LEWIS RUN – While Lewis Run residents won’t see a real estate
tax increase next year, the Emergency Municipal Services Tax will
be raised to $40, borough council said Tuesday.
Previously known as the Occupational Privilege Tax, the
Emergency Municipal Services Tax will be charged to those working
in the borough.
Bradford City Council raised its Emergency Municipal Services
Tax to $52 in November.
“We want to bring the roads up to date,” said Borough Chairman
Frank Langianese. “There will be no raise in property tax – thanks
to Mel.”
Langianese was referring to Mel Bizzarro, a one year resident of
the borough who decided along with his wife, Michelle, to help the
borough taxpayers.
“It’s something really important for the people of Lewis Run,”
said Michelle Bizzarro. “They were passing around a petition and we
were concerned. We thought we’d help.”
The petition was circulated to residents regarding the issue of
ambulance service provided in the borough. In August, city council
was asking outlying municipalities to contribute to the cost of
maintenance; amortization of ambulances; and overtime fees for
ambulance services provided them by the Bradford City Fire
Department.
Borough officials did not want to have to raise taxes in order
to collect the $2,240 portion of the cost for the city ambulance
service to continue to serve their residents for at least one year.
The volunteer fire department in the borough strongly supported the
borough and its residents paying for the service the city could
offer.
“The volunteer firemen would come into the restaurant and talk
about it and they would say it could be a matter of life and
death,” said Michelle Bizzarro.
Mel Bizzarro added, “A lot of people were nervous and worried
about it. We wanted to make sure it (ambulance service provided by
the city) was available for the young and elderly people.”
Chiming in to thank Bizzarro and his wife after the announcement
were members of the Lewis Run Volunteer Fire Department and members
of borough council.
In other business, Langianese announced the water wells in the
township are in “bad shape.”
Currently, the borough is using water from its spring as another
well has been shut down because of benzene contamination. In
October, borough officials announced the wells were found by the
state Department of Environmental Protection to contain benzene,
but was still safe to drink.
Officials announced Tuesday that DEP would return on Dec. 20 to
test the wells again. Officials discussed the need to use the well
they once had hooked up to their system, which DEP asked them to
not use due to potential contamination problems.
That contamination, said officials of the DEP, would be drawn up
through the ground by use of the well. The ground has been
contaminated and DEP has been working to find and resolve the
liability of the responsible parties.
In October, DEP had reached an agreement with McCourt Label
Cabinet Co., for its part in the contamination. McCourt Label is
charged with paying more than $100,000 over a 20-year period, plus
two percent of the company’s net profit between the years 2014 and
2033 to resolve its liability.
Earlier in the year, Control Chief had been named as a potential
responsible party, but there has been no announcement of its
involvement or agreement with DEP.
Langianese said the borough is still paying a PennVEST loan
payment of $1,000 monthly for the well they drilled in the
mid-1990s that DEP asked them not to use.
Langianese also said he has been elected president of the
Borough Council Association, which is an actual reorganization of
the former Pennsylvania Borough Association.
Borough solicitor Dan Hartle congratulated Langianese and then
explained the position is more than being a president of a local or
regional association, adding the position is held involving 901
municipalities across the state.
“It is an honor for the borough,” said Hartle.
