Wayne Independent (Newspaper) - February 1, 2006, Honesdale, Pennsylvania t l i f Advertising Classifieds 2536666 r Wayne Countys Newspaper News Desk 2533055 Circulation 2533055 Volume Number 22 February 50 cents Newsstand Established 1878 Hawley Blasts Audit Press Release itor General Claims Violation Solicitor Says State Couldnt Find Documents By PETER BECKER Managing Editor HARRISBURG Auditor General Jack Wagner has released an audit of the Hawley Borough Police Pension Plan in Wayne claiming that the municipality is holding almost in its dormant police pension consisting pri marily of funds received from the Commonwealth and investment income earned on those The Borough Robert has taken sharp exception to the claims and assertions made by the Auditor General in a press release sent to the media this Violation claimed Wagner said that borough officials failed to adhere to a state law that requires munic to return such funds to the Commonwealth if not used for their intended pur pose within two years of their I urged borough officials to return the commonwealths share of these unused pension funds as soon as possible to comply with the laws of the Wagner The audit covered the calen dar years Auditors determined that as of December the police pension plan had a balance of although the bor ough has not employed a full time police officer since 1993 and no former police officers are due any benefits from the Starrucca Has 14 Days To Act i t V Vi 7 i Greek Wall By DIANE BOOTHE Independent Staff Writer 7 Christopher from the Department Environmental Protection DEP has told Starrucca Borough President Kirk Rhone the borough has 14 days from January to remove several broken sec tions of retaining wall now considered debris out of the allowing for a more natu ral flow of the who works within the Soils and Waterways Section of the DEP was sent to investigate the Creek Retaining Creek situation that has caused a disturbance between council members since Tropical Storm Ivan back on September The most occurred during the flooding on when T lodged in the sections of retain ing wall that had broken Renee resi dent and owner of a house in the most immediate danger of the sent an email dated January 2005 to In the email she expressed her concerns about the current borough Rhones and current borough FEMA Darl Haynes deci sion to request the Creek Retaining Wall applica tion be sent back from DEP to the borough This action was performed without permission from council at a public meet Warden ended her let ter with This is no joke I need immediate help Assistant Regional Director for Gary responded to Wardens email Your e mail concerning a retaining wall that was destroyed in parts of which remain in a creek bed has been referred to the Northeast Regional Office for A representative from the Watershed Management Program has been sent to investigate this as you are the new Borough Council as of retracted the permit that was under review in the Region to correct the As of this January 2006 we have not received a new permit application and therefore we have nothing to review Present at the January outdoor meeting with Kulick were resident Renee Wayne Conservation District Robert Muller for background history of previous retaining Borough President Kirk Borough FEMA Agent Darl and council mem ber Lou Kulick asked an open question of what was going on I with permanent 1 stabilization of retaining Mayor ft Ion from stands a close up view of the debris building The al o ge landed there during flood waters in January of this Municipal officials failed to comply with tions in two previous audit reports to refund the assets remaining in the fund to the Commonwealth after account ing for any outstanding ties or municipal contributions to the the press release According to the the boroughs failure to comply with the prior tions resulted in the pension fund incurring of unnecessary administrative and actuarial expenses during the years covered by the For government to operate those entrusted with administering public funds must comply all laws and Wagner State just supplied the data Attorney Bernathy points out that over the the borough has requested from the Auditor Generals documentation to show what the well as the bor to the and any interest with the intention of settling the The pension fund was made for the benefit of full time police officers the borough had dating back to the No pension were drawn for anyones and in the course of 15 or 20 the fund has built up to almost The Auditor Generals Office had consistently replied that they could not find the and it was not until this past November 2005 that the Auditor General locat ed the documentation and for warded it to the Bernathy related he had indi it would take the bor ough some time to process and review that Bernathy if the borough found in that review that the state was owed then that money be forwarded back to the Last when the Auditor Generals Office responded to tiie Borough Solicitor by say ing they did not have the docu Bernathy replied that he would then ask for a court injunction to turn the money in the fund over to the Then four or five months later they found the he Hawley Borough con at least to that the solicitor and the Auditor Generals Office had agreed part of the fund would go back to the the press release fails to mention Politically motivated Bernathy charged that the press release from the Auditor General was incomplete and arguably untrue and is polit ically motivated to show that the Auditor General is claim ing to be doing his It angers but it doesnt sur prise added He said that Borough Council is also angered by it and will surely address it at their next Council meeting February Auditor General Jack Wagner is responsible for ensuring that all state money is spent legally and He is the Commonwealths elected independent fiscal conducting finan cial performance audits and special The Department of the Auditor General conducts more than audits per tree In the picture Internet Linked Man With Long Lost Wallet Wayne Independent photo by Diane Soothe ONSITE MEETING DEP representative visited Starrucca to investigate the situation of the Creek Retaining Wall Project and debris In the creek on January 2006 around Left to right Mayor Andy resident Renee council member Lou Wayne County Conservation District Manager Robert Muller Christopher from Soils and Waterways Section of Borough President Kirk RhOne and Borough FEMA agent Darl 2005 council members to and continued buildup since sent a copy of his liability situation and he had no idea what the majority of the 2006 council members were attempting to do now with their Borough President Rhone stated Well as of right its the paperwork in the hands of our boroughs new attorney for Councilman Lou Gurske opportunity to ask President Rhone May I ask why you removed them paperwork from Mary Hastings DEP When in an entire copy of that paper work that Mary Hastings is in our in its you did not have to touch it from Mary Hastings can you answer that Kirk President Rhones reply was a quietly stated No com Councilman Gurske then informed v Haynes that as the boroughs new FEMA he had no from the coun the been submitted finm tJie 2005 authorit cil to p DEP of debris in the creek to date would constitute the situation by DEP as an Kulick responded yes and because of he was author to issue a temporary per mit that very day for emer gency stabilization of the situ Kulick also pointed that to strictly remove the debris from that portion of Creek would allow a more natural flow of the water and hopefully decrease the chances of more debris build ing The latter action would not require a When Kulick was asked his opinion of the situation and how he felt it should be han Kulick although not mandatory for a DEP permit an engi neer reviewing the current accepted contractors plans as a safeguard would seem The suggestion specified not to have an engineer literally come up with engineered plans but just to review the plans submitted to DEP by the bor then the borough could take it from In majority of the former borough accepted a bid contractor Ken Rauch insurance performance bond for the ready to begin work in the Two other suggestions made were to have Warden research the possibili ty of a Hazard Mitigation and to consider in the a grant application for assistance in removing debris located elsewhere in the creek or to enlarge the creek in some areas allowing for water These topics are expected to be discussed at the regularly monthly borough meeting on February LAKE AP An antiques dealer is being reacquainted with his past after a Utah family returned a wallet he lost at a gas station nearly 40 years The beige wallet still held in a traffic 8 cent airmail stamps and Doug Schmitts freshman ID card from Utah I had a real full head of hair back of Lake said Schmitt apparently lost the wallet at a gas station in in the spring of when he stopped to fill up his 1955 Austin The stations owner stashed it in a pre hoping the person would come Ted of found it decades later while cleaning out his fatherin laws He tracked Schmitt down through the and last week mailed the wallet miles across the Theyre honest peo ple out Schmitt The wallet also had photos of Schmitts highschool girl friends from Wissahickon High School in suburban Philadelphia and a dryclean ing It makes me wonder if I still got some dry cleaning out I dont Schmitt As an antiques Schmitt is accustomed to dig ging through other peoples attics for wartime letters and other personal He never expected someone else to pore over his Its just so wonderful that people will take the time to research then return something to someone they dont even said his Vickie Slim Local Ballot May 16 By KEVIN KEARNEY Independent Staff Writer HONESDALE The Wayne County Election Board voted unanimously Tuesday to schedule for March 16 the casting of lots for the primary Elections Director Darlene Burnett said the casting will only take place if there is more than one candidate running for the Democratic Tools Stolen Out Of Truck Box HONESDALE On Tuesday January 31st Gerald of the Honesdale area reported a theft of tools from his Ford which was parked in the alleyway behind the Limerick Tavern between Friday night 27 at mid night and Saturday at The tools were stolen from an unlocked toolbox in the The tools consisted of one angle one Milwaukee brie Milwaukee cordless drill and one 160 piece socket set Anyone with information is All calls will be kept con Crash in Hawley An 18 year old driver was cited for after a crash in Hawley Saturday night January According to Hawley Timothy of lost control of the 1987 BMW he was operating on Welwood at The car collided with a utility pole near Castle Neither Gibbons nor his a 16 year old were The required which will be the only county Even though the casting might not be the Election Board is required to advertise The casting of lots deter mines where the candidates will be positioned on the The Election Board is made up of Burnett and county Commissioners Anthony Donald and Robert The primary will be held May The last day to regis ter to vote or to change party affiliation is one month before At present there are registered voters in the There are registered Republicans and regis tered During a brief commission ers meeting after the Election Board the D said the county will participate in a gypsy moth suppression program that will cover over Mike Roche of the Wayne Conservation District is sched uled to give a presentation on the program at a commission ers meeting next
