The Meshoppen Borough Council was approached on a number of issues at their Aug. 7 meeting, including the lack of volunteers needed to staff its ambulance company, an update on this weekend’s Community Day, public outcry on the deterioration of numerous properties, an accusation that police ignored threats of assault on a gay youth, and a Boy Scout asking if he could clean up an old cemetery.
Photos and Story by Rick Hiduk
Extra chairs had to be brought in for an unusually large crowd at the monthly meeting of the Meshoppen Borough Council on Monday evening. Chairman John Bunnell was visibly puzzled by the full room before him and asked if there was a somebody among the audience who could enlighten him as the particular reason they were all there.
As it turned out, the reasons for the high turnout varied, though recent news stories and subsequent Facebook postings about an abundance of blighted properties in the borough had motivated at least a third of those in attendance to be there. Though they had to wait patiently for a number of other important issued to be discussed, it was obvious that they had their fill of the deplorable condition of the borough in general.
Meshoppen resident Ross Cameron, who was not in attendance Monday evening, had approached the Wyoming County Commissioners on July 25 to discuss Meshoppen’s bloated blight. While they agreed that Meshoppen and other municipalities had serious blight issues, the commissioners told Cameron that it is essentially a borough issue. Nonetheless, he was also told that every municipality in the county shares a uniform construction code that specifically addresses “unsafe” buildings. (Read more here: http://www.endlessmtnlifestyles.com/?p=7987)
Shortly after the county meeting, a yellow notification signed by Ty Dodge appeared on a building facade at 108 Oak Street. Bunnell said that no borough officials had been contacted about the notice and he therefore did not know what the actual status of the building was nor what was expected of owner Steve Colley.
“I don’t know what their intentions are other than it is condemned,” said Bunnell in reference to Bureau Veritas, a company that handles building inspections for many municipalities. It was unclear whether the borough contracts with the company. Bunnell at one point said that it does, but secretary Phyllis Adams questioned that statement.
Adams did note, however, that properties owned by Colley were among an alarming number of properties in Meshoppen that have been recently listed for sheriff’s sales.
A barrage of comments from frustrated residents followed, lamenting the former splendor of Meshoppen and asking if there isn’t some more aggressive stance the borough can take to tear down the buildings that cannot be repaired and clean up properties that are structurally sound but excessively littered.
“As long as the taxes are paid, there’s nothing we can do,” Bunnell replied, adding that the borough has no zoning laws.
When asked by borough resident Cindy Cona what it would take for the borough to establish zoning laws, Bunnell replied, “Time and money.”
“I think it’s time that we take the time and the money to clean this town up,” said a woman identified on the sign-in sheet as Melody.
“I was born and raised in this town, and I’m appalled by this,” said Linda Harvey, who once lived in and ran a craft store from the Colley building at the corner of Oak and Auburn streets. A recent manager of a thrift shop at the same location asked Harvey before he moved out if she wanted to see the inside. “The back wall was all caved in, and it was full of bags of garbage and insects,” she recalled.
Concerns were expressed about the easy access to blighted structures and the potential dangers posed to curious children. Others in the room asked what could be done about abandoned cars in their neighborhoods, to which the council members also suggested their hands are tied. If they tow cars away, they said several times, they lose state funding, though they never explained what they meant to the satisfaction of the crowd.
“So I can throw all of my garbage out into my front yard and let it pile up, and that’s OK?” a woman at the back of the room asked.
“Of course that’s not OK,” Bunnell retorted, squarely putting the blame on the property owners and admitting that the borough is helpless to “parent” them.
“So you’re saying that we should go knock on doors and ask people to clean up their properties?” another woman asked wriley.
Bunnell more or less implied that her idea might be as practical as any other options, adding that people had banded together in the past and offered to clean up properties but home owners refused their help.
“I live here in Meshoppen too,” said council member Doris Pickett. “There are homes on every street that need things take care of. Most home owners do a good job.” She blamed instead a number of landlords in the borough and disrespectful renters for allowing properties to go downhill so quickly.
“We do what we think is good, and hopefully it works for some,” Bunnell said in an attempt to move on to other topics. “Meshoppen was a great little town. If you look at Facebook, you’ll see that.”
Adams asked if she should place liens on all of the properties that have suddenly gone up for sheriff’s sale in light of excessive past due water and sewer bills. Council members were swift to agree that it was a good idea, despite the $200 per lien cost.
Meshoppen Readies for Community Day
Cona (above) was primarily in attendance to remind the public that Meshoppen Community Day would be held this Saturday from 11 am to 7 pm. A wide variety of family-friendly activities is planned in the community park, including bounce houses for kids, games and tournaments for adults, live music, basket raffles, art and history exhibits, and a water balloon fight.
A large tent will be erected on Friday, as well as some vendor stands and the inflatables. Cona asked if the park could be monitored through the overnight hours into Saturday morning and was assured that, between Meshoppen Police and council members, her request would be handled.
Fire Company Proactive on Ambulance Coverage
Meshoppen Fire Company chief Chris Carney (above, left) and company president Travis Prevost (right) addressed the issue of a shrinking volunteer force and its effect on ambulance services for the region. The fire company currently pays for ambulance drivers 12 hours per day, seven days per week, as well as two shifts on weekends. The weekend shifts were recently added due to a lack of volunteers, and it is putting a strain on the company’s reserves.
“It’s getting to the point where we are going to start losing money,” Prevost reported. Additionally, the time an ambulance is in service for each call has increased since Tyler Memorial Hospital no longer offers many vital services. More often than not, patients have to be driven to Sayre, Wilkes-Barre or Scranton for proper treatment.
After some careful calculations, Carney explained, the company has decided that it will need to permanently cover the weekend shifts and add paid ambulance personnel two nights per week to adequately cover the region.
“Volunteers are a thing of the past. We are down twenty-five percent in the last four years,” Carney admitted. “We are trying to be proactive. If we miss too many calls, they will pull our license. I’m sure that nobody here wants to see a town without an ambulance.”
Their proposal requires an additional $25,000 per year, and they asked for $3,000 from Meshoppen borough, in addition to the $1,200 the borough currently pays them. The rest will be secured via visits to the other municipalities, and amounts are based on the proportionate number of calls in each of the townships. There are many more calls to Washington Township, for example, as it is more densely populated and home to Procter & Gamble.
Council members agreed to the requested increase and will begin making quarterly payments effective September. Carney subsequently committed to having fire company members visit borough meetings more frequently with progress reports.
Canal Street Bridge Replacement Update
With the replacement of the Canal Street Bridge on Oak Street still on PennDOT’s schedule for August, the council signed a memorandum of understanding that the borough will maintain a new five-foot-wide concrete sidewalk for the next 25 years.
Bunnell addressed public sentiment that the overpass, referred to many locals as the “Arch Bridge” is iconic and was, in its time, an attractive part of the downtown area. “It’s beautiful,” he remarked, “but you have to go down underneath to look at it.”
The primary reason for its replacement, council members agreed, is that it becomes a bottleneck during times of high water, made only too evident during the 2011 flood.
As it is dismantled, borough workers plan to salvage two dated keystone plaques from the bridge that will be stored at the borough office and remain the property of the borough and hopefully displayed somewhere that they can be appreciated for their historical value.
Flood Buyouts on Schedule/Fracking OK
Despite murmurs of an investigation into what many county residents still see as a flawed application process, the PEMA buyouts of flood-prone properties in Meshoppen is proceeding, as far as council members are concerned.
Appraisals of the structures, many of them on Church Street, have begun. Bunnell also read a letter from Lisa Hahn of the county’s Housing and Planning Commission stating that hydraulic fracturing (fracking) deep underneath the properties can resume as it is considered a “compatible and allowable use” that “does not cause problems in a flood plain.”
Council member Mike Voorhees suggested that, if the bought-out properties become the property of the borough, perhaps the municipality could recoup some of its losses in unpaid sewer bills from gas royalties.
Harassment of Youth in Park Deemed “Freedom of Speech”
Borough resident Joe Campbell attended the meeting with his teenage son, who he said was harassed at the community park and threatened with physical violence because he is gay. “They called him a ‘faggot’ and said that he didn’t belong there,” Campbell related.
Meshoppen Police officer John Krieg was called, and Campbell said that Krieg initially told them that he would file harassment charges against the perpetrators. Instead, Campbell claims, Krieg returned to him and told them that their actions were merely “freedom of speech” and that Campbell’s son “dresses funny,” which is why they pick on him.
Council members seemed taken off guard by the story, to which Voorhees quickly remarked, “That’s not right. You do belong there,” noting that the teen had performed volunteer services at the park.
Bunnell asked Campbell why he didn’t press charges against Krieg, to which Campbell replied, “I’m here to talk to his boss.”
About that time, Krieg appeared at the doorway at the back of the room and someone in the audience asked, “John, would you like to respond to that?”
Campbell repeated his story, which Krieg in large part denied, interrupting Campbell several times. Krieg said that it was one bunch of kids saying one thing and another bunch saying another, and confirmed that he’d determined that freedom of speech ruled the circumstances.
“Kids call kids names every day,” Krieg remarked. He also denied that physical violence was implied or that any adults were involved.
“You know that’s not true,” Campbell said to Krieg.
Krieg said he refused to continue the argument in public and told Campbell, “You can always go to the District Attorney’s office and file a complaint with them.”
Council members shook their heads at the situation. Bunnell concluded the conversation by stating, “He should be able to go to the park. It’s not someplace to get harassed or in an argument.”
Boys Scout Saves the Day
Every serious meeting needs its moment of levity, and council members all but cheered when Boy Scout Jake Merle (above) asked if he could clean up the cemetery at the intersection of Fairview Street and Rattlesnake Hill Road as his Eagle Scout project. Merle is a member of Auburn Troop 88.
Council members were very receptive to his proposal and committed to providing whatever assistance and guidance he needs to complete the task, which he has from Aug. 20 to next July to complete. Voorhees cautioned that the inactive cemetery has been pretty much ignored so far this year and that a fair amount of weed trimming would be necessary before Merle would be able to get a lawn mower into it.
The next public meeting of the Meshoppen Borough Council will be held on Monday, Sept. 11, one week later than normal due to the labor Day holiday.