I went to the Owego meeting Tuesday 8-2-2011
Summary
Town of Owego meeting - 6 Bolles Hill Residents there to request Town of Owego support for the construction of the permanent Bolles Hill Road Bridge.
Bob Gemmel discussed the status of the Bolles Hill Road Bridge and the unofficial response received from Don Castellucci, stating in his email that –
The executive meeting did not go well. Bolles Hill Residents have some valid points but the bottom line is the bridge is in Pa and Board members can’t get past that. Don was sorry for the disappointing news.
The BHR residents together reviewed the alternative plans and have chosen Plan C as the best option. Plan A – was to try to defer removing the existing temporary bridge till Little Meadows could afford it – NOT VIABLE – PA DEP will order bridge out 9/2011 – residents cannot be without the bridge 2-3 years or forever.
Plan B – Seek Town of Owego Funding for the $10K – Official request from LM. – Unofficial answer NO
Plan C – Residents setup Fund raising Campaign and collect the $10K
Bolles Hill Road residents worked hard all weekend - they set up the process, created a fund raising letter, strategy, and fund raising packets. Then they hit the streets distributing the fund raising packets and emailing our contact list.
The plan is to by 8/15/2011 raise the $10,000 required in the form of pledges from private individuals/business donations.
Steve Czarnecki expressed appreciation to the board for their support in the past and asked where Bolles Hill Road repairs are on the list of Town of Owego 22 critical projects. Mark Clark said we would provide Steve the list. Ann Hoffman asked that the Town Highway Department make safety corrections and road repairs on Harnick road for the safety of the School Buses and the children.
Residents agreed after the meeting to peruse their fund raising efforts “full speed ahead” and to press on Plan C to raise the funds without any Government support.
There were also several Harnick Road Residents at the meeting to request help for fixing Harnick road and rework of an earlier fix that has since gone bad. They also discussed the many other drainage problems and consequences of storm drainage running off the road and ditches into neighbor properties leaving sand, gravel and debris. Many speakers provided lots of drama and heated debate on the Harnick Road condition, history of storm damage and excessive speed of some cars and pickup trucks that could endanger the safety of children. At one point things got so heated that Wayne Moulton spoke up to admonished the speakers to calm down, tone down the voices and stop using Highway Superintendent Mark Clark as a punching bag.
Regards,
Bob Gemmel
