According to the bill list presented at the Supervisors’ meeting on October 17th, Harford Township spent more than $135,000 directly on its roads in September.  Of that, about $73,600 was put into Lower Podunk road, reimbursable by the county Conservation District.  Most of the rest came from the “impact fee” account, revenue distributed by the state from natural gas operations under Act 13 of 2012.  The treasurer’s report shows a remaining balance in the impact fee account of over $381,000.

Some of that balance will go for gabian stone to repair a ditch on Wolf Lake Road; the Supervisors thought that approach would work better than using cheaper quarry fill.  The township uses impact fee money for major road renovation projects using contractors, as well as to make up shortfalls in its own budget, as in this case, where the line item for “miscellaneous stone” was nearly expended for the year.

The Supervisors accepted a bid from Chemung Supply to install a guard rail on Cobb Road for $5,188.20, half of which will be reimbursed by Claverack Rural Electric Cooperative.  And they accepted a bid from Old School Tree Service at $175 per hour for tree clearing as needed to open up some roadways to help minimize ice formation and expedite surface drying.

The township received a quote from ProSeal to install a 20-by-40-foot blacktop apron at the intersection of Orphan School Road and State Route 547 in the amount of $11,750.  The Supervisors decided to postpone that project until next Spring.  Another project on Dibble Road that Roadmaster Jim Phelps said “would take some time,” is also put off until next year.

The intersection of Plank Road with U.S. Route 11 has been under discussion for some time.  While there have been no known complaints about it, the heavily used junction has caused some erosion and accumulation of dust.  There are 5 entities involved in the discussions: Harford Township; the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) which owns Route 11; the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP); Lopke Rock Products, which has a quarry in the area; and Southwestern Energy, a natural gas production company.  The most recent development is that Southwestern has offered to route its trucks so that they use Plank Road only uphill, one-way, as their contribution to the mitigation of the issue.  Discussions continue.

The Supervisors accepted the quote of $56,130 from John Bonham Equipment and Supply of Honesdale for “up-fitting” the new truck.  Since the truck chassis and cab won’t be available until November, the work won’t be complete until sometime early next year.  The Supervisors added a number of options to the package, including a “tarp system,” for which the quoted price still needs to be clarified.

The Supervisors signed the annual contract with the Harford Volunteer Fire Company.  Under the contract the fire company promises to put out fires, and the township promises to collect 1 mill in property taxes for the firemen.  As it happens, the township forwarded $31,389.17 in property tax revenue to the fire company in September.  The township also paid just over $9,000 into the fire company’s relief fund.

The Supervisors had scheduled 2 meetings in October to develop a budget for next year; the second meeting was to be on the 24th.  Instead, they finished the preliminary spending plan the afternoon before the regular October meeting.  It will be formally presented to the public at the November meeting, on the 21st.

The new budget doesn’t call for any increase in tax rates.  While expenditures from the township budget are expected to be somewhat higher next year, by about $20,000, the excess will be drawn from surplus at the end of this year, projected to be about $325,000.  The greatest increases seem to be for various types of insurance, especially health insurance coverage for township employees.

Harford Township keeps track of the money it receives from the impact fee separately.  For 2018 the Supervisors are planning to spend more than $300,000 more from those funds than for 2017, an increase of more than 200%.

While operational expenses for the sewer system are not expected to rise next year, rate payers will be assessed an additional $25 per quarter to help pay for the $2 million renovation project that is planned for next year.

And, at the tail end of the meeting, chairman Doug Phelps announced that he had been completely exonerated by the State Ethics Commission.  An investigation stemming from a charge by Dale Ferger about a year ago involved examination of records and a series of interviews.  Mr. Ferger was suspicious that, because Mr. Phelps is employed by the Mountain View School District whose Board of Directors is chaired by contractor Michael Barhite, Mr. Phelps’s decisions to hire Barhite Excavating for road work in the township constituted a conflict of interest.  According to Mr. Phelps, the letter from the Ethics Commission closed the matter by finding nothing of interest.

Mr. Phelps also announced that an executive session with the township’s solicitor, Jamie Hailstone, would take place immediately following the public meeting, to discuss sewer issues with the DEP.

The Harford Township Supervisors meet in public session on the third Tuesday of each month beginning at 7:00pm at the township office on Route 547.

At their meeting on October 18th, the New Milford Township Supervisors entertained a presentation by a representative of a communications service provider called Zito Media that wants to offer broadband internet, video and phone service in the New Milford area.  Township Secretary Julene Graham said that the company would be using fiber from the Wysox area to support the new service.

Colin Higgin asked the Supervisors to sign a “franchise agreement” that would allow the company to offer the service to residents.  In exchange, the township office would get free access to Zito’s network.  Zito Media is the successor to Adelphia Communications, once a high-flying pioneer in the cable industry, and is based at Adelphia’s elaborate headquarters in Coundersport in remote Potter County, PA.  The company is growing, with operations in many locations around the country.  The Supervisors will ask their solicitor to review the agreement before taking further action.

The Route 11 corridor in the New Milford area is now served variously by Adams Cable, NEP and Frontier Communications.  Asked whether Zito would offer the service to the Blue Ridge School District, Mr. Higgin said that the schools are already provided with communications through the state’s E-Rate program.

In natural gas activities, Williams Oil is applying for an Erosion and Sediment Control General Permit (ESCGP) to extend a pipeline in the Alford area.  Southwestern Energy is applying for an ESCGP for the Scott pad on Three Lakes Road.

The township offices will be closed on November 23, 24, and 27, and December 22, 25 and 26.  The Supervisors will reorganize themselves on Tuesday, January 2, 2018 at 7:00pm and will conduct their January meeting immediately following.  The office will also be closed on Election Day, November 7, since the meeting room is used as a polling place.

The Supervisors also heard from Bill Friedah, a director of the Page Lake Owners association on some further analysis of the feasibility of providing sewer service to the lake via the New Milford Municipal Authority (NMMA).  He said that he had attended a recent meeting of the authority, but since there was no quorum, it was an informational session only.

            Mr. Friedah offered the following points:

• The NMMA would probably not contribute any funding or other direct support.
  
  
• The operational cost per equivalent domestic unit (EDU – a residence) would likely be between $48 and $62 per month. 
  
  
• Mr. Friedah would like the authority to consider metered billing since many of the cottages at the lake are seasonal only.
  
  
• Each property would probably require customized analysis and installation; for example, some of the properties don’t even have wells.
  
  
• Construction would probably cost upwards of $4.1 million, a fair chunk of which would be for permits and other overhead; “Permits may be a huge effort,” said Mr. Friedah.  The Supervisors noted the complexity of the route up Route 492, including the presence of several pipelines.
  
  
• The association is looking into the availability of grants to help with the cost.  Grants might be expected to pick up more than about 45% of the total cost.
  
  
• The project could take more than 3 years to complete.  There’s a “long way to go,” said Mr. Friedah.
  
  
• Mr. Fiedah suggested that a single sewer authority might make more sense, consolidating the New Milford Municipal Authority with the Hallstead-Great Bend Joint Sewer Authority.

Mr. Friedah said that if further analysis indicated that the cost per EDU would not be feasible, the project would probably be abandoned.  Supervisor Don Shibley said that the township will be consulting with their attorney as the process develops.

The next public meeting of the New Milford Township Supervisors is scheduled for Wednesday, November 15, 2017 beginning at 7:30pm at the township building on U.S. Route 11 north of the Borough.

In honor of October being recognized as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, The Community Foundation of the Endless Mountains is pleased to announce that the Vicki Clary Fund for the Prevention of Domestic Violence has provided a grant to the Women’s Resource Center to support its Susquehanna County office.

Vicki Clary

Vicki Clary lived in Bridgewater Township and was killed by her estranged husband in 1999.  In 2004 her friends established this permanent endowment in her honor to assist with the work of the Women’s Resource Center.  Additional donations to the endowment are always welcome and can be sent to: The Community Foundation, 270 Lake Avenue, Montrose, PA 18801; or made online at www.community-foundation.org.

The Women’s Resource Center serves Lackawanna and Susquehanna Counties with the goal of ending domestic and sexual violence through advocacy, education, and social change.  Their services include crisis intervention, safe housing, legal support, and counseling.  More information can be learned at www.wrcnepa.org.

On Monday, October 16th, Wayne Memorial Hospital officially opened a Laboratory Services site at 3202 Lake Ariel Highway (Route 191 South), Honesdale.  The new center, approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, will be the eighth satellite office of laboratory services offered by the hospital and the second one in Honesdale.

“We are pleased to open another laboratory services center in Honesdale,” said James Hockenbury, director Ancillary Services. “It was precipitated partly by an increase in volume at our other site on Route 6, which points to a great need, and partly by our current construction project at the hospital. We are encouraging patients to avoid the construction areas by using more of our ancillary sites.”

The new site is open for blood draws and other laboratory services Monday to Friday, 6:30am – 1pm. Walk-ins welcome. The phone number is 570-253-2437. Wayne Memorial accepts most insurance plans and public assistance.

The hospital offers outpatient services, such as laboratory services, x-rays, EKGs, pulmonary function testing, ultrasounds and mammograms at its main campus at 601 Park Street, Honesdale, and at additional locations in Honesdale, Hamlin, Carbondale, Waymart, Tafton, Lords Valley and Forest City. Blood-draw services are also offered at the Northern Wayne Family Health Center in Lake Como through the hospital’s clinical affiliate, Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers. For more information about Wayne Memorial ancillary sites and services, visit www.wmh.org

Fire departments, schools, parks and townships are a few of the 35 Pennsylvania organizations that will receive $292,834 in funding this spring from Williams through its bi-annual community grant program. The total includes $15,000 that will be distributed to organizations in Susquehanna County.

One of the recipients is Hop Bottom Borough, which will use a grant for $5,000 to purchase radios for the Borough police department.

“Hop Bottom Borough is currently upgrading all of our Borough Police equipment,” said Councilman Tim Hortman. “Since our operating budgets are tight, these Williams grant dollars will go a long way towards improving our police equipment, which will help keep our officers safe. We are very grateful for the company’s support.”

Grants up to $10,000 per applicant are being awarded by Williams to eligible organizations in communities where the proposed Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project would be constructed and operated. Today’s announcement represents the sixth grant award cycle since the program was initiated in 2015. Since then, Williams has announced total awards of more than $2 million across the entire Atlantic Sunrise project area, including $74,750 in Susquehanna County.

Two cycles of Atlantic Sunrise grant awards are announced each year (spring and fall). This cycle’s grant dollars were dispersed in the following broad categories: emergency response ($169,500), education ($59,000) and recreation or community enhancement projects ($64,334).

Grant applications can be completed online at www.williams.com/atlanticsunrise.  Applications must be received by March 1 and September 1.

Susquehanna County Grant Award Recipients: $5,000.00 to Hop Bottom Borough, for Vehicle Radios and Portable Radios; $10,000.00 to Susquehanna Fire Department, Inc., for New Ambulance Litter.