News

July 18, 2007

Larksville advised not to pay for landfill fence

KRISTEN GAYDOS Times Leader Correspondent

LARKSVILLE — The borough representative for the West Side Landfill Authority has advised borough officials to “do nothing” in regards to repairing the fence at the landfill.

At Tuesday’s borough council meeting, Al Long, the authority representative for Larksville, advised the council that it should not take part in the suggested plan of each borough making a donation to fix the fence that surrounds the landfill in Plymouth Township, on Keating Street.

The fence has been breached in several areas, and there have been problems with illegal dumping and ATV riders trespassing on the property. The state Department of Environmental Protection closed down the landfill in 1989, and the agency has spent $1.3 million to shut it down since 1994.

Long said he felt any problems at the landfill should be handled by the authority and DEP and the boroughs should not have to pay.

The suggestion that the 12 boroughs that have representatives on the authority should each donate $100 for repairs to the fence was made at an informal meeting of the authority on June 25. Six of the representatives attended the meeting and agreed on the donation.

Larksville, Courtdale, Forty Fort, Edwardsville, Luzerne, Kingston, Plymouth Township, Plymouth, Pringle, Swoyersville, Wyoming and West Wyoming created the landfill for municipal trash. Long said the authority is the current owner of the landfill.

Council Vice President John Pekarovsky agreed with Long, saying not contributing to the fence repair seems the best course of action at this time.

In other business:

• Mayor William Jenkins reported the police department issued 40 traffic citations. He said police are continuing their attempts to stop speeders on borough streets.

• Fire Chief Andy Kachmar said the fire department has received a disappointing response to the mail campaign for donations. He said the department sent out 1,824 mailings and received back only 679, about one-third.

• The borough is still having problems with garbage pickup. The council voted to invite a representative from J.P. Mascaro to the August council meeting to discuss the problem. The council will keep a log of complaints from residents if they provide their name and address. If they do not wish to give this information, they will be directed to call Mascaro directly.

• The borough hired Jeffery Gibson as a part-time police officer.

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