Building collapse injures workers

LIBERTY, NY — A gas station which was being rebuilt on North Main Street in Liberty collapsed on October 15, trapping two workers. A majority of the roof substructure and several new trusses caved in during a period of strong winds.

Liberty police, along with the Liberty Fire Department, the Monticello Fire Department Trench Rescue Team and the Mechanics Town and Goshen collapse teams, the New York State Police, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department and MobileMedic all responded to the collapse.

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mergency workers were able to free one of the victims upon arrival, owner Tariq Mohmood Guja, and he was flown to Westchester Medical Center with head injuries. About an hour later, a second victim was rescued and taken to Catskill Regional Medical Center with injuries to his legs. Other workers suffered minor bumps and bruises and were treated at the scene.

As of October 18, Guja was in critical but stable condition.

An investigation into the collapse by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is underway.

Dates set for Tusten zoning review

NARROWSBURG, NY — The Town of Tusten zoning rewrite committee has set the date of Thursday, October 27 at 7 p.m. for a committee meeting at which a decision will be made with regarding keeping, deleting or modifying Article 14. The article would explicitly prohibit heavy industrial uses, including natural gas drilling, in the town. Public comments on all other issues in the zoning rewrite will also be reviewed, and any needed modifications voted on, at the same meeting.

An intended date of Monday, November 14, at the monthly town board meeting, was set for the vote on the zoning rewrite as a whole. Both meetings will be held at the Town of Tusten Town Hall on Bridge St.

PPL chooses new powerline route

WAYNE COUNTY, PA — PPL Electric Utilities has chosen a route for a new power line in Northeast PA. The selected route connects the new Paupack substation site near Lakeville, along a zig-zag course southwest in Paupack and Salem townships, between Route 590 and Lake Wallenpaupack. It rounds west of Ledgedale and west of Newfoundland, and heads west through Sterling Township into Lackawanna County, meeting the new North Pocono substation. It then goes southwest to the new West Pocono substation near the Luzerne/Monroe county line west of Pocono Pines. Finally, it veers northwest through Luzerne County to the existing Jenkins substation near Wilkes-Barre. The existing transmission lines from Jessup to Honesdale will be rebuilt, and a small section from Cherry Ridge to Lakeville will receive additional wires.

PPL will hold public open houses to take comments on the chosen route. In our area, an open house will be held on Wednesday, October 26 at the Greene-Dreher Volunteer Fire Association, 460 Crestmont Drive, in Newfoundland.

Hawley apartment concerns

HAWLEY, PA — No permits have yet been issued regarding a proposed project at the old NAPA building at 605 Church St., where the first floor houses the Wasylyk Karate School. The owners of the two-story building, Jeff Swanick and Lindsey Rupp, are looking to build four apartments on the second floor, which would require a conditional use approval permit, according to Robert Bernathy, borough attorney.

At the public portion of the Hawley Borough meeting on October 12, resident Karl Kreiter, whose property is adjacent to the building, reminded the council of concerns about off-street parking that he expressed in a letter to Hawley council two years ago. Bernathy told Kreiter that the matter is the subject of litigation.