Wellsboro Gazette (Newspaper) - July 2, 1986, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania Inside The MARKETPLACE Fireworks green light pg 1 North Penn students honored pg 4 Blockhouse Festival a good 7 Old Home Day winners pg 9 The Wellsboro 40 per copy GAZETTE see page 1 YEAR NO 33 911 other uses possible Commonwealth is testing new Wellsboro phone system WELLSBORO PA WEDNESDAY JULY 2 1986 USPS by Wendy Sherman During the next few weeks Com Telephone Company s Wellsboro 724 exchange customers may be receiving calls from phone company representatives The purpose of these calls is to test new central office equipment scheduled to be placed into opera tion by the end of July said Jim Mosso Commonwealth s network switching supervisor The million project includes the replacement of Wellsboro s ex isting mechanical switching equip ment with state of the art digital equipment Mosso said the new computer controlled switch will not only improve the overall quality of telephone service but will also pro vide customers with the necessary groundwork to receive today s and tomorrow s communication in novations And what are these The new will be capable of handling 911 the emergency calling number Presently in Wellsboro when a citizen needs the police de fire department or lance he or she must dial separate Volunteers needed at Grand Canyon Are you concerned about our lo cal natural Would like to share your skills and talents with Do you like to meet and work with If your answer is ves to of these questions per haps you would like to contribute some of vour time as a volunteer with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources at Leonard Harrison State Park Help is currently needed on weekdays in the Visitor Center and Park Office This is a fine opportunity for retirees with spare time or for col lege students needing work experi ence Hours will be arranged to suit the volunteers schedule Leonard Harrison State Park is located on Route 660 west of Wellsboro Inter ested persons should call the Park Office at 3061 telephone numbers for each serv ice With 911 in an emergency the person would only have to dial those three numbers Robert Saylor of the Tioga County Emergency Services Department which operates the Tioga County Communications Center said that a meeting is planned between tele- phone company officials and members of the Emergency Services Department to discuss the possible installation of 911 A telephone company spokesperson pointed out that 911 would be available if the com munity was willing to provide the service As the telephone ny the installation of the 911 service is a community responsibility The new digital system that will be in place by the end of July will also be capable of handling other long distance telephone companies such as MCI or Sprint A spokesperson from the tele phone company pointed out that the new digital system would be able to handle other long distance telephone carriers if they are avail able but presently they are not If these carriers decided to service the Wellsboro area in the future the new system could provide equal ac cess Services that will be provided through the new system will be a Call forwarding with this service a customer can program a telephone number into tele phone and have telephone calls forwarded to a telephone ber where that customer will be lo S Call waiting will provide a second line on a customers tele phone When a customer is using his her telephone they will hear a beeping noise which will indicate that another call is coming through The customer can hit the flash button to put the one call on hold and answer the other call S Three way calling will allow a customer to hold an intercom type call to talk with two different par ties at the same time S Speed dialing will allow a customer to program important numbers into the telephone and reach those particular parties by di aling one number For instance the police telephone number may be listed under number two To reach the police the customer need only dial two Completed by July 29 On Tuesday July 29 the tion of nearly a year s work will re- sult in the conversion to the new ital multiplex system Call testing is one step toward that conversion Be- cause telephone company representatives must test more than 3000 telephone lines customers may receive test calls between 9 am Monday through These test calls guarantee that the equipment is fully opera tional and that the company s records are accurate Any customer who doubts the au of the caller may verify by calling the tele phone company at 717 675 1121 This is a toll free call for all boro customers Morris to receive loan for ambulance State Senator Roger A Madigan and State Representative Edgar A Carlson jointly announced today Wednesday July 2 that the Morris Ambulance Association have received approval for a 000 loan from the Pennsylvania Emer gency Management The Association had borrowed to purchase a 1985 Ford Am bulance from a lender at a rate of 12 interest Through the Pennsylvania Emer gency Management loan the Association will be able to retire the loan The PEMA loan will be given to the Association at a rate of Borrowing from a lender and then seeking approval from PEMA for a loan is a practice followed by many companies Gen a company needs a certain type of item at present and instead of waiting for PEMA approval bor row commercially and then retire the loan with PEMA funds Dunham's gets Ok for pipe Dunham's have received approval to construct a pipeline under the firm's property at the corner of East Avenue and Pearl Streets to carry Morris Creek under the site of a proposed parking lot there Work on the project is expected to begin by mid-July according to a Dunham's spokesperson The lot has been empty for the last two years pending approval of the pipeline by the state Departmental of Environmental Resources No Giardia in Mansfield There are no giardia in Mansfield's water according to the Pa Dept of Environmental Resources Mansfield Municipal Authority Secretary Gary Skelding was fied on Tuesday July 1 that tests done on water samples taken in Mansfield last Wednesday June 25 showed no evidence of the charac cysts that indicate the presence of Giardia Because the tests were negative it will not be necessary to institute a boil water order such as the one that has been in force in Wellsboro since July 3 of last year The test results were welcome news to the Authority which recent y awarded bids worth million lor construction of an enlarged and a filtration plant that should put an end to turbidity and low water problems that have troubled the borough since the water system was first installed The improvements have cost bor ough users however in the form of higher use rates that have led some extremely heavy users to seek per mission to add drilled wells as supplementary water sources I think what people have to un is that these new rates were set by the Farmer s Home Ad ministration and not the Authority Authority member David Case ex They did a study and de how much income we had to have in order to pay back our loans Then they advised us on what rate scale we had to set up in order to meet those obligations Case said that work on the initial stages of the project is already un and should proceed on schedule Completion is expected bv July 1987 Heliport liability issue discussed by Wellsboro Fire Dept During a meeting of the Wellsboro Fire Department s Executive Committee the members discussed the status of the depart ment s proposed heliport site The firefighters decision to des a section of the department s Charleston Street lot a grassy field located behind McDonald s Restau rant of Wellsboro as a heliport is dependent on insurance coverage However the department s con use of the as a loca tion for helicopters to land such as the Geismger Medical Centers Life Flight medical hell copter and those operated by the Pennsylvania State Police and gas may also be in until its official desig nation as a heliport through the Pennsylvania Department of Tran s Bureau of Aviation Wellsboro Fire Chief John Dugan said These type of things take a certain amount of timing We have contacted several different insur ance companies regarding liability coverage and we are looking at estimates as to how much it would cost to establish the area as a port Dugan explained that whether or not the Wellsboro firefighters apply for approval to use their lot as a hel will depend on the insurance estimates they receive The question concerning the con use of the property as a ing site for helicopters arose after an inspector from the Pennsylvania Department of reau of Aviation witnessed a chopper landing at the Charleston Street lot Jack Hester Licensing tor and Heliport Coordinator of the Pennsylvania Department of Bureau of Aviation said this week Helicopters are landing routinely at the Charleston Street lot If some type of incident should occur during one of these landings on an un- approved heliport site who will be responsible If an incident occurred because of an unsafe condition on the erty the responsible party may be the property owner in this case the Wellsboro Fire Likewise the department could be held responsible if an accident curred because of pilot error the site is approved as a port and as safe the lity of an accident is reduced If an accident should occur then you would have more of a defense if the case should go to court Hester said that the issue of whether the Wellsboro Fire Department s lot could be consid ered as a heliport was first raised over two years ago in February of 1984 Dormant for the last two years the issue came into focus again when a Bureau of Aviation official in Tioga County three weeks ago for a routine annual inspection of the Grand Canyon State Airport in Del mar Township witnessed a Life Flight helicopter landing at the Charleston Street lot Since the heh copter landing was witnessed at the Wellsboro Fire Departments lot I have received an in house memo asking that I get in touch with officials of the Wellsboro Fire De to encourage them to proceed with having that area ap proved He explained that since 1984 when the heliport was first dis cussed he has spoken to Chief John Dugan but we haven't re- an application from the Wellsboro Fire Department to prove that area as a heliport State code violation Hester stressed However when the landing was witnessed three weeks ago it became apparent that the Wellsboro Fire Department is operating and maintaining that area as a heliport Based on the procedural policies the department is following mark ing the power lines with red balls to indicate a landing area allowing helicopters to routinely land at their field and meeting flights with fire trucks it would appear they have established that as a heliport site If the Wellsboro Fire Depart ment is indeed operating in the manner described in the report which I have received then the de has established that ared as a heliport and could be in viola tion of Pennsylvania Code 67 Code 67 states that any landing area established as heliport must be approved by the Department of Transportation explained Hester The Wellsboro Fire Department must comply with the Pennsylvania Code added Hester Otherwise they need to disestablish the site as a landing area for helicopters Hester continued What we need to know from Wellsboro Fire De Wellsboro wins Pennsylvania state award by Lisa The Wellsboro office of the Farmer's Home has been named the Outstanding Office in Pennsylvania according to state officials During my time as state director the Wellsboro office has set the pace for doing the things that a county office should be stated State Director Elmer Hawbaker The work we do is very very difficult and they manage very well in a difficult situation Candidates for Outstanding Office of the Year are selected from each county by the district directors of five district offices tion is based on the number of loans the office handles their record of reduction and on the caliber of their overall service According to officials the Wellsboro office not only stands out in the quality of its service to the public but has an excellent record as a training office for county su Supervisor Donald Van Vliet is outstanding as a training noted spokesperson Connie Hurley At the present time she said the Wellsboro office maintains a loan portfolio valued at and has the lowest rate in the state As recipient of the Outstanding Office of the Year Wellsboro will receive a rotating award clock at a training meeting scheduled for next Wednesday July 9 m Danville State Director Hawbaker and Dis- Director Michael Matsko will present the award which will be on display at the office throughout the year tn addition each individual staff member will receive a certificate of recognition and a cash officials is if they intend to apply for approval and if not what they intend to do with the field They have the red balls attached to the power lines in that area for an approach and did have personnel on the field at the witnessed landing three weeks ago If I were a member of the Wells boro Fire Department I would want a decision made about the heliport Either they should go ahead with plans to designate their lot on Charleston St as a heliport or tell helicopters not to land in that area at all said Hester He stressed If the Wellsboro Fire Department doesn t want to have the area licensed as a heliport that is their choice However an area can only used as an unlicensed helicopter landing site if chopper landings are infrequent and the site is not established and operated as a landing site So in this case the term infrequent will not to that lot officials at Geismger Medical Center Danville Pa in one full year from June 1985 through this week Life Flight has landed at the Wellsboro Fire Depar lot 21 times four of which occurred this June From the appearance of the red markers and the procedures used by the fire department at the land ing site it would indicate that the area has been established and is be- ing used as a said Hester law states that if you a landing area anywhere in the United States it must be proved by the Federal Aviation Ad- ministrator as well as by local and state agencies In Hester who was one of the Bureau of Aviation officials who came to Wellsboro to inspect three proposed helicopter landing sites said that the boro Fire Department's Charleston Street lot was completely adequate and could be established as a port meeting all state and federal requirements He continued As far as I can see the Wellsboro Fire Department has done nothing since to move ahead in getting their tot designated as a heliport The step is to fet approval to use the site as a ter landing area which is a very simple process All they have to do please turn to page 2 FARMING HAS GONE to the dogs says Joe Sienkowski and his pal Duke who were voted the funniest entry in last weekend s Liberty Blockhouse Festival Parade Duke decked out in straw hat and sunglasses traveled the parade route perched atop Sienkowski s tractor and paused for a moment to give his opinion on the state of agriculture to the judges by Sekellick 1080 contracts signed by Corps and utilities by Wendy Sherman A spokesman for the L S Army Corps of Engineers based in more Maryland stated this week that contracts have been signed be tween the Corps the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and downstream utilities moving the Cowanesque 1080 plan one step closer to construction Under the 1080 plan tions will have to be made to the ex- isting Cowanesque Dam project in order to permit the storage of addi tional water Those improvements include relocation of recreation sites and a maintenance road local ed near the Dam and clearing of land in the project area Since been given to raise the level of water at que Lake from the current 1 045 to 1 080 feet representatives from the Corps and two power utilities had been negotiating to reach agreement on how costs will be shared to make the needed to the Cowanesque Dam so the additional water may be stored there The two power utilities involved are Pennsylvania Power and Light Company which operates the Susquehanna plant near Berwick and General Public GPU which operates the nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island at Middletown Both have ex pressed interest in seeing more water stored at Cowanesque Lake to provide them with additional water supply However two contingencies are included in the contracts First GPU is the operating company for two companies Jersey Cen tral Power and Light Company and Metropolitan Edison Company Be cause of this fact GPU must now get approval from the Pennsylvania Utilities Commission and the and Exchange Commission for the cost sharing section of the pro ject Secondly under the compact that formed the tt states that the cannot enter contracts that involve more than interest At present the agreement involves a 7 interest rate Legislation has been put forth the states of Maryland and New York and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to lift this limit At present the legislation has been proved by the U.S House of Representatives and is before the Senate A Corps spokesman said that both approvals are expected to go through in a matter of months The 1080 project was first ed by the Corps but additional water studies were required by the which controls changes in the River Basin area Including County waterways which discharge to the basin The studies showed that storing water at facility would not adversely Impact downstream residents and businesses Based the Plan the tional water stored at Cowanesque would be used to resupply water ways downstream of Cowanesque Lake during defined periods of low water flow to insure that there will be flow to meet the needs of all downstream users Some of the additional water could also be used by downstream power plants Stream repair work to begin Kelsey Creek which borders West Avenue Wellsboro properties will soon be the site of a major stream bank reconstruction project At 1 p m on 22 during the site showing contractors will be invited to look at the 7 or 8 involved areas along Kelsey Creek that border five West Avenue properties The bid opening will be held on Aug 7 at existing stone walls will be removed from the banks of Creek and be replaced with gabion baskets heavy wire baskets filled with stone I feel that work on the project will be done by September Don Lindsey of the Soil Conservation Service office at Wellsboro remarked The project area stretches along Kelsey Creek behind properties on West Avenue between Benvart Street and the bridge where West Avenue joins Main Street Lindsey noted that in this case work will be done strictly through the Soil Conservation Service The West Avenue work represents the last of the six major portions of the Kelsey Creek stream bank repair project The other five major portions were completed through a tive agreement between the Penn Department of Environ mental Resources the Soil Conservation Service and Wellsboro Borough The three provided the money and materials so work could be done on Kelsey Creek along Conway Berwart and Main Streets and West Avenue Citizens living along Kelsey Creek became more and more alarmed as water continued to erode the banks of Kelsey Creek which bordered their homes and properties under- cutting and undermining their land
