County Presents Courthouse Expansion To ARB

MILFORD — The Borough Hall was packed once again Monday night as the Pike County Commissioners proposed renovations and an addition to the County Courthouse at the meeting of the Milford Borough Architectural Review Board (ARB). Engineer Michael Lamoreaux of McGoey, Hauser and Edsall presented the application, including several illustrations of street view elevations, materials samples, and copious documentation.

During his presentation, Lamoreaux described the proposal in three phases: renovations to the historic courthouse, the addition, and issues regarding the Kenworthey House.

Repairs and renovations to the historic Courthouse were described mainly as using like materials, with the addition of a front accessibility ramp, rear sally port for prisoners, a secure judge’s parking and secure travel way.

Lamoreaux added that the County Commissioners were still open to any entity purchasing and relocating the Kenworthey building, but that adaptive reuse would be cost-prohibitive. He stated that his firm did not look beyond the property proposed because the County requested to utilize the current Courthouse. Both he and County Solicitor Thomas Farley emphasized that the application endeavored to follow the ARB and Borough ordinances and that demolition of the Kenworthey would fall under the provision of “safety and betterment of the community.”

Chairman Kevin Stroyan outlined the three circumstances for demolishing a historic building, which include its safety, the economic hardship of the owner, and the betterment of the community.

Appropriateness Vs. Demolition

“It’s our belief as a board that the county can’t qualify for the first two,” he said. He went on to say that he believed the ARB didn’t have the authority in the third case, they could only advise the Borough, adding that they had the same position a year ago last September. Farley asked that the ARB consider the certification of building appropriateness as separate from the issue of the demolition of the Kenworthey... for complete story, get this week's issue.

Wild Acres Ballot-Tampering Charges Bound Over For Trial

SHOHOLA — After a preliminary hearing, charges against two people accused of tampering with ballots in the private community of Wild Acres (WA) have been bound over for trial.

At last Wednesday’s preliminary hearing, District Magistrate Allan Cooper ruled that there was enough evidence to go to trial in relation to WA Board Secretary Myron Cowher and Board Chairman Dmitry Kuperschmidt attempting to alter the outcome of an election.

Cowher was arrested in May and charged with criminal conspiracy to commit forgery, identity theft, tampering with records and identification, and criminal use of a communication facility.

Kuperschmidt later turned himself in and was charged with forgery, identity theft, criminal use of a communication facility and tampering with records or identification... for complete story get this week's issue.

Fewer DVHS Grads Going To College

WESTFALL — The Delaware Valley School District’s board meeting last Thursday, July 24, had both good news and challenges for the school district. According to a presentation by Guidance Counselor Wanda Holtzer, the Delaware Valley High School Class of 2014 is more hesitant about moving on to higher education. While DVHS was just awarded the U.S. News Silver Award, based on markers such as AP scores, college entrances, and diversity, the percentage of graduating seniors going on to post-secondary education has dropped to 79 percent. While an additional 7 percent of graduates planned to enter the armed forces, where additional training is likely, the resultant 86 percent is still lower than it was two years ago for the Class of 2012, when 90 percent of graduating students planned to go on to the armed forces or post-secondary education, including technical schools.

AP classes remain popular at DVHS, with 25 AP classes to be offered next year. Some 522 students took AP exams last year, and SAT scores were higher than both the state and national averages. However, the dropout rate for 2012-2013 was higher than previous years at 1.57 percent (the data for 2013-2014 will not be available until next summer)... for complete story get this week's issue.

Llamas Display Lovable, Practical Sides At Snyder Farm

MILFORD — The 15th annual Open Barn Day at Foster Hill Farm Sunday gave children and adults an opportunity to see the Snyder Quality Llamas up close, pet some of them, and learn about these captivating social animals. Vendors displayed their yarn and products made from the soft hairs (fiber) of llamas and alpacas. Raw fiber samples that were not yet washed or spun into yarn felt silky to the touch.

Owner Richard Snyder gave brief educational presentations on the hour throughout the day that he called “Llama 101,” which was followed by tours of two barns housing the females and males separately, and a breeding barn. Newborns weigh between 20 and 25 pounds. At two years of age, they typically weigh about 200 pounds. Their average lifespan is 20 years.

Llamas at the Snyder farm located on Llama Lane along Foster Hill Road are bred as fiber producers, and their high quality fiber has won numerous ribbons and awards including multiple First Place and Grand Champion ribbons in competitions in the northeastern states over the years. Snyder started with three llamas but added with a grin, “They are like potato chips. You’ve got to have more!” There are 57 of them now but there have been as many as 120 at the farm... for complete story get this week's issue.