Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Foster Township supervisors Bob Slike and Chris Wolcott have resigned, along with longtime township secretary Jennifer Gorrell. At the end of Monday’s meeting Wolcott announced that his resignation would be effective Tuesday. Slike’s resignation is effective immediately. Slike, who had been supervisor chairman for many years, would have been entering his 20th year on the board. Wolcott has been a supervisor for 12 years. Both men said the meetings had gotten to be too much to deal with. Remaining supervisor Jim Connelly Jr. must work with the vacancy board to fill the positions. Gorrell tendered her resignation earlier in the day, and it was accepted during Monday’s supervisors meeting. It was effective Monday.

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Some people think Foster Township residents are paying too much for their sewer tap-in fees, and that should change. Others agree the fee is too high, but think it should stay where it is. The $2,000 tap-in fee was one of the topics of Monday’s Foster Township supervisors meeting. Bradford Township residents pay $1,000. City residents pay $500. The issue arose, in part, because residents are concerned about what would happen if the three municipalities consolidate sewer services. Supervisor Jim Connelly, who believes the tap-in fee is too high, is hoping to find ways to cut costs – including being more diligent in collecting from delinquent customers – to lower the fee. “I think that’s ($2,000) a lot of money to ask somebody to pay,” Connelly said. He added that there are $30,000 in delinquent bills. “It’s not fair that some of us have to pay our sewer bills and some of us don’t,” Connelly said. East Main Street resident Don Pistner wanted to kn...

Tom Munn is the new chief of the Foster Township Police Department. Supervisors unanimously approved the appointment during their meeting Monday night. The appointment was effective immediately. Munn replaces Jeff Wolbert who retired. His last day was October 20. Supervisor Chris Wolcott said Munn is a hard-working and dedicated police officer and is a great asset to the township. Supervisor Chairman Bob Slike asked township secretary Jennifer Gorrel to send a letter to Wolcott thanking him for his 33 years of service to the township, adding that he was dedicated at the township will miss him. “Amen,” Wolcott added.

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Different municipality. Same question. Why is code enforcement complaint driven? South Kendall Avenue resident Barb Price again on Monday asked Foster Township supervisors what’s being done about the “deplorable” conditions on her road and other areas in the township. Supervisors said letters have been sent out to several property owners about the problems. But Price still had a question. “Why is it that the citizens have to be the ones to complain about these conditions in the township when we have the township workers that are up and down the roads? The police can see them,” she said. “I don’t think that I have to be a watchdog for the township.” Supervisor Jim Connelly, who took a drive with Price to see some of the problem properties, asked Police Chief Jeff Wolbert and Road Supervisor Joe Sweet to report abandoned cars, junk and other problems. He said if they report the problems, the supervisors will make sure code enforcement officer John...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Most of the oil and gas drilling companies working in the county have been cooperative in fixing the roads they damage, according to McKean County Commissioners. Commissioners Joe DeMott, Al Pingie and Judy Church attended Monday’s Foster Township Supervisors meeting as part of their effort to attend meetings in every municipality in the county. So far, in three months, they’ve visited 20 of 22 municipalities. Seaward Avenue resident Tom Perry asked who’s responsible for making sure the companies adhere to weight limits, and take care of damaged roads. Pingie said it’s up to the municipalities to make sure the companies are following the rules and regulations. “So far … they’ve been very good about taking care of the roads,” Church said. “They replaced a road in Norwich Township.” She said supervisors met with the drilling company, got an estimate for road repairs and company paid it. DeMott added that the companies have been cooperative. “Most ...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Foster Township Police Chief Jeff Wolbert is hoping to retire next year. Wolbert made the unofficial announcement during Monday’s Foster Township supervisors meeting after a question by Interstate Parkway resident Joe Piganelli. Piganelli said, because they know he attends the township meetings, several people asked if he knew anything about Wolbert retiring. Wolbert said he hopes to retire in January. He’ll be retirement age in November. Piganelli then asked if the supervisors had a plan to name a new police chief. “We’ve had some discussions” supervisor Chris Wolcott said. Piganelli asked if the discussions would be just among the supervisors, or if the public would be involved. “I don’t see that the public needs to be necessarily involved at this stage,” Wolcott said, adding that the supervisors are willing to take comments and suggestions. “We don’t even have a plan right at the moment,” Wolcott said. “We’ve had some discussions but, actuall...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director There was more trash talk at Monday’s Foster Township Supervisors meeting. Residents wanted more details on a plan that was introduced last month about changing the way trash is collected in the township. Last month supervisors voted to start a study to look into collecting its own trash instead of having several haulers do the pickups. Derrick Road resident Ron VanScoter said one of the reasons he’s against the township getting involved is that it would be taking business away from private enterprise. “You have private enterprise that works and they’re doing a good job. If the township collects their own, they’re going to put people out of work,” VanScoter said. “Once the government’s involved, it seems to go out of hand,” he said. Township resident Kira Leck said she hauls her own trash to the landfill, and thinks that people who don’t want to pay for trash collection shouldn’t have to. “I work really hard at lowering my trash output. I recycl...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Even in today’s challenging times, the 286 people who got their diplomas from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford have at least one big thing going for them: The power of Pitt. That was one of the messages delivered by commencement speaker Dave Wannstedt, head coach of the University of Pittsburgh football team. “Do not let (the challenging times), in any way, discourage you or dampen your enthusiasm for what you want or what you can accomplish,” Wannstedt told the graduates. “There’s a reason people from this university have helped change the world in so many positive ways. That’s the power of Pitt. And you now own that power.” He said he realizes the graduates are living with quite a bit of uncertainty now, just as he was when he graduated from Pitt in 1974. He was drafted into the NFL by the Green Bay Packers, but didn’t know how long a pro football career would last. He knew he wanted to be a coach. He applied to graduate school because...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director The Street Dreams Car Club may be traveling from Main Street to the Bradford Mall. During Monday's Foster Township Supervisors meeting, Street Dreams President Gary Hoy said the show has "outgrown Main Street," adding they had 321 cars last year and there wasn't enough room for them. He said some people even had to leave. Foster Township Supervisor Jim Connelly Jr. said he will be contacting the managers of the mall to see if they agree to having the show there. "It's not written in stone because I haven't talked with the mall yet," Connelly said. But he added, "This is an opportunity we can't miss. We're going to continue to try to make Foster Township grow ... Our door's open. We're welcoming new business." There was a question as to whether the car show would be held at all when the City of Bradford enacted an ordinance that requires anyone holding an event downtown to pay a fee of...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Volunteer fire departments are "officially" on the endangered species list. That's according to Foster Township Supervisor Jim Connelly Jr., who took time during Monday's supervisors meeting to address the dwindling membership of the Derrick City and Rew volunteer fire departments. "I'm going to put our Foster Township fire departments on the endangered species list," Connelly said. "We need help. It's got to be addressed." He reiterated what supervisors have been saying for months -- people don't have to fight fires to be a member of the department. Plenty of other jobs, such as maintenance and bingo, are available. Connelly acknowledged that the problem isn't unique to Foster Township. "It's a serious issue all over the United States of America," he said. "Our volunteers are falling by the wayside. Having a volunteer fire department is a luxury." "When we pick u...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Truck traffic on Interstate Parkway is horrible, according to one area resident. Deb Piganelli told Foster Township Supervisors during their meeting Monday night that the drivers don't seem to care about the other drivers on the road, or people walking along the road. She said people walk along the road "all the time" and, now that summer's here, more children are out and people are driving to Allegany State Park by way of Interstate Parkway. "This isn't just one incident," she said. "This is non-stop day and night. Two and 3 o'clock in the morning they are flying up there – six, eight trucks at a time." Piganelli said she and her husband walk every night and "there are some nights we actually have to jump off into the side of the road, way into the grass, just to let them get by. And they don't seem to want to slow down whether you're walking or not. They don't even try to slow down...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Some Foster Township residents seem to be having a problem Hedgehog Lane residents have been dealing with for months – oil and gas drilling affecting their water wells. Interstate Parkway resident Joe Piganelli told Foster Township Supervisors Monday night that the water in his neighbor's well turned brown, but DEP told him his well had gone bad. However, it went bad the day fracking was done in the area. Piganelli asked that the supervisors contact the drilling company. "If the three of you got a hold of US Energy and said 'Hey, what the heck's going on?' … We had pristine water and now it's garbage. Pretty soon you'll be able to drink out of your sewer better than you can your water." Jim Connelly suggested the supervisors attend the next Bradford Township Supervisors meeting because DEP has been attending those meetings to deal with residents concerns about how drilling has affected water on Hedgehog Lane. Pi...