Dimock looking at police coverage

BY PAT FARNELLI

DimockTownshipsupervisors on Monday night considered having a police presence in the township.

Justin Sprout of the Montrose Borough Police addressed the supervisors and those attending, giving a pitch for hiring police officers to patrol the township.

Sprout who patrols Montrose andNew Milfordboroughs, said thatBridgewaterTownshipmay be hiring police, and that neighboring townships might benefit from similar police presence, which would be billed at $27 an hour.

According to Sprout, the patrols are conducted under the supervision of local municipal officials, who track the police activity through incident reports.

“The (loitering) kids see the cars, and they’re gone,” Sprout said.

The officers are authorized to do traffic stops, and can serve warrants and enter a home to make an arrest.

Sprout said that the incident log can turn up surprising trends.

Sprout lives inDimockTownshiponHunter Road, and said he has seen many instances that would justify increased police supervision.

He said he cannot allow his two children to play near the road due to the excessive speed of some drivers.

Supervisor Matt Neenan asked, “If you write a citation, who gets the money?”

Sprout answered that the fine portion of the ticket charge would go to the township, but that the greater amount of the bill is for surcharges, often adding up to $100.

One visitor questioned whether the township would be liable if an officer forced an entry and something causing injury or damage occurred.

Supervisor Paul Jennings said he is looking into the liability aspect.

The supervisors made no decision at this time.

In other business, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection sent a notice to the supervisors of an “Acceptance of Additional Fluids” permit, which had been approved for a water storage and waste treatment facility located onHunter Roadin Dimock.

The permit required the facility to submit revised plans once the new storage capacity is put into effect.

Also, a Susquehanna County Council of Governments Code Enforcement Permit was issued for a non-residential accessory structure, to be built by Pioneer Pole Buildings on the property of Joseph and Gloria DiGiolamo onBare Valley Road.

Revised flood maps were available for view, as was a proposed Act 30 ordinance to establish an earned income tax in the township, to be collected by thecountyCentralTax Bureau, or Centax. This is the same rate and tax that already has existed in the township since the 1980s,Jenningssaid. A special meeting has been advertised to discuss the EIT on Friday at9 a.m.

There were some comments regarding PennDOT/state police truck stops last Tuesday inDimockTownship, in the center of town and on the Dimock toElk Lake Road. A large number of heavy trucks were pulled over and checked, filling the parking lots for theDimockTownshipbuilding, the Baptist church across the street, and the post office.

The night before the truck inspections, a heavy dump truck careened off the Dimock toBrooklyn Roadonto a lawn, tearing deep ruts into the damp lawn, and hit a large stone outcropping. It took about two hours to extract the vehicle, which had run over a large evergreen tree and sank deeply into the mud.

Craig and Julie Sautner attended the meeting hoping to hear about the proposed compressor station planned for Dimock on the property of Gary and Gail Shields.

The supervisors reviewed a 10-acre permit exception for the compressor station that has been applied for by Laser NE Gathering Company at last month’s meeting.

Julie Sautner asked where the Shields’ property was located.Jenningsinformed her that it was onHunsinger Road.

Mike Andrejack of Andrejack Excavating attended the meeting. He is working for the township installing sluice pipe.

Dimock Township Supervisors meet on the first Monday of the month at7 p.m.