The Susquehanna Borough Council members convened for their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, March 14th despite the snow heavily falling.  Present at the meeting was Susquehanna Borough’s Solicitor, Michael Briechle and representing Delta Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors, Chris Maby.

Solicitor Briechle identified a potential liability for the Borough at the location of the street access to the Ira Reynolds Riverfront Park.  In order to reach the park, visitors would have to drive or walk on Exchange Street.  The road under the bridge is very narrow and cannot accommodate two cars and a sidewalk.  Solicitor Briechle said the Borough must provide a way to get people safely to the park.

Mr. Maby supplied drawings and cost information to Council providing different solutions to combat the park access problem.  The road under the bridge doesn’t conform to PennDot road standards and the only recourse would be to convert the two-way street under the tunnel into an alternating one-way roadway with a curb and a raised sidewalk.  The alternating one-way would be regulated by a video controlled traffic light, which is an expensive but needed option.

Best-case scenario presented by Mr. Maby is the alternating one-way road with two video controlled traffic indicators and lights; a ten-foot travel lane, two-foot shoulders, and a curb with a raised sidewalk five foot wide (ADA compliant) under the bridge.  Sidewalk with curbs and planting areas for trees and shrubs on both sides of the sidewalk continuing to the park entrance.  The road continuing past the sewer treatment plant, DPW site and looping around with parking areas to provide spaces for fifty-two cars.  Mr. Maby projected this cost to be approximately two point five million dollars.

Another scenario would be similar to the best case with eliminating curbs and planting areas on both sides of the sidewalk.  Mr. Maby projected this cost to be approximately six hundred thirty-one thousand dollars.  Both projects would be partially financed by a grant but the Borough’s portion would be an enormous amount.

Solicitor Briechle and Council President Roy Williams have also been in touch with the railroad to obtain a legal crossing, which could be very costly for the Borough and take up to five years to obtain a permit.  The objective is to provide a solution that would work upon the parks completion at the lowest possible price to the Borough.  Options to enhance the access would be available in the future if funding was obtainable.

During the public comment portion of the meeting a representative of the Susquehanna Community Development Association (SCDA) asked if the Borough could contribute to the 5k Race.  Council members motioned and unanimously approved a donation equivalent to last year.

Councilwoman Debra Zayas stated Council members have been receiving many complements on the consistent snow removal efforts of the Borough and she would like to say Council appreciates the fact the community recognizes the hard work of the Street Department.

President Williams reported they received a notification from the County offices stating there will be a Burn Ban in effect from March 15th through April 13th countywide.

Councilman Dana Rockwell informed Council that he would be participating once again in April in conjunction with the Great American Clean Up.  He said it is a long running program partnering with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful that encourages people to take pride in their environment.  There is information online if anyone wanted to obtain more knowledge of the program.  Councilman Rockwell said he plans on getting people together for the last weekend in April to clean up around the Starrucca Creek and maybe the Rail to Trail location.

Susquehanna Community High School will be conducting their spring event Pride and Polish on Friday, May 4th.  Council members will think of a place the high school children would be able to help clean up.

The Susquehanna Community Elementary School will be holding an Easter Egg Hunt on March 24th at 11:00 a.m. for children ages one to eight.

Hometown Days will be held July 18th through the 21st including a carnival, with the Parade slated for Friday, July 20th at 6:00 p.m.

American Legion will be holding their annual Memorial Day Parade and Dedication Ceremony on Monday, May 28th with the Parade starting at 11:00 a.m.

President Williams stated they received correspondence from the Tri Boro Municipal Authority regarding their recent rate increase.  The correspondence stated the increase from one hundred ten dollars per quarter to one hundred thirty dollars per quarter was necessary for multiple reasons.  Upgrades to the system and repairs have increased in cost and the Equivalent Dwelling Unit (EDU) have decreased from twelve hundred to nine hundred fifty units.

The Code Enforcement Report for February provided by President Williams contained nine Notice of Violations, seven Citations, and two rental applications.  Most of the violations were for snow removal.

Chief Creamer was out on a call during the meeting and was unavailable to provide the February Police Report to Council.

The planned Executive Session with Solicitor Briechle was cancelled due to inclement weather.

The part-time Secretary position is still open in Lanesboro after Bobbie Edwards determined she would accept the Tax Collector position and resign from the Secretary position President Dan Boughton stated during the regular monthly meeting held on March 13th.  Angelo Ventresca Associates have taken over all billing and payroll duties so the Secretary position will be strictly secretarial work.

The Tax Collector will be holding office hours at the Community Center for residents who would like to come in to pay their taxes.  President Boughton stated residents could also mail their taxes; hours are available for those who choose to pay in person.

A resident attended the meeting to inquire about an Assessment Permit to tear down their existing garage and rebuild one that would be extended in height.  The resident stated they currently have a twenty-two by thirty-two foot garage approximately seven foot high and would like to have a height of twelve feet.  He was in touch with the Council of Government (COG) office and they said he was not required to have a building permit based on the size of the garage.  Council members stated they didn’t think a permit would be possible since they were located in a floodplain.  The resident stated he is not required to have flood insurance since his house is above the floodplain but wasn’t sure if the garage is in the floodplain.  Council members informed the resident they would need to investigate whether or not he would be permitted to demolish and rebuild per the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regulations and will let him know the findings.

Chief Jim Smith provided the Monthly Police Report to Council for Lanesboro and Thompson Borough.  In Lanesboro there were a total of one hundred sixty-five hours with nineteen incidents, seven traffic citations and nine traffic warnings.  Thompson Borough consisted of seven and a half hours with four traffic arrests and four traffic warnings.

Next scheduled Council meeting is April 10th at 7:00 p.m.

Harrisburg, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue urges taxpayers and tax professionals to take extra precautions to protect their computer systems and data following recent reports of several tax-related scams. One new scam involves cyber criminals filing falsified tax returns and obtaining fraudulent tax refunds from taxpayers by posing as Internal Revenue Service officials and debt collectors. 

“Cyber criminals are always working to develop news schemes that will allow them to profit by stealing sensitive information from hard-working people,” Revenue Secretary Dan Hassell said. “This behavior is especially common early in the year when many taxpayers are preparing to file their tax returns. This is a good time for people to think about ways that they can protect themselves.”

Understanding the scam

The IRS recently issued a warning about the new scam. It starts when cyber criminals steal client data from tax professionals. The criminals are using that stolen data to file fraudulent tax returns in the name of identity theft victims.

Here’s the new twist: Rather than routing fraudulent tax refunds to a separate account, the criminals are directing the refunds to the taxpayers’ real bank accounts through direct deposit. They are using threatening phone calls to trick taxpayers into “returning” the refunds, but unsuspecting victims in some cases have forwarded the money to the criminals.  

In one version of the scam reported by the IRS, a taxpayer who received a fraudulent refund also received an automated call with a recording from a person who claimed to be from the IRS. The recording threatened the taxpayer with criminal fraud charges, an arrest warrant and a “blacklisting” of their social security number. The recording gave the taxpayer a case number and a telephone number to call to return the refund.

In another version of the scam, criminals posing as debt collection agency officials acting on behalf of the IRS contacted taxpayers to say a refund was deposited in their accounts in error. The criminals asked taxpayers to forward the money to the collection agency.

Tips to avoid tax identity theft scams

The Department of Revenue and the IRS encourage taxpayers and tax professionals to be keep the following tips in mind to safeguard against this scam and others:

• The Revenue Department and IRS will never call demanding immediate payment of past-due taxes. Do not give out personal information over the phone to unsolicited callers, even if the caller claims to be from the IRS or your bank. 
• Do not trust the number you see on your caller ID, even if it appears to be coming from the IRS. Scam artists increasingly use a technique known as spoofing to trick caller ID. 
• Make sure you are educated about phishing schemes, which involve fraudulent email messages that are designed to steal sensitive information, such as passwords, usernames or personal financial information.
• Never take an email from a familiar source at face value. If an email asks you to open a link or attachment, or includes a threat to close your account, think twice. If you have any doubts at all, go directly to the legitimate website and access your account there.
• Use strong, unique passwords. Use different passwords for each account. Use a mix of letters, numbers and special characters.
• Use security software to help defend against malware, viruses and known phishing sites. Elect to automatically update the software.
• If an email contains a link, hover your cursor over the link to see the web address (URL) destination. If it’s not a URL you recognize or if it’s an abbreviated URL, don’t open it.

Steps to follow if your identity was stolen

If you are a victim of identity theft or discover a fraudulent Pennsylvania personal income tax return was filed using your identity, please contact the Department of Revenue’s Fraud Investigation Unit at 717-772-9297 or RA-RVPITFRAUD@pa.gov. The unit is dedicated to assisting victims of identity theft and combating tax refund fraud.

For more information on the Department of Revenue, visit www.revenue.pa.gov, or visit the department’s Facebook page.