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ournal-herald THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2024 • Volume 43 – No. 26 ©2024, THE JOURNAL-HERALD. All Rights Reserved
CONTINUING: THE WHITE HAVEN JOURNAL ESTABLISHED 1879–145th YEAR, NO. 13
SINGLE COPY– 75¢ (USPS 277440)
CONTINUING: THE WEATHERLY HERALD ESTABLISHED 1880–144th YEAR, NO. 39
Foster Twp. sprucing up by Jim Dino The Foster Township Board of Supervisors have taken several more steps to revitalizing the corner of Centre Street and Route 940 near the entrance to Freeland. At their latest meeting February 14, the supervisors voted to advertise for a Request for Proposals (RFP) to remove eight underground gas tanks from the former Heller’s Gas Station that stood at the corner for many years. The next step to remodeling the intersection is to tear down an abandoned home to the rear of where the gas station building stood. Attorney Donald Karpowich, the township’s solicitor, explained the history of the double home. Last year, the township purchased the side of the home at 108 Centre Street for $9,000. Karpowich said the supervisors have been trying to buy the other half, at 104-106 Centre Street, but have not been able to find the owner. Wednesday night, the supervisors began legal proceedings to obtain the property by eminent domain for the appraised price of $8,500. The township can use eminent domain because they would be alleviating a public nuisance due to the danger the building poses—it could potentially fall down, Karpowich said. Once the township owns both halves of the home – which is in such disrepair that it would be dangerous to enter – they will tear down the structure, and get the site “pad ready” for a developer to build something there. All of the work is being done with a $209,445 Local Shares Account (LSA) grant the township obtained for the project.
There is one more double home – which is still occupied – between the site and the MMI Preparatory School. Municipal Building Renovations The supervisors voted to advertise for bids to do renovations to the township municipal and Department of Public Works (DPW) garage at building at 1000 Wyoming Avenue. Work at the municipal building includes: Repair the concrete entrance ramp and landing, and install drains; replace the entrance door, windows, and replace 760 square feet of vinyl flooring in the meeting room; repair drywall and paint in the meeting room and entrance lobby; replace carpet at the entrance, and repair a leak in the roof. In the mechanical room, repair the entire length of exterior soffit above the side entrance, replace a mechanical room door and provide stairs to access the second floor. Install a new security system for the municipal building and garage, install two new canopies for each entrance, and replace a 20 by 14-foot overhead door in the salt building. In the DPW garage, work includes refastening an overhead door frame, replacing and refastening the entrance door and frame with a new door and frame for the office leading into the garage, removing and replacing overhead lighting with LED lighting, replacing two overhead garage door openers, replacing one overhead garage door to match the existing door, and replacing one man door and frame. All of that work is being done with another LSA grant, this one for $100,495.
This photo from last week’s storm arrived after we printed, but it’s still timely. The truck was unable to climb the hill on Route 940 through East Side, resulting in a blocked River Street. The truck was on Route 940 because Interstate 80 eastbound was closed, due to a truck accident. Traffic was heavy through White Haven for several hours. Photo courtesy Daryl Jones.