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Stolen signs draw ire of council |
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Tuesday, 12 June 2007 |
 The resting and parking of tankers carrying liquid fuel at railroad tracks alongside Center Street in Johnsonburg has drawn the concern of Borough council member Carmen Canella, who feels the tankers are a fire hazard. By Adam Faderewski
The theft of signs along Silver Creek Road near the Johnsonburg Knothole Field raised the ire of members of the Johnsonburg Borough Council at their regular monthly meeting Monday afternoon.
The signs stolen had only recently been placed by the borough and indicated that there was no drinking of alcohol near the Knothole Field and restricted parking on Silver Creek Rd. Johnsonburg Police Chief Bryan Parana feels the theft of signs from the area is in response to police ticketing vehicles for illegal parking at the site.
“Its not kids (that are doing this),” Parana said. “Its adults that are frustrated because they’ve got parking tickets or they’ve been told that they aren’t allowed to drink there. That’s the problem.”
In response to the removal of signs signaling “no parking” Parana stated police would be painting no parking along the fog line and would continue to ticket vehicles that park illegally. Council member Duane Duffy suggested that any people in possession of these signs should return them to the borough building so as to avoid any police involvement.
Several matters of relation to public works were also discussed at the meeting. Council member Carmen Canella raised concerns about the railroad crossing on Center Street needing to be repaired and expressed fears that if tankers carrying liquid fuel were to derail it would cause a large fire. Borough Manager Mary Polaski stated that she had been in contact with railroad officials, and railroad officials had said they were hoping to have the tracks repaired by October, but work would depend on when PENNDOT will be finished with the Johnsonburg Bypass Project. Council member Louis Imbrogno also raised a question in regards to flashing lights on the corner of Market Street and U.S. Route 219 which had previously signaled that children were at play ahead. Imbrogno pointed out the lights have not been working properly for quite some time. Council moved to send an electrician to the lights to figure out what was wrong with them before moving further. It was also stated the borough would now be responsible for lighting areas of the borough which had been previously lighted by Domtar. Domtar had been providing electricity through its training facility on Center Street to street lights, but will be razing the training facility and therefore will no longer be providing power.
The borough also discussed the closing of Market Street for six different dates over the summer. The council approved a request from the Johnsonburg Recreation Board to close Market Street from Center Street to Bridge Street from 6:30 p.m. to midnight on the following Saturdays, June 16, July 21, and August 18. The street will be closed during this time period due to the summer movie nights being held at the community center. Council member Ron King also noted the recreation board wanted the street closed to keep children safe and also to provide a place for a Pepsi trailer to park, which will sell hot-dogs, popcorn and soda. The council also approved the closing of Market Street during the Summer Concert Series on the following Fridays, June 29, July 27, and August 24. The street will be closed from approximately 5 to 10 p.m. and closing will correspond to the same area as for the summer movie nights.
Polaski also delivered an update on the status of work being done on the Johnsonburg Community Center. Polaski stated Constables has removed all of the boards from the floor of the gym and will wait a few weeks for the floor to dry before placing new floor boards. Polaski also noted she had spoken with John Kimball in regards to the removal of mold from the weight room area of the community center. Kimball gave the recreation board an estimated cost of $5,700 for the removal of mold from the wall, removal of wall paneling that had been infested with mold and for placing mold-resistant sprays on the walls to prevent any further spread of the mold. The council will allow the recreation board to decide on how they would like to move on that matter.
An ordinance which had been drafted by Solicitor Elizabeth Feronti in regards to rules for solicitation in the borough was tabled due to ambiguity as to whether the ordinance could be enforced and the borough not wanting to limit the ability of school and charity-related organizations from soliciting. The ordinance had originally been called for by Parana at a previous meeting because of a string of robberies in Johnsonburg in which criminals were posing to be solicitors.
A dump truck was motioned to be sold to another township, which thus negates the necessity to go out for bid on the truck. The council will sell the dump truck at a price of $13,000, pending an evaluation of the truck by Bradco to assess its worth. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 June 2007 )
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