejected.

Council motioned and unanimously agreed to start the process needed to complete the reduction of Council members.  The first step of the process is to obtain five percent of registered voter signatures on a petition.  Once completed, the Susquehanna Depot Borough Solicitor, Michael Briechle will present it before the Court of Common Pleas.

Robert Burns, from Boy Scout Troop 81 in Susquehanna attended the meeting to inquire whether or not Council had something in mind he could do for his Eagle Project.  He stated he was having a hard time finding one that would benefit the community and show leadership skills.

Council President Joe Varsik asked if he would be interested in doing something for the new Ira Reynolds Riverfront Park, and Robert replied he would be very interested since he knew Mr. Reynolds and attended his funeral.

President Varsik and Council members discussed topics that would benefit the park, which Master Burns would be able to do, and fit within his project guidelines.  It was suggested he put together a history of Ira Reynolds to be placed on a plaque in the park, or maybe several plaques throughout the trail providing a chronological history of the man.

Councilman Dana Rockwell stated Master Burns could approach the Boy Scouts of America and other organizations to raise funds for the plaques.  He said he would give him the name of the company who did the plaque in Lanesboro. Councilman Rockwell suggested he work with Councilman Williams and Judith Herschel after the Boy Scouts approved the project and his history write up was complete.

The roadwork DPW has been conducting with the Dura Patcher was to be completed on Thursday, August 10th and they will return the rented equipment soon afterward reported Councilman Williams.  He stated the streets are in much better shape than a month ago.

Two bids to remove a tree located at 106 Washington Street were opened and reviewed by Council.  The company who supplied the lowest bid was Out On A Limb and the bid was unanimously accepted.

One bid was received for a drainage project on Front Street by CB Excavating and Logging, LLC.  When questioned how Council would pay for the service, Councilman Williams stated a grant program for bank stabilization and drainage provided funding.  Council unanimously accepted the bid.

New Enterprise Stone and Lime Company provided the only bid to mill and pave Erie Avenue.  Councilman Williams informed Council approximately thirteen hundred feet of the road would be milled and paved.  Council unanimously accepted the bid.

Mayor Hurley stated National Night Out, on August 1st was very successful.  She said Susquehanna and Lanesboro joined forces to make it a special night for the community.  Mayor Hurley thanked everyone who donated items, Councilman Williams for cooking the hot dogs and the Police Officers for their service.  She said she received very positive feedback from the community.  Council members stated it was a lovely event and they also received positive feedback.

The Police Report submitted by Chief Creamer included ninety various incidents recorded in the month of July.  President Varsik stated he spoke with Chief Creamer and the new officer has been doing very well, which gives Chief Creamer more time to work on his reporting.

There was an incident with a prisoner and one of the Police vehicles recently which brought up a need to have security bars installed in both rear windows of the Police vehicles.  Council unanimously approved obtaining quotes to install the bars in the cars.

The Code Enforcement Report provided by Councilman Williams reported there were ten Notice of Violations given in the month of July.  Councilman Williams informed Council he would be speaking with the Magistrate regarding repeat offenders, and explore different options.  The current system takes a great deal of time, and sometimes the outcome is frustrating. 

It was reported the Ground Breaking Ceremony for the Ira Reynolds Riverfront Park held on July 13th was very well attended.  State Representative Lisa Baker attended and Judith Herschel was the head of the ceremony.  Council members thanked Councilman Williams and Secretary Margaret Biegert for getting the project off the ground and obtaining the grant.  Councilman Williams replied with a thank you to Council for supporting the project and sticking together.

President Varsik stated they received correspondence from Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs (PSAB) providing information on a Junior Council Program.  Included in the correspondence was a CD of the program, and PSAB is encouraging Borough Councils to support this program in their respective areas.  The program can also be view on the PSAB website under Junior Council Program at www.boroughs.org.

Councilman Williams provided an update on the progress of two installations.  He stated the general install on the new generator was completed, the electrical work is done and all they have to do is run the pipe and connect the generator.  The Community Board installation will be August 17th.

There is a No Smoking Policy in effect that states no smoking within fifty feet of the Borough building, which isn’t obeyed, stated Councilman Williams.  He stated he would like to look into obtaining four signs with different language instead of just No Smoking.  Council members made suggestions of various signs placed at other facilities.

Another sign suggested would be to identify the location of the Police Department within the building.  Councilman Williams will look to see what signs would best serve this purpose.

Councilman Rockwell stated he would like to thank American Legion Post 86 and the Susquehanna Community Development Association for their assistance in the second annual North Branch River Festival, which was a success the weekend of August 5th and 6th.

They’ve been hemming and hawing over the matter for several months.  At their August meeting on the 8th (a week earlier than usual), the Harford Township Supervisors finally decided to purchase a 2-axle 4-wheel-drive Peterbilt truck chassis from Pocono Peterbilt for $115,185.  The truck will be used for heavy work, like plowing snow.  Because its other responsibilities are yet to be precisely defined, the Supervisors put off (for another month) decisions on how to “up-fit” it, probably by a different vendor.

Another major purchase that has been hanging fire for some time is where to get a supply of state-certified DSA (driving surface aggregate) for the roads.  They want 20,000 tons but the only supplier to bid thus far is located in Deposit, New York, so trucking costs would be out of sight.  This time they received a bid from Popple Construction, with a plant in New Milford, for $9 per ton FOB, or $16.07 per ton delivered to the job site.  DSA must be laid down with a paving machine, so timely delivery to the work site is important.  The Supervisors accepted the bid from Popple, but will leave it up to Roadmaster Jim Phelps to decide as needed whether the vendor will handle the hauling, or whether the township can get a better deal by hiring an independent trucking outfit, generally at about $75 per hour.  A typical truckload would be about 20-22 tons.

Supervisor Doug Phelps reported that discussions are continuing concerning what to do about the intersection of Plank Road with U.S. Route 11.  Supervisor Dustin Walker said that one contractor quoted a price of about $440,000 for the work as currently defined.  The Supervisors may be able to decide what to do next month.  The cost is expected to be shared between the township, the state department of transportation (PennDOT – U.S. 11 belongs to them) and the quarry operators and gas companies that place the heaviest burden on the intersection.

If you’re waiting for the township to mow the verges of your road, the township first has to fix its boom mower and associated equipment.

The Supervisors will be soliciting bids for bulldozer services – machine and operator – to put down asphalt millings scooped up by PennDOT and made available to local municipalities.  The bids will presumably offer services by the hour; the township will determine the stretches to be “paved” as the work progresses and materials are available.

Roadmaster Jim Phelps has asked to be able to purchase bagged calcium chloride for dust control by the pallet.  Supervisor Sue Furney said that she prefers the liquid already mixed.  They will make a decision once they hear from Mr. Phelps just how much he wants.

The process of getting the sewer system renovations under way continues at its typically slow bureaucratic pace.  The township will need to meet with state Department of Environmental Protection to discuss the permit application necessary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) loan to be finalized.  And the state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) grant for ancillary equipment, including a supply of new pumps, is awaiting specifications from the engineers before soliciting bids and receiving funding through the county.

The Supervisors also considered a collection of routine driveway and assessment permits and subdivisions.  Williams Oil was accorded another collection of road-crossing permits for their pipelines.

Mr. Walker reported that he had photographed the collection of garbage/trash bags on the porch of the house in Harford village that has been the subject of numerous complaints.  The pictures have been sent to the township’s solicitor to help try to figure out “what we can do.”  The lawyers have sent at least one letter to the property’s owner with no obvious resolution so far.

The next public meeting of the Harford Township Supervisors is scheduled for the 3rd Tuesday of September – that would be on the 19th – beginning at 7:00pm at the Township office on Route 547.

Authors Note: This reporter did not attend the meeting.  The story is derived from an audio recording kindly provided by Harford Township Secretary Carolyn Jennings.

Susquehanna County Commissioners Chairman Alan M. Hall gave an update on recent progress towards obtaining state and federal funds for a new 911 center.

The county’s former 911 center and Probation department were destroyed by flooding in July by extremely heavy rains.  The storm caused millions of dollars of damage throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The county is seeking about $3 million in emergency funds, Hall said.  Hall said that local representatives have signed a letter of support for a grant for local funding to help repair the damage.  The funding request should be included in the state budget and presented to Governor Wolf for signing.

Hall said the county was still assessing whether it would qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency monies but was confident that the county qualified for county level assistance.

“We’re still assessing throughout the county the damages from the storm to see if we’ll qualify for FEMA assistance,” Hall said.

“I think countywide we can make the threshold,” Hall said.