Berlin sets the record straight

LINDA DROLLINGER
Posted 6/19/19

BEACH LAKE, PA — Supervisor Cathy Hunt first congratulated incumbent supervisor Charlie Gries on his May 21 Republican primary win over former supervisor Paul Henry at the June 17 Berlin …

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Berlin sets the record straight

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BEACH LAKE, PA — Supervisor Cathy Hunt first congratulated incumbent supervisor Charlie Gries on his May 21 Republican primary win over former supervisor Paul Henry at the June 17 Berlin Township Board of Supervisors meeting. She then read a statement that she  said, “should lay to rest once and for all the notion that Berlin Township is again considering a nuisance abatement ordinance.”

The statement says in part, “This matter was addressed at an advertised hearing (in 2015) and, although some regular meeting attendees continued to urge the supervisors to adopt a type of nuisance regulation, the public attending the hearing voiced their disdain for the proposed ordinance. The supervisors acted upon their [members of the public at the hearing] concerns by no longer pursuing the adoption of any such ordinance... this matter is a dead issue and attempts to infer otherwise are incorrect.”

Henry, a supervisor at the time of the hearing, had championed the proposed ordinance, in the hope it would provide a legal basis for demolition of the charred remains of the Big Apple Country Tavern located at 938 Beach Lake Hwy. After a 2014 fire that burned half of that building to the ground and left the other half standing open to wildlife, vagrants and unsuspecting children, area residents asked the township to demolish it and safely remove remaining debris. But without a statute on which to base such action, the township was powerless to declare the property a public safety hazard. The proposed ordinance was the board’s attempt to establish the necessary statute.

Honoring the Berlin public’s desire to kill the proposed ordinance, the board announced its intention to drop the ordinance, and has since done nothing more with it, or any other nuisance abatement ordinance. Henry, who for the duration of his term, declined the monthly stipend paid supervisors for their service, did not seek re-election in 2016. But when he again sought the supervisor’s office this year, a rumor began to circulate, with no basis in fact, board members said, that the board was again considering such an ordinance.

Hunt’s statement was the board’s attempt to calm fears of a renewed push for a nuisance abatement ordinance, and to exonerate Henry, who had, and reportedly has, no intention of again promoting such an ordinance.

The supervisors then moved to address other concerns of the public attending the meeting at hand: disintegrating roads. As Hunt opened sealed contractor bids for road reconstruction, she said PennDOT engineers had given her generous ballpark estimates for the four township roads slated for reconstruction this summer: Slish Road, Miller Road, Buckingham Road and Branning Road. PennDOT estimates all exceeded bids that ranged from $50,000 to over $100,000. Branning and Slish were awarded to Bill Pykus Excavating. Buckingham and Miller were awarded to Wayco, Inc.

Bill Pykus, who was present at the meeting, said his company is prepared to begin work on Slish Road almost immediately.

Hunt noted that one taxpayer said he was paying his township taxes under protest, because the road he lives on, Perkins Pond Road, is in such a sorry state. Hunt referred him to PennDOT, as Perkins Pond Road is a state road, not a township road.

news, Pennsylvania, beach lake, republican primary, Berlin Township, ordinance

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