- The Forest City News

$30.00/yr. Susq., Wayne, Lacka Counties
$40.00/yr. all other mailing zones
636 Main Street, Forest City, PA 18421
75¢
VOL. 129, NO. 16
Forest City - Starting Line for Steamtown Marathon October 9, 2016
Named One of 10 Fastest U.S. Marathon Courses by Runners World
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
The Forest City News
Odds
‘n
END
Local readers Read Across America
S by
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John
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The occupancy of the former
Jerry’s Sports Center Building in
Vandling by a Long Island paper company has been known
for some time by Greater Forest
City Industries Inc. GFCI officials
met with the company’s owner
on Dec. 9, at the JSC Building to
discuss financing of the project.
GFCI was honoring a pledge to
the state of Pennsylvania not to
announce it until an official announcement was made by state
officials. Channel 16 got wind
of the project and broke it on
March 7th catching all those who
worked on it flat-footed. Andy
Skrip, of the Scranton Chamber
of Commerce, who did the bulk
of the financial and logistical
work in getting Select to locate
here, called GFCI on that Monday around noon to say “the cat
is out of the bag” and that we
could make whatever announcements we wanted. Due to our
press deadline on Monday morning we were only able to get the
photo of the “Now Hiring” sign
in last week’s edition. This is a
major economic boost to this area
in that it involves good-paying
manufacturing jobs, something
which has been sorely missed
in the Forest City area for many
years. GFCI Pres. Bob McGraw
put a humorous spin on the facts
of the announcement. He said
that in 2009, GFCI had the announcement and ground breaking for the electronics company,
JEC Technologies Inc., and that
project never happened. This
time the plant came here and then
the announcement was made.
*****
School Districts and social
service agencies are going broke
and Pennsylvania is spending
$750,000 for a new slogan. The
new slogan is “Pennsylvania.
Pursue Your Happiness.” It
replaces “The State of Independence.” It cost $250,000 to research and develop the slogan.
They plan to spend $500,000 to
implement it. What Idiocy!!!
*****
A big happy birthday to my
buddy Tom Butler who was 83
last week and still going strong.
See his story in our Community
Spotlight on pg. 4 this week.
*****
At the invitation of our golf
column writer Art McLain I
played golf on Fern Hall’s opening day, March 8. Conditions
were remarkably good and
mostly dry. Greens were great.
First time in my life I ever played
around here this early in March.
*****
The flags came out at Panorama Golf Course on March 9 with
about 15 cars in the parking lot.
*****
A large crowd turned out
for the first ever wine tasting
event at Shirley’s Restaurant
last Wednesday. Four wineries including Stephen Pendrak Family Winery, Ferrone,
Capra Collina, and Lucchi
Family Winery served up a
variety of sweet and dry wines
which were paired with homemade foods prepared by Shirley’s Restaurant staff. Ros-Al
Events planned the evening
and plans a few more wine
tasting events throughout the
year. A part of the proceeds
will be donated to the Forest
City Police Department.
*****
Vandling’s former Jerry’s Sport
Center Building to be Occupied
by Long Island Paper Company
Bob McGraw, president of
Greater Forest City Industries
Inc., announced last week that
Select Products Holding LLC,
a paper company from Huntington, Long Isaland,
NY,
entered into a lease-purchase
agreement January 19th for the
Jerry’s Sports Center Building in
Vandling. The company occupied the building March 1st.
Owner Simon Roozrokh met
with Greater Forest City Industries Inc. and the Scranton
Chamber of Commerce on December 9 at the JSC Building. He
told GFCI he anticipates initial
employment of 30 people. He
then expects employment of 60
after one year and 130 employees after three years.
The company attended a job
fair in Lackawanna County recently and also posted a sign
outside the Vandling location
indicating the type of positions
available. They include: Machine operators, Forklift drivers, Production Mechanical &
Electrical technicians, Machinist,
Maintenance manager, Production manager, Shift supervisor,
Shipping Receiving clerk, Office
clerk.
The posting of the “Now Hiring” sign at the plant on March 4
brought a rush of inquiries from
area people who were interested. Pres. McGraw stated that, at
that time, GFCI was still bound
by an embargo on making any
announcements imposed by the
state government who would be
making it public at a later date.
However, with an announcement planned by the state on
March 22, WNEP-TV Channel
16, broke the story on its evening
broadcast forcing the state to issue a press release on the plants
opening.
The official announcement
will be Tuesday, March 22, at
2 p.m. at the Greater Scranton
Chamber of Commerce, Scranton.
The new plant will be assisted
by funds from the Governor’s
Action Team and from Penna.
Dept. of Community & Economic Development. They include a
$280,000 PA First Grant, $280,000
in Job Creation Tax Credits and
$63,000 in employee training
grants. The entire project cost is
estimated at $6.6 million.
Andy Skrip, of the Scranton
Chamber of Commerce, indicated that the owner hopes to
secure most of the employees
from the local area including the
management and supervisory
personnel.
At the New York plant, Select
manufactures bath tissue, facial
tissues, napkins and paper towels among its products. It also
is in the process of developing
a line of environmentally responsible products called Select
Green.
The size of the papermaking
machinery will require major
renovations to the building. Select has already had Scranton
area building contractors at the
building to provide estimates of
the renovations needed.
Area families are invited to
Provide museum displays
The Forest City Area Historical Society is reaching out
to the community to have area
families lend photos, items
and artifacts of their family
to be displayed in a special
family display case in the museum for a period from one to
six months.
The displays will be assigned on a first come first
serve basis. All display items
must be approved by the Historical Society.
Families will be asked to
bring the items to the museum between the 1st and
5th day of the first month assigned. The items will then be
placed in the display case and
the Society will attach appropriate captions as the Society
sees fit.
The Forest City Area Historical Society or members
are not responsible for damage, loss or unforeseen problems with the items listed.
The museum and building are
protected by a 24-hour alarm
system.
Those responsible for loaning the items should insure
any valuable items if they so
choose.
Any requester must fill
out and sign a Display Case
Request Form which can be
secured by contacting Sherry
Sparks, 570-756-2626 or email
[email protected].
Forest City will be having its
194 street lights upgraded with
new white LED bulbs within the
next three months. Pres. Orasin
said he saw on TV that PPL was
beginning the program and had
Boro Secretary Sharon Vannan
contact the utility.
Though the leasing of the new
LED bulbs will cost about $1.00
more for each, PPL says the town
will save about $1,200 a year in
electric costs.
Date for tax
collection is
incorrect on bills
New street lites
For Forest City
A misprint on the tax bills
for Forest City Borough stated that collection would take
place on March 17. It should
have read it would take place
on Friday, March 18, from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 4 p.m.
Business and community members joined forces with Forest City Regional Elementary School
on March 2 to “Read Across America” in conjunction with Dr. Seuss Day. Pictured are from left
first row: Ellen Rosenfeld, Nicole Cost, Acting Elementary Principal Leeta Dennenbaum, Father
Bryan Clarke, and Kevin Lesjack; second, row, Dr. Henry Nebzydoski, (Cat in the Hat), with
granddaughter, Anna Nebzydoski; Brenda Pecko, Jennifer Butler, Bernice Lukus, Dr. Mary Surridge, Alyssa Bowan, Brittany Burrell, Beth Spinelli & her nephew, Jonathan Nebzydoski; Carrie
Bonham, Jill Bailer, Ashley Hornbeck, Susan & Joe Dovin; third row, Brian Fitzsimmons, Dr. Jessica Aquilina, superintendent; Joe Franceski, Jose the Leprechaun, and Rich Turano.
Fc Council hears good news
About large employer coming
Council to consider changing no-alcohol policy at KP
Forest City Borough Council
heard the good news about the
upcoming location of Select Tissue Co. in the former Jerry’s Sports
Center Building at its March 7
meeting. John Kameen of Greater
Forest City Industries Inc. said
GFCI and the Scranton Chamber
of Commerce had been working
since November to facilitate the
plants location in Vandling.
Kameen said that owner Simon
Rooskoph told GFCI at a Dec. 16
meeting at the JSC Building that
he hoped to occupy the building
by March 1st and that his initial
employment would be 30, with
60 employees within a year, and a
total of 130 within 3 years.
Councilman Ed Pearsall said it
was the best news he had heard
at Council in his two years as a
Councilman. Council President
William Orasin echoed that sentiment saying it was a very positive
step for this area. Pres. Orasin said
Council was ready and willing to
assist the project if needed.
PARK GRANT SOUGHT
Council spent a great deal of
time discussing projects in Kennedy Park and Babe Ruth Field.
Pres. Orasin said Council is seeking a $60,000 DCNR grant to rebuild the KP basketball court and
to establish handicapped parking
and a handicapped ramp. He said
the Borough would have to provide $20,000 matching funds with
DCNR providing $40,000. Council approved the $20,000 matching
funds unanimously and will take
the money from its $170,000 in Act
13 Natural Gas Impact Funds.
Councilman Ed Pearsall, who
heads the Parks & Recreation
Committee, said this was just the
first part of a five-year plan to renew Kennedy Park. Also needed
would be to re-do the bathroom
facilities and other parts of the
Sat. April 9th
May be last
E-recycling
Forest City Council will
conduct what could be its last
Electronics Recycling on Saturday, April 9 from 8 to 11AM,
at the Recycling Center.
Council Pres. Bill Orasin
indicated that it is becoming
difficult to handle electronic
recycling in the state and the
Susq. County Recycling Center has stopped accepting Erecycling. Forest City sends
its E-recycling at the present
time to Lackawanna Recycling but this could stop also
so he suggested that Forest
City residents get rid of all the
electronics they might have on
April 9th.
Park to bring it back to the condition it was in years back.
On the much discussed renewal of Babe Ruth Field, Jeremy
Popiel, who is cross country coach
at FCR and is associated with the
Carbondale YMCA, suggested
building a community track at the
North Main Street park. Popiel
did not have any cost figures but
was told by Council Pres. Orasin
to talk to FCR School Board to see
if they would be interested in participating in such a project.
ROTARY WINE EVENT
A group from the Forest City
Area Rotary Club asked Council
to consider changing its no-alcohol policy at Kennedy Park so
that the Rotary could hold its annual Wine Festival there on Sept.
24. Rotarians Stephanie Collier,
Eileen lynch and Rick Priebe said
the event needs a larger venue
due to its past success. They said
the funds raised all go to community projects.
Borough Solicitor Paul Smith
discussed the ramifications of allowing alcohol use there since
Council has had a no-alcohol policy in effect there since the Park’s
inception.
After much discussion Rotary agreed to discuss its insurance coverage with its carrier and would also talk to the
Little League about the possible
use of their field for the event since
it would it would provide better
crowd control with limited ac-
cess to the wine event. They will
being back answers to Council
next month and Council said they
want to work with the Rotary and
agreed to modify their no-alcohol
ban if the Borough could be protected from lawsuits.
COUNCIL VACANCY
Council accepted with regret
the resignation of David Thomas
as Councilman. Mr. Thomas
wrote that he was resigning due
to health and family concerns.
Council members said they regretted his loss since he had been
a valuable member and they
had enjoyed working with him.
Council will advertise for a replacement. Candidates will be
interviewed by Pres. Orasin and
Council members Nick Cost and
Joann Matarese and recommendation will be brought to the April
4 meeting.
LIQUID FUEL FUNDS
Council received $57,883 in
State Liquid Fuels tax funds for
2016. This is approximately 16%
more than received last year.
SEEK RESIGNATION
After a short executive session
Council approved Mayor Pauline Wilcox request to send a letter seeking the resignation of Part
Time Police officer Art Ceccato
since he has been unable to make
his shifts. He will be asked to return all his police items.
Cont. on page 2
Mother’s Day Photos for
The Forest City News
The Forest City News will be accepting photographs for
its annual Mother’s Day edition. The date of the publication for this edition is Wednesday, May 4. This year
Mother’s Day is on May 8th.
This year’s e dition will again give t hose wishing to
have their photo in it to have the option of black and
white or color. We will be accepting the first 30 photos
who wish to have color. The cost is $15 for color and
$12 for black and white photos.
Anyone interested in having their picture in this issue
can email or drop off a picture at the News office no
later than Wed., April 27th. You can email photos to
[email protected].
Everyone who submits a photo will also have the photo
included on our website, in color, for FREE.
Two Day Customer Appreciation Sale
Stock Up & Save
VISA, MasterCard, Discover,
American Express and
Access Credit Cards Accepted
PRICE EFFECTIVE
Fri. & Sat., March 18 & 19
9:00 AM to 6:00 PM