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Barrett Township News, Events, Public Notices: Villages of Mountainhome, Cresco, Skytop, Buck Hill Falls, Canadensis
Route 390 Patching - PennDOT Roadwork - April 2019
Barrett Township
State Route 390 between state Route 447 and the Pike County line; pothole patching; daytime lane restriction. Please use caution driving through the work zone. April 9-12; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
PMREMS Subscription Drive 2019
Pocono Mountain Regional Emergency Medical Services (PMREMS), a nonprofit organization, would like to first thank you for last year's support. Your membership and donations truly make a difference.
Last year, PMREMS responded to over 6900 emergency calls showing an increasing need for our services. As call volume increases, so do operating costs which include building and vehicle maintenance, equipment purchases, and training classes for our medical professionals. To help offset these costs and continue to give the qual ity of care you deserve, we turn to our community for help.
Did you know that Barrett Township owns a street sweeper?
A few months ago, I filed a right-to-know request asking for an asset inventory of the township maintenance department of any item valued at $500 or above.
I reached out to York Rake, the manufacturer, asking for information about our town’s 1987 HTR Street Broom.
One would be forgiven for thinking our town's equipment being too old to get parts for anymore, or that we loaned it to another township. I learned not only does Barrett Township actually own a street sweeper, but it’s even a current model. Below is a transcript of my email thread with York Rake.
Property Tax Reassessment and What You Need to Know (From Rosemary Brown)
(Reposting this information from Rosemary Brown)
Special Edition: Property Tax Reassessment and What You Need to Know
If you live in Monroe County, over the last week you should have received an informational sheet from the Monroe County Assessment Office giving you your new property assessment valuations. Don’t think that just because your assessed value has gone up that your taxes will go up. I have done my best in this short recap to offer information that I believe is relevant, easy to understand and will help you develop further questions or help you communicate to others.
Suggestions for Improvements to Financial Statements
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed above are the personal thoughts and opinions of Nate Covington and do not necessarily reflect the position of Barrett Township or its Board of Auditors.
Taxpayer cost to bail out Pennsylvania nuclear industry? Potentially $500 million a year
The long-rumored nuclear bailout in Pennsylvania finally has a hard number attached to it: $500 million a year.
That’s the amount of money that consumers would be sending to the three companies that operate five nuclear power plants in the state if House Bill 11 is passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor.
HB11 was unveiled Monday in a news conference by Rep. Tom Mehaffie, R-Hershey, whose district is adjacent to the Three Mile Island nuclear facility and is home to many of TMI’s workers.
"Misquoted" by Township Supervisors over Blue Ridge Franchise Fee???
I attended the supervisor meeting on June 22, 2010 to express my displeasure as a member of the community about the Blue Ridge Communications franchise fee. My concern was with an exclusive franchise agreement in place, our service would suffer, as there is (and was) no other choice of TV / Internet service provider. What will motivate Blue Ridge to improve their services with no competition?
However, the meeting minutes indicate the exact opposite:
PMR Ambulance Board Vacancy
Barrett Township is looking for a representative to serve on the PMR Ambulance Board. If interested, please send a letter of interest to the Board of Supervisors.
PMR stands for Pocono Mountain Regional
The board oversees the operation of the services and meets once a month at the Tobyhanna Municipal Building (Off Rt 940).
Supervisors Divided over Ice Lake Community Park Development
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed below are the personal thoughts and opinions of Nate Covington and do not necessarily reflect the position of Barrett Township or its Board of Auditors.
[Update 3/5/19 @ 9:15am]
To clarify, The Ordinance from 2/27/19 is adopting an amendment to the Intergovernmental agreement with Paradise (PARC) - original ordinance #135. Development of Barrett Township’s property Community Park at Ice Lake is a separate topic. My reason for combining these issues into a single post is since these are neighboring properties, they should be considered side-by-side. Apologies for any confusion.
At the Supervisor's Meeting on February 27, 2019, a new ordinance was passed with a dissenting vote. Patty O'Keefe voted "neigh," claiming the details of Barrett's ordinance did not match the corresponding Paradise ordinance.
Further, the meeting minutes from the Environmental Advisory Committee from January 15, 2019 include some concerns about developing the Ice Lake Community Park, which calls for an ADA accessible walking path, and handicap accessible bathrooms with flush toilets.
Reassessed Property Values - How to Appeal
Update:
There is a very good thread on NextDoor about the county reassessment.
If you are a homeowner, the following information will likely be of interest to you: In Monday’s Pocono Record, there is a front-page article about the property tax reassessments that are currently taking place in Monroe County. Here is a link to that article.
This is the website that you should visit on March 1, 2019: http://agencies.monroecountypa.gov/monroepa_prod_dnn/ Then, if you don’t agree with the new reassessed value of your home, you can file an appeal (the appeal information is shown on this site). As of March, the site will also show the local “comps” that were used to compute the market value of your house.
More...
Planned Road Closure: 447 between Golf Drive and Long Road (March through August, 2019)
SR 447 will close both directions for bridge replacement work from the intersection of Golf Drive to the intersection of Long Road in Barrett Township, Monroe County. A detour is established utilizing SR390 North to Roemersville Road to Hemlock Grove Road and back to SR 447. Work will begin 03/25/19 and Estimated Date and Time to Reopen (ETR) will be 08/30/19.
Public Notice - Public Hearing: Intent to Enact an Ordinance (Regional joint park and recreation board - 3 properties)
PUBLIC NOTICE PUBLIC HEARING INTENT TO ENACT AN ORDINANCE TAKE NOTICE that the Barrett Township Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing to ordain and enact an ordinance authorizing Barrett Township to enter into, with Paradise Township, a Second Amendment to the Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement, dated April 8, 2004, originally establishing a regional joint park and recreation board to operate, administer, and maintain the three (3) properties jointly owned by Barrett and Paradise Townships and the Borough of Mount Pocono, and the First Amendment thereto, dated March 16, 2015, which removed the Borough of Mount Pocono as a participant in the regional joint park and recreation board and reorganized and renamed the new regional joint park and recreation board on Wednesday, February 27, 2019, at 8 a.m. The hearing will be held at the Barrett Township Municipal Building, 993 Route 390, Cresco, PA 18326. The Board will consider adopting and enacting the ordinance as well as other business coming before the Board at that time.
Gaming Funds Received since 2016: $0.00?
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed below are the personal thoughts and opinions of Nate Covington and do not necessarily reflect the position of Barrett Township or the Board of Auditors.
Please note that this article has been updated to include details about the $148,270 grant that was used to renovate the Barrett Firehouse.
Earlier this year, I filed a right to know request with Barrett Township requesting "documentation of all moneys received related to the Mount Airy Casino since 2014."
The response from the township was as follows: