HONESDALE, PA — To an agenda laced with 2017 budget preparation, the October 10 meeting of the Honesdale Borough Council added progress reports on three sizeable long-term projects: the proposed hospital expansion; the Central Park veterans’ memorial; and renovation of the borough’s Fair Avenue public swimming-pool complex.

The council unanimously (minus absent Bill Canfield) approved Wayne Memorial Hospital’s (WMH) expansion plan, as submitted for its consideration at a September 26 conditional-use hearing. Construction can begin as soon as WMH has secured approval of its variance request from the zoning hearing board; received approval of lighting, parking and planting plans; and has met all other borough and planning commission requirements.

The plan provides for 50 new private patient rooms and hundreds of additional parking spaces, as well as a canopied common entrance and shell space on the fifth floor that can be used as future needs dictate.

Betty deMaye Caruth announced completion of the Walk of Honor, a Wayne County veterans memorial in Honesdale’s Central Park. Under construction for almost two years, the memorial will open to the public with a ceremony at 11 a.m. on Veterans Day, November 11. Both date and time are significant; the armistice officially ending World War I was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The ceremony will include an address by state Sen. Lisa Baker, veterans’ group salutes and music provided by school bands.

Paul Meagher of the Honesdale Lions Club announced that his organization will spearhead a capital campaign to jumpstart renovation of the borough’s public swimming pool complex. Noting that each summer the pool serves almost 100 Honesdale YMCA youths daily, in addition to Dyberry Day Camp visitors and the general public of all ages, Meagher said the renovation will guarantee safe water recreation to Honesdale residents and visitors alike for years to come.

Estimated to cost $250,000 to $275,000, the renovation is long overdue. Meagher acknowledged that the pool would have been forced to close years ago, had it not been for the many “band-aid” repairs made by Rich Doney and his Department of Public Works crew. The staggering cost is more than the Lions Club can raise on its own, but it plans to seek help from the Honesdale Rotary Club, the Honesdale Jaycees, and the Women’s Club of Honesdale, among others, to get the job done.

As the council thrashed out its 2017 draft budget, borough secretary Judy Poltanis said a budget must be adopted before December 1, per state law, owing to the recent hiring of new borough treasurer James Syre, who doubles as local tax collector.

President Mike Augello noted that the finding of an arbitration regarding the 2015 firing of police officer Keith Colombo was one of several uncertainties with potential to impact the budget. Despite two executive sessions devoted to that finding (on September 26 and October 3), it has yet to be made public. Augello’s only public comment was, “We’re still unclear about the finding’s implications for the borough.”