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Community Pool at MH gets good report

MILL HALL –Mill Hall Borough Council got a good report card on the Community Pool at Monday night’s meeting.

Kelly McGhee, of Friends of the Community Pool at Mill Hall, gave a recap of the pool’s 2018 season — June 18 to Aug. 20.

The pool had 13 family memberships, two single memberships and 36 people participated in swim lessons, she said. Three free swim days were sponsored by local businesses which brought in a total of 846 people.

And, the food truck war, held Aug. 5, was a success, McGhee said, noting that many of the food truck owners are hoping to participate in the event again next year.

The Clinton County Economic Partnership helped to get the word out about the event and there was a good response, she said.

“Even though it was a rainy season it was a success,” she said. “There’s no doubt we made out fairly well.”

Not wanting to rest on the laurels, she handed council a list of ideas to make the 2019 season even more successful.

The first idea is to have a special event on the first Tuesday of every month, running from May through September. The event would run from 6 to 9 p.m. and possibly feature food trucks, live music and give community service groups a way to speak with the community.

It would also serve as a way to promote the pool and the surrounding parks and baseball fields, she said.

“It would be a great way to promote what we have in Mill Hall,” she said.

Tuesday night’s were chosen so as not to interfere with other area events like Lock Haven City’s Summer Concert Series and free movie nights in Triangle Park, she said.

Other ideas included:

– Establishing a community day to promote yard sales, farmers markets and give the Mill Hall Fire Department a chance to raise money through food sales and such.

– Hosting a farmers market on Saturday mornings.

– Working with Keystone Central School District through the summer recreation program to fund swimming lessons at the pool. This would be a way to help prevent accidental deaths in swimming pools, she said.

OTHER BUSINESS

Council discussed what to do with a property at 364 Main St., whose owner, Lois Stiver, is now in Susque-View.

Mayor Thomas Bossert said Stiver is unable to even afford the state required reappraisal to sell the house, which is in very bad condition.

Most of the utilities in the home have been shut off except sewage, which needs to be dug up and capped off, Councilman Vincent Shay said.

Police Chief Brandon Coleman said the police department has run into issues with the property as well. Due to lack of upkeep, the home is in violation of multiple ordinances, and letters sent have been unanswered due to the situation, he said.

A motion was made by Shay to have the borough take care of the sewage and put a lien on the property. It was seconded by Councilman Fredrick C. Bucheit and agreed upon unanimously.

Bossert suggested council send a bill of the expenses and fines that have been collecting in Stiver’s name to Susque-View.

Two members of the community, Lake Garbrick and Mike Durost requested the borough repair the alley way and parking area behind Beech Creek Avenue near 221-223 Frederick St. The roadway is very rough to drive on and water pools heavily in the parking area, Durost said.

Shay offered to meet with the two and look at the area to see what the borough could do for them. Walker also said he would check out the place himself.

Bucheit addressed some concerns for the alley way behind his home on Forrest Avenue. The roadway has narrowed by approximately four or five inches due to rain water in a drainage ditch along the roadway, he said.

“(There’s) a length of 100 feet that needs repaired,” he said.

Borough worker Jeremy Wallace suggested they put amesite in the ditches as a way to stop the stones from digging out the ditch, causing the alley’s problems.

Shay suggested that if they were to do something like Wallace suggested, they could seal up the cracks in the roadway to keep from needing to repave it.

Bucheit suggested they dig down a foot into the ditch and put in concrete ballasts as a way to protect the road.

After some discussion, Walker tasked Rote and Wallace with looking into the matter to see what might be done.

Rote gave a summary of the borough’s road projects and repairs over the month of August.

– A hole that developed in Church Street was repaired by PennDOT, he said. “They dug down into the ground, discovered the problem and fixed it. Afterwards, they filled it with concrete and overlayed it,” he said.

– All new street signs have been installed along Water Street on the Route 664 sign. They did go over budget a little, but he said has heard positive feedback from the community.

– The new borough secretary will handle reservations at the Community Park in Mill Hall in the spring of 2019. Rote made the suggestion, saying that it’s difficult for him to keep track of everything. His job takes him all over the borough and the area and he said he can’t keep the reservation book with him wherever he goes. He said it would be easier if the secretary would keep the book and handle the reservations. Rote will continue to put up signage indicating when a pavilion is being reserved through contact with the secretary on a weekly or monthly basis.

Councilman Warren “Ted” Jodun was absent.

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