Mayor Scott Smith presented to Amanda Roth and Heidi Fitch a Distinguished Service Award, on behalf of the Mayor's office and the New Milford Borough Council at the meeting held on April 5th.

During the severe nor'easter snowstorm that hit the area on March 2nd, Route 81 was closed.  Ms. Roth and Ms. Fitch went above and beyond helping people that were stranded during the storm.  Both ladies work at Hinds HoMart in New Milford, which is right off the entrance and exit ramp of Route 81.

Pictured (l-r) are: Amanda Roth, Mayor Scott Smith, Heidi Fitch

Ms. Roth and Ms. Fitch graciously and modestly accepted the award. Mayor Smith said a good job does not go unnoticed, and he and Council would like to express their thanks for their kindness and caring for people stranded.  He said by their actions people will remember and speak about New Milford in a positive way.

Councilwoman Donna Cosmello delivered the Codes Enforcement Report, and informed Council the Codes Enforcement Officer almost completed reviewing the 2012 International Property Maintenance Code.  Other property updates were also provided.  Councilwoman Teri Gulick reminded Council to conduct their review of the proposed Zoning Ordinance.

Council President Rick Ainey stated the roads in the Borough are in rough shape.  He said only three streets out of fifteen do not have potholes.  Councilman Lawrence White said they have a plan and will start filling the potholes as soon as possible.  He stated he would be meeting with Jim Garner from the Susquehanna County Conservation District to review the grant application of the Dirt, Gravel and Low Volume Road for Johnston Street.

Complaints were given to Council President Ainey about PennDOT plowing Main Street and cutting into the property of the residents.  Council discussed for a few moments the conditions of the roads and the hazards of plowing.

Council members are extremely concerned about the structural integrity of the embankment and the bridge the railroad uses.  After a few minutes discussing the hazard all agreed something needed to be done quickly, before a disastrous event occurred.

Councilman White stated he has a person who needs to do forty hours of community service, and all Council members agreed it was best served cleaning up the park.  The dugouts in the park will be inspected by Councilman Chad Drumm to see if any work is needed before the upcoming season.

Secretary Amy Heine reported approximately three hundred and fifty dollars was received for the park project in memory of Phil Hari.  Council President Ainey asked what type of project was planned, and Ms. Heine said they had a few options in mind and it will be decided once they know how much money they have in donations.  Council members stated the Borough would also make a donation towards the item once it was chosen.

Amid the customary cacophony of a Great Bend Borough Council meeting on April 5th, the seven councilmen and their mayor managed to decide on paving all or part of some of the small town's streets, and to borrow to pay for the project.  The work may begin as early as May, but won't include the renovation of the intersections of the town's side streets with Main Street, the state route known as U.S. Route 11.

Council awarded the contract to the low bidder, New Enterprise Stone and Lime, for $67,394.35.  The final cost might actually be a bit higher, since the bid only included part of Maple Street, and the consensus was that the full length of Maple Street really needs to be done.  The other streets in the project are Tannery, Hayes and a couple blocks of Elizabeth Street.

Since the Borough doesn't have the money for the project, Council will have to solicit bids for interest rates on a loan.  Borough Secretary Sheila Guinan said that the Borough currently has no debt.

The other bid, from Vestal Asphalt, was almost 3 times as high, at over $189,000, probably because they would use a different material.  The winning bidder will use a machine to lay down the asphalt, along with asphalt curbing.  Neither of the bids included intersections with Main Street presumably because working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT, responsible for U.S. Route 11) would present too many difficulties.

PennDOT has also been a roadblock (no pun intended) in the town's frustrating and years-long effort to control the flow of water off the Interstate.  Council has never been able to get any satisfaction from the state on the small "trickle" that can become a torrent in a heavy storm.  One assessment referred to the stream as an "unnamed fishery," of all things, and therefore a matter for the Department of Environmental Protection.  To the town, it is simply a dangerous nuisance.  PennDOT seems to think it's a Federal problem, since I-81 is a Federal highway, while the Feds think it's a state problem; and both seem to think the stream is the town's problem.

Now there may be some movement on the issue.  County Commissioner Alan Hall appeared at the session to ask for Council's participation at a meeting on transportation issues in Towanda the following Tuesday.  He said that several of the state's high-ranking officials would be in attendance at a forum that offered an opportunity for a hearing on Great Bend's problem.

Mr. Hall said that original plans for the reconstruction of the Interstate in the Great Bend area are changing, with reconfiguration of the lanes still in flux, presumably another issue up for discussion the following week in Towanda.

Mr. Hall also appeared as a long-time supporter of local Little League organizations.  He was there with Karen Gudykunst, a member of the Little League board of directors, to resolve some issues with maintenance of the ballfield at VFW Memorial Park.  On behalf of her organization, Ms. Gudykunst accepted responsibility for maintaining the concession stand building and rest rooms, along with the playing area inside the outfield fence.  It was agreed that the fence itself would be underlaid with mulch in order to minimize the need for trimming.  (Ms. Guinan was asked to contact RHL, the company accumulating mountains of mulch from pipeline construction activities.)  The Borough will be responsible for mowing outside the fence, since the park is also used for parties and picnics.  Ms. Guinan asked Ms. Gudykunst for a schedule so that residents using the park will know that, for example, picnics using the pavilion will not be considered food venues for people attending Little League games.

Mr. Hall also suggested that the other outbuilding might be rebuilt as a storage facility for the Little League, if the Borough is not currently using it for other purposes.

Police chief Jon Record reported a quiet month of March in the Borough.  His department billed 40.5 hours for Great Bend, and another 41 hours contracted out to New Milford.

Mr. Record, and one of his officers, Katie Vennie, showed Council a new opioid overdose kit provided by Lackawanna County through a grant that includes the anti-overdose drug Naloxone (also known as Narcan).  He also noted damage to one of two benches outside the Borough building dedicated to the memory of deceased officers.

The bench appears to have been hit by a plow clearing snow from the concrete pad outside the main door.  The bench will be repaired, but there was some discussion about finding better places for the bluestone benches, as well as how best to clear the pad by the building's doors.

There followed a lengthy debate/discussion about one of the town's two garages.  No one seemed clear about what the newer, smaller garage was currently being used for, if anything, and whether it might be retrofitted with a concrete floor and electricity (such work requiring a building permit?).  It seems the larger garage is so crammed now with 2 police cars, the town truck and mower, and other equipment that there is hardly room to wash the cars, so that officers often take their vehicles to the carwash in the plaza at their own expense.  The secondary building is not heated and thus not satisfactory for storing some types of equipment.  Mayor Jim Riecke seemed exasperated that the town had put up a new building that wasn't being used.

Councilman Jerry MacConnell is interested in legislation in Harrisburg that promises to give local police departments the authority to use radar to monitor speed on their roads.  Mr. Record told him that a radar unit would cost about $3,000, and all of his officers would have to receive training and certification.

Council is studying catalogs with an eye to replacing the playground equipment in Memorial Park in the center of town.  The high expense will be a factor in considering to buy equipment to replace the facilities that date from the early 1990's.

Council agreed to donate $100 to support the Summer Adventures program sponsored by Blue Ridge Recreation.

Ms. Guinan reported that the (still unnamed) codes enforcement officer from New Milford who is studying the Borough's documents is making progress.  Among other things, the Borough has been trying to find out how they might condemn a decrepit building.  It seems that, without zoning or a proper property code, condemnation might not be possible.  There are international standards for such things, which will become part of the study.

And Bret Jennings, Great Bend's representative to the Hallstead Great Bend Joint Sewer Authority (HGBJSA), reported that the sewer authority is considering the installation of generators to keep the system running during power outages, events that can be costly to the system.  The authority is hoping to find grant money to pay for the project.

The Great Bend Borough Council meets in public session on the first Thursday of each month, beginning at 7:00pm at the Borough Building (aka the Blue Ridge Senior Center) on Elizabeth Street behind the Methodist church.

Thompson Township Supervisors opened received bids during their regularly scheduled meeting on April 4th.  Requested material was 2B Stone, 2A Modified, 2RC Modified, Three Quarter Minus, #3 Stone and #57 Stone.  Companies who provided bids on these products were Bill Pykus Excavating Inc. and F. S. Lopke Contracting Inc. Supervisors unanimously approved accepting both bids.

Calcium bid was awarded to Bradco Supply Company, the only company bidding on the product.  Cinders bid was awarded to Cottrell Excavating Company LLC as the low bidder.  Additional cinder bidders were Al Romanski and Brown Farms Enterprise.

Dump trucks, excavators, wheel loaders, track loaders, pavers, bull dozers, and skid steer equipment was bid on by Barhite Excavating, Robert Salansky, Warren Stone, Bill Pykus Excavating Inc., Tompkins Enterprise and Bradco Supply Company.  Bradco Supply Company bid was not accepted since they supplied a bid for equipment only with no operators.  Barhite Excavating, Robert Salansky, Warren Stone and Bill Pykus bids were accepted.

The Supervisors unanimously adopted a Resolution stating a returned check fee will be determined by the fee schedule of the bank.

Supervisor Alex Komar stated the Road Crew was busy plowing, cindering the roads and fixing equipment.

Supervisor Rick Wademan reported the Planning Commission approved the Bucks subdivision.

Supervisor Susan Jenkins reported she was working to complete the work required for the Emergency Management Agency.  The paperwork required by the township for the Hazard Mitigation Plan Susquehanna County was updating was turned in.

One permit was issued during the month of March for a shed awning.

The next Supervisor's meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 2nd at 7:00 p.m.