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City resident wants to buy Iron Triangle lots
WILKES-BARRE – Ben Walker has waited 21 years to build his house.
Walker, 51, a retired state trooper, lives on Pearl Street and in 1990 he purchased two lots at the corner of Hickory Street and Columbus Avenue in the city’s Iron Triangle section.
Walker paid $8,000 for the lots, but the company he bought them from – Blue Ridge Construction – went bankrupt, according to Walker’s attorney, David Schwager.
The building lots, located behind the Turkey Hill store near Hazle Avenue, were eventually sold to the city by the bankrupt developer for $300 per lot.
At City Council’s work session Tuesday night, Walker, through his attorney, asked to purchase the lots at the same price.
“We are very encouraged by council’s consideration of our request,” Schwager said.
Council will consider the request at its meeting tonight.
Rice Township hires adviser for cop pension
RICE TWP. The supervisors voted Tuesday night to approve Merrill Lynch financial adviser Rob Roland as manager of the police pension fund.
Supervisors said the change would save the township a considerable amount of money in fees alone. The pension fund is close to $500,000 but had lost $91,376, which the township had to replace.
Roland will reduce the fees by more than half of what the township was paying because Principal Financial Group was charging 5 percent in fees, officials said. The township will now pay 1.5 to 2 percent. There will also be quarterly and annual reviews of the fund with the supervisors.
Don Armstrong, the newly appointed township secretary/treasurer, gave a financial overview for the first two months of 2011 and said he uncovered mistakes from the past that could be potentially costly.
Former Secretary/Treasurer Marcia Thomas has filed a lawsuit against the township after she was replaced in January.
Some Forty Fort sewer lines seen as not so bad
FORTY FORT – Borough Engineer Dave Yefko told the Borough Council on Monday night the municipality might not need to undertake the major sewer replacement project it had expected.
Inspections of some sewer line footage by video showed the line to be in better shape than thought, Yefko said.
But further investigation may reveal other problems, he added.
“Thus far, contractor video of the affected line has been partially completed with only a very small percentage appearing to need replacement or restoration,” Yefko said.
He said replacement of manholes on Wyoming Avenue has been completed.
However, the remaining resurfacing work has been delayed because of the inclement weather.
At a special meeting on Dec. 31, council approved a new $1.51 million budget that more than tripled sewer fees to help pay for repairs to the borough’s crumbling sewer lines.
Plymouth hears road, garbage complaints
PLYMOUTH – Council fielded some resident complaints at Tuesday night’s regular monthly meeting.
Bob Meyers of Cambria Street said the roadway is in deplorable condition and is in dire need of paving.
Meyers also said some residents who live on the street don’t keep up their homes and are allowing garbage to pile up in their yards.
Council needs to address the issues before they get any worse, he said.
“There’s basically no road anymore,” said Meyers. “It’s all holes and dirt.”
Borough Coordinator Joe Mazur said he is aware of the bad condition of the street and will try to get it repaved later this year. Council has about 12 roads to pave this year as apart of an ongoing paving project, but Cambria isn’t one of them, he said.
In other business, council said it will use funds from a county grant to tear down a structure at 244 Center Ave.
Council did not say when it hopes to have the property down or what it will do with the empty lot.
Police officers under residents’ scrutiny
ASHLEY – The police force was the focus of concern for residents at the borough council work session on Tuesday night.
The force was under scrutiny from citizens who feel their tax dollars are being misspent.
Recent incidents of vandalism prompted one frustrated citizen to offer his own suggestions.
“If you are going to waste money, give it to the fire department, give it to the street department. They do more for this town. Take that salary away,” he said.
Council members furloughed one full-time police officer on Sept. 22, leaving Chief Dave Cerski and Sgt. Joseph McGlynn as the only full-time officers on the force.
Council stopped scheduling five part-time officers to patrol the borough in July. State police are covering open shifts in the police schedule.
Kate Pierson of Manhattan Street questioned the work hours of the force.
“The council doesn’t know when the police are working?” she asked.
The council has a record of when the officers begin and end a shift because of their time cards but their actual time spent on the job cannot be accounted for. The frustrated citizens and council agreed the taxpayers and residents deserve better.
Ross Twp. may have to update radio system
ROSS TWP. – A new regulation by the Federal Communications Commission may force the township to update its handheld radio system.
During Tuesday night’s supervisors meeting, Chairman Stan Davis said a new FCC law requires municipalities to convert all radio frequencies to narrow band by October 2011.
Radios are in reference to hand-held or models in trucks, used to communicate with municipal employees.
Davis said the move would create more frequencies by condensing the current users, he said.
Currently, the township has nine mobile radios and three portables.
Davis was unsure how many would need to be replaced and how many could be reprogrammed.