Local News

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.

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:

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).

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.  

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.

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.

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:

Paradise Township passes short-term rental ordinance 

(From 2017)

Paradise Township supervisors unanimously approved a controversial ordinance regulating short-term rentals following a hearing Monday night.

The ordinance sets rules and standards for homeowners who rent their properties for between one and 30 days. Its intention is to provide for the health, welfare and safety of renters, but also includes protections for surrounding neighbors.

The Rotary Club of the Pocono Mountains’ Banners Throughout Barrett campaign is a local initiative designed to cultivate pride in our community and contribute to the revitalization of Barrett and Paradise Townships. Complete the form (see attachments) to purchase a banner.

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.

Earlier this year I filed a Right-to-Know request as a private citizen to view the township’s pension plan.

Why should residents care?

Well, for starters, township residents were taxed $55,000 in 2017 to fund the plan which has around $1 million in assets.  In the same year, the State of Pennsylvania contributed an additional $32,000 to the pension fund.  

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. 

After I was appointed auditor in November 2018, I requested a copy of the previous year’s CPA audit from Pam Gardsy (Barrett Township Secretary/Treasurer, who replaced Rick Scrudato in 2015).  Pam emailed a copy of the auditor’s report, but it did not include the cover letter.  I wound up filing two Right-To-Know requests to obtain the following information:  

Gov. Wolf stalled the release until after the election

More than 11,000 people who were registered to vote in Pennsylvania were found to not be citizens of the United States — and the state's Democratic governor didn't want anyone to know about it.

What's the story?
Two Republican state lawmakers, Reps. Daryl Metcalfe and Garth Everett, released the information Tuesday. Metcalfe had requested this information from the state in February 2018, but the request was appealed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, and stalled until Dec. 3, after the elections had already wrapped up.

On Dec. 3, the Pennsylvania Department of State sent a letter to Metcalfe, which indicated that a "possible" 11,198 voter registrations existed for people who were identified by the state as non-citizens.