Elk Lake board seeks legal advice

BY JEFFREY HORVATH
Times-Shamrock Correspondent

During its monthly meeting on Wednesday (June 3), the Elk Lake School Board approved the retention of the law firm of Abrahamsen, Conaboy & Abrahamsen to deal with forthcoming legal issues regarding the Tennessee Pipeline, among other business.

The Board was in executive session for about two hours prior to the start of the meeting.

The Scranton-based firm was approved to represent Elk Lake School District in all legal matters concerning the construction of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, an 11,900 mile pipeline designed to transport natural gas from the southern United States to the northeast.

According to Elk Lake Superintendent Kenneth Cuomo, Kinder Morgan, the company responsible for the project, intends for part of the pipeline to cross through a portion of the school’s property.

Cuomo added that “we would prefer that the pipeline not come onto the school district’s land,” acknowledging that there will be a great deal of “legal hoops to jump through” as this is federal issue (spanning multiple states).

Abrahamsen, Conaboy & Abrahamsen will negotiate with Kinder Morgan in an effort to prevent the Tennessee Pipeline’s encroachment on school district property. Currently the issue is one of eminent domain. All correspondence concerning the pipeline will now be filtered through the law firm’s office.

The School Board also approved the hire of individuals for several positions, including Title I summer tutoring positions and a special education extended school year associate position.

Phyllis Quinn, Leslie Foster, and Cambrie Ely were all approved as hires for the summer tutoring program, while Mary Jo Bayer was hired as an associate.
In other business, the Board approved the posting of an associate position and a crisis counselor position.

Speaking to an issue not on the official agenda, board member Chuck Place discussed what he considered to be a troubling piece of conflicting information concerning the concealed carry of weapons on school property.

According to Place, several meetings have taken place in Susquehanna County involving state legislators during which it was clearly stated that concealed carry weapons are to be forbidden on school grounds. Nonetheless, Place claimed to have attended a similar meeting April 9 at the Black Walnut American Legion, led by the Wyoming County District Attorney and the Sheriff’s Office, where he felt he was told “the exact opposite.”

However, Wyoming County DA Jeff Mitchell, later stated in a letter to the editor appearing in the April 29 Wyoming County Press Examiner that “To be clear, it is unlawful to possess a weapon in the buildings of a school, the grounds of a school, or a school bus or other school transportation.”

He acknowledged that the open-ended language of exceptions for law enforcement purposes only may have caused some confusion at the Black Walnut seminar, for which he apologized for any misunderstanding.

During the SCCTC portion of the meeting the Board approved a revision of their transportation policy regarding liability insurance. Under the revised policy all contractors working for Elk Lake or the SCCTC will need to carry a minimum of $1 million in liability insurance.

The Board also approved the posting of a full-time ParaEducator position.

Board members Donica McGee and Alice Carr were not in attendance during the SCCTC portion of the meeting.

It was announced on next year’s calendar that the Elk Lake School District will be closed on Oct. 28 as Elk Lake will host the Cross Country District Championship.

The SCCTC is offering multiple programs this summer, including a Health Care Career Camp from July 13 to 16; and 120-hour condensed entry level welding program from July 6 to 28. The tuition fee for the welding program is $1,800.

Community Yoga classes are offered at the SCCTC on Mondays from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m.

SCCTC graduation will be Thursday, June 11, at 7 p.m. The SCCTC will graduate 128 students.

Elk Lake Graduation is scheduled for Saturday, June 13.