Wellsboro Gazette (Newspaper) - March 12, 2003, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania NO 22 WELLSBORO PA WEDNESDAY MARCH USPS Board questions expenses in light of expected tight budget by C R Clarke The Wellsboro Area School Dis- board of education looked a little more closely at sary expenses during the day March 11 board meeting The money jitters began when superintendent Dr Donna Mettler announced the district had re- a second bid for the high school bleacher project which again had come in too high This is the second time it has been bid the first one came in over as well and we are mending it be rejected We are not planning to rebid at this time be- cause we can't afford she said Then board member Jeffrey Eaton was the sole opposing vote authorizing preparation of ments for a single prime bid for electricity plumbing tilation and general work at the new high school building project My question is if we approve it tonight is it prudent until we have a better handle on the get and what's going Eaton said Typically per the state school code new construction jobs must be bid with four prime contracts but because of the approved date waiver obtained for the dis- with the help of tive Matt Baker and Sen Joe Scarnati Wellsboro is exempt from that requirement Mettler said The approach could save the district anywhere from to by contracting with one single contractor for all bids i according to Mettler It also will help us with what I call the Northern Tier Factor the fact that we are in a remote area and not all contractors want to bid here With one big contract we could draw a larger group ing for the she said Mettler also noted that the dis- hopes there will be work for more local subcontractors Mettler further said if the board wanted the project to stay on schedule with bids submitted in April we need to give the ar- direction on front end ding documents The next ing of the board is March 25 at p.m when members will dis- cuss the next phase of the ing project known as Plan Con F to be submitted to the department of education When it came time to vote on a Tax Anticipation Note which would authorize the district to borrow million to pay its bills until expected tax and ment revenues come in the board was also split in its opinion The motion passed but not unanimously with Glenn Poirer Rochelle Clark and Frank Deter opposing and LaRue Reese Linda West Jeff Eaton Joe DiFillipo Janet Bellinger and Deb Sawyer for Instead of hiring several coaches for next year the board voted to table the hiring of Mike Chris Reese and emy Richardson as high school football coaches Darrell Morris as middle school head coach and Jim Dinsmore as middle school assistant football coach until after upcoming get meetings Only board member Joe DiFillipo voted against tabling the hires Given the current economic budget climate my focus is more on academic concerns than Clark who made the tion to table said There was also a split vote on the district's Northern Tier try and Education Consortium membership for next year The district pays per student for a maximum of 10 students but typically has 25 participate so we only have to pay for Mettler said Eaton and Poirer opposed and the rest were for Instead of routinely passing teacher conference requests the board instead voted on them rately something they rarely do The board voted to accept only six out of 15 requests ing several that come out of ing budgets Board member Frank Deter noted that he sees the same names going to conferences month after month and wondered why others weren't going He also noted that the costs listed on the agenda do not cover the travel and lodging expenses incurred by teachers or their pay for time spent at the conferences Elementary principal Gus unsuccessfully lobbied for the conferences saying the fees are included in the building budget he receives each year He also noted that the reason the same names reappear is that he requires teachers to share with the others what they have learned and many do not want to do that so they opt not to go It is an investment in the value of professional ment which places us as a district Please see QUESTION page photo by Lea fl A FIRE OF UNDETERMINED ORIGIN KILLED 20 DAIRY COWS AND destroyed a barn on Canoe Camp Creek Road in Richmond Township late Tuesday morning The barn was owned by Ralph Watkins Jr the cows were owned by Rod Mansfield Assistant Chief Jim Welch said when firefighters arrived on scene shortly after the dispatch heavy black smoke was showing As they attempted to enter the structure the blaze really took off Firefighters had to shuttle water from two nearby ponds mutual aid was provided by Blossburg Wellsboro Liberty Tioga and Troy he said The building was insured Welch did not know if the cows were No firefighters were injured Two outbuildings that were exposed were saved Residents ask Wellsboro board to reconsider high school project Commissioners change Human Services Agency to department by Gayle Morrow Not giving any clear answers as to the reason why Tioga County commissioners voted Monday March 10 to change the name of the county Human Ser- vices Agency to the Tioga County Department of Human Services Commissioner Erick Coolidge said he wasn't sure why the name change was taking place but said he was certain it would not de- tract or diminish the ability of staff to deliver professional ser- vices Commissioner Jim Bogaczyk said see no change there at all except for the heading on while Commissioner Walter Barnes said the new name would more closely reflect what it is that being a department of county government With regard to the cost of changing the numerous signs that say Tioga County Human Ser- vices Agency to Tioga County Department of Human Barnes said there would be no Printed material will be used as-is and replaced with the new name on an needed basis he added In other business the commissioners proved the reassignment of 12 staff and the furlough of seven others Both actions were part of measures approved at a previous meeting Acting with county Treasurer Sandy Higgins as the Salary Board the commissioners also abolished 16 positions in the de- In other economic matters Coolidge related that the state County Commissioners tion of which he is president has Please see COUNTY page Sidewalks roads discussed A earning from to you take a good look at these at Wellsboro council meeting Candidates file to run for office by C R Clarke Wellsboro Area School District residents asked the board of di- rectors to reconsider their plans to move ahead with a nearly million high school construction and renovation project set to be- gin this spring The four residents each spoke for approximately their allotted five minutes during the regular monthly meeting ning with Richard Pierce a ing regular who has been ken in his opposition to the project At the last meeting I gave my estimate of what millage would be in five years if the school district continues to spend the way it has in the last five Pierce said adding his estimate of 15 mills was conservative Tonight twill tell you that the school district's residents will not be able to pay that amount of money Pierce a retired banker used the school district's own figures supplied to the Act 50 sion last year Central Tax Bureau of Pennsylvania's analysis of in- come and taxes from tax year 1999 to show the board that dis- residents cannot afford higher taxes in a sluggish economy According to Pierce of the tax returns submitted to the tax reau and of those submitted those earning from to per year were from to annually were 708 from to annually were Excluded were about 300 not paying taxes because they made less than That means that 61 percent of Wellsboro taxpayers earned under per year If you take a median the average income is he said Those making between and per year amounted to 891 those making between and per year were 567 and those making over were 127 How do you expect them to be able to afford the kind of taxes that will come down the pike when you start to pay for your new high he asked Pierce noted that even without figuring in the continuing sion there would be no way the board would be able to get blood out of a stone Pierce also commented on the proposed action item to borrow money on a Tax Anticipation to pay the district's bills until anticipated revenues come in You are already in the hole and that's with a ten cent tax increase last year You will have to increase taxes each year and even with that you will not balance your budget I suggest you take a good look at these he said Resident Anna Vail a member of the Act 50 Study Commission informed the board that the De- cember 2001 unemployment rates were 7.1 percent for Tioga County We are number 46 out of 67 counties in the state with the state average at 6 percent and the national average at 6.8 she said That does not include the 38 laid Ward Manufacturing 22 from Laurel Health Systems and 15 positions not filled at the Tioga County Human Services Agency she added Vail noted that when the March figures come out in May the county rate will likely have risen to 8 percent one of the est in the state Wouldn't the board think it prudent to review this building she questioned In light of the anticipated cuts in the state budget and proposed elimination of building grants I wish the board would reconsider this million project Al Bieber a local business owner noted he had done a com- parison of school districts on the Internet and what they have done with their building projects Several superintendents were interviewed on line and I'm prised at the number of architects Please see RESIDENTS page by Gayle Morrow Wellsboro Borough Council President John Dugan thinks there should be a sidewalk on Sherman and Meade streets for walking between the Don Gill and Charlotte Lappla schools He has directed the Public Works Committee and any other interested council members to study the area and come up with a recommendation to council as soon as possible Dugan said he has believed for years there should be a sidewalk between the buildings and now with the stairs between them closed for building code violations the need is particularly obvious The sidewalk nance gives council the authority to compel property owners to put in a sidewalk and repair existing walks In other matters related to the school district members noted there is still no approved storm water management plan for the district's new high school con- struction project nor has the dis- obtained a demolition permit for the two houses on Nichols Street which will be torn down to make way for the new school Some demolition work has ready begun on those structures Regarding borough roads of Public Works Mark Dieffenbach reported the roads are a mess with numerous potholes Borough crews have already used nearly five tons of cold patch on the holes he said adding that the cycle not only creates holes but makes the existing ones hard to fix Dugan said the state plans to give municipalities additional to offset snow re- moval and road repair costs It is also possible the state's uid fuel allocations will be early to municipalities In other business Mayor Jim Daugherty said some applications have been received for the time police officer position Thirty-year veteran officer Please see COUNCIL page to save by refinancing bonds by McGann Southern Tioga School District will refinance three of its con- struction bonds to save about over the next two years Financial advisor Les Bear dis- cussed the district's options ing the March 10 work session With all the events in the world it has affected the bond Bear said The statistic I heard today is the ten year bond has hit a 49 year low He added that there might be another interest rate cut next week Southern Tioga issued four bonds related to its recent ing and renovation projects The 1999 bond issue totals million By refinancing now the district could save in interest charges The 1997 and 1998 bonds could be combined and refinancing would save the dis- Bear went on to say that the savings could be front meaning that much of the debt payment savings can be realized for the school year It could be a godsend for us this business manager Jim said noting the governor's proposed budget which freezes school subsidies for the year In order to hit the right dow the school board will need to meet in a special session on day evening March 24 to approve one refinancing The other could be approved at the May 5 work session The district will need to tise that action will be taken at that work session The board cally does not make official deci- sions at the work sessions A fourth bond issued in 2001 cannot be refinanced at this time by Chris McGann There will be some contested races for various county and offices as candidates filed before the March 11 deadline The primary election is May 20 Eleven people have filed to seek nominations for county For the two Republican nations incumbents Erick Coolidge of Wellsboro and James Bogaczyk of Blossburg will join a field including Vance Bieser of Nelson Deborah Calkins of field Mark Hamilton of field Ivan Kerr of Wellsboro Steven of Wellsboro and Sue Vogler of Wellsboro Those seeking the Democratic nod will be David Cummings of Mansfield Janice Gausline of land and Hall of Elkland There are three commissioner Two Democrats and two Republicans will earn tions Seeking the Republican nation for district attorney are incumbent John Cowley of field and Stephen Banik boro Those seeking the Republican nominations for county auditor are incumbent Rebecca Briggs of Wellsboro along with Marion ler of Wellsboro and Corwin of Lawrenceville Christine Graves of Little Marsh and incumbent Lynda Painter of Westfield will seek the Democratic nominations for tor There are auditor positions up for election Two Democrats and two Republicans will earn nations Republican Dr James Wilson will seek the nomination for ner and Republican Jane Wetherbee will seek the tion for register and recorder The Wellsboro Area School Board has five seats available and a crowded field of candidates School board dates may cross file The candidates are incumbents Jeffrey Eaton Glenn Poirier Deborah Sawyer Linda West and Albert Bieber Charles Borden Jeffrey Flannery Diane Gribble Virgil Kirkendall Atalanta Shabloski and Anna Vail Borden and Gribble will run as Republicans The others filed The Southern Tioga School Board has five four-year seats and two two-year seats available In region one there are two four-year seats open Incumbent Roxanne Landis Dan Berguson and Keith McKeever will run as Republicans In region two there is one year and two two-year seats able Incumbents Barb Shall and Susan Jaquish for the two-year seats For the four-year seat incumbent Jeff Rush and Dan Bower both In region three there are two four-year seats available bent Miller while incumbent Johnston will run as a Democrat Northern Tioga has five seats and four incumbents running for them All incumbents Richard Freeman will seek the region one nominations Michael Vayansky and John Weiner will seek the region 2 seats There is a third seat available Larry McCullen will seek the region 3 seat Several municipalities will see contested races also BLOSS TOWNSHIP Incumbent Delmar Kirkendall and Ralph Sandstrom will seek the Republican nomination for Ted Stehman will seek the Democratic nod BLOSSBURG BOROUGH Incumbent Catherine Asalone and Dorothy will both seek the Republican nomination for tax collector Republicans George Brooks and David VanOrder will seek the nominations for the two-year post Incumbent Frank Please see VOTE page
