The roof line of Williams Central Compressor Station in Brooklyn Twp. shows visible damage from a fire that damaged one of three engines in the building. The station was in its testing phase and was not operational when fire broke out late Tuesday (May 14) night. STAFF PHOTO/STACI WILSON

BY JOSEPH KOHUT
Times-Shamrock Writer

A fire and possible explosion at a Susquehanna County gas compressor station late Tuesday night remain under investigation but is thought to be an accident, a state police fire marshal said.

At 11 p.m., flames lit up a Williams Partners LP gas compressor station on Turnpike Road in Brooklyn Twp. None of the 11 workers on site were injured, but a possible blast and the flames caused moderate damage to the station. The facility’s automatic safety devices functioned properly and stemmed the flow of gas to the compressor station.

The fire was out by 12:30 a.m., Williams reported to the state Department of Environmental Protection. The exact cause remains under investigation by a state police fire marshal.

At the scene Wednesday afternoon, Williams spokeswoman Chris Staffel said the station was in the commissioning phase.

A sensor in the compressor building detected fire in a 4,000 horsepower compressor and the building went into emergency shutdown by isolating incoming and outgoing lines along with the facility’s two other compressor units, the DEP said in a report.

Initial reports said it was an explosion, but DEP said Williams could not confirm all the details. However, bulging walls in the building indicated there may have been an explosion.

DEP air quality engineer/emergency response team member Shailesh Patel discussed specific air quality issues with Williams Site Operations Manager Mike Dickinson and recommended an air quality program follow up.

Williams told DEP the station was in total shutdown “and would remain that way at the present time until operations could resume safely.”

The fire late Tuesday was the second at a Williams compressor station in the county in 14 months. An explosion at the Lathrop compressor station in Springville Twp. in March 2012 blew a hole in the roof of the complex. The same set of emergency procedures kicked in and staunched the gas flow into and out of the station.

No one was injured in that blast, which was caused by worker error, and Williams was not fined by DEP because the incident did not violate the station’s air quality permits or federal pollution laws, the DEP reported in April. About 1 ton of methane was released in that blast, clocking in below the greenhouse gas threshold that would have required them to seek a permit used by bigger facilities.
(Staff writer Staci Wilson contributed to this report.)

Peter Janicelli, second from right, was honored May 11 as the Boy Scouts’ Baden-Powell Council Distinguished Citizen. From left are Thomas Chamberlain, who serves on the Boy Scouts’ executive committee, Joan Janicelli, the honoree and Susquehanna County district attorney Jason Legg. STAFF PHOTO/HELEN FOSTER

BY HELEN B. FOSTER
Correspondent

Retired magisterial district judge Peter Janicelli was honored on Saturday, May 11, as Baden-Powell Council, Boy Scouts of America Distinguished Citizen.

The day of celebration started with a golf tournament at the Golden Oak Golf Course, Windsor, N.Y., and concluded with a dinner attended by family, friends and co-workers.

The distinguished citizen is chosen for his outstanding community service and the leadership given to many organizations as well as the respect and esteem in which they are held by their colleagues.

Since Janicelli’s return from Vietnam in 1969, where he served with an Air Calvary Division as company commander, he has been a presence in his community as a member of the Susquehanna Borough Police Department prior to his election as district justice in 1987, a position he held for 24 years, retiring on Jan. 1, 2012.

Janicelli has served on Susquehanna Borough council, Barnes Kasson Hospital board and was a director on the Susquehanna County Housing and Redevelopment Authority board. Besides being a Little League coach, Janicelli has been known to cook breakfast for the Sabers football team on game day.

He has served as District Chairman of the Boy Scouts and has served on the executive council. Helping veterans has been important to Janicelli as he served as Commander of Post 86; organized outings for veterans, cooked and served meals for celebrations, made home visits to veterans to let them know how important they are to the community.

The evening’s program opened with Troop 92, Montrose, presenting the colors, leading the Pledge of Allegiance and the Boy Scout Oath and Scout Law. The invocation was given by Peter’s good friend, Joe Bucci. Benediction was by another longtime friend, John Munson.

Baden-Powell Council Field Director Robert Clark spoke of the successful year this council has experienced. For the second year the council has received the highest honor the national council can bestow, putting the local council in the Top Ten percent of councils in the country. In 2012 69 Scouts in Baden Powell Council achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, an increase over last year.

Janicelli’s wife, Joan, gave the family remarks by recounting all the years she has known the honoree. They met in first grade and married after college and have been married for 44 years. Their family includes a son, Michael, and a very special grandson, Paul.

Janicelli and his wife share a great many interests, including being avid sailors with a boat on the Finger Lakes; wine making from grapes they grow in their vineyard; and traveling.

Mrs. Janicelli received a message from Father Thomas Cappelloni, a former pastor of St. Martin of Tours Church, Jackson, where the couple are parishioners.

Father Cappelloni described Janicelli’s work as a District Justice as a unique and productive application of civil law, that was just, practical and merciful. “Every time I approached Peter for advice and assistance when our roles of Pastor and Justice over lapped, he was ever willing to be of service with a compassion that is sorely lacking in our time,” Cappelloni wrote.

District Attorney Jason Legg spoke of his first meeting with Janicelli when Legg was a teen.

He spoke of his close relationship with the district justice since he has been the D.A. “He taught me many things about the law that I did not learn in law school,” Legg said. “I have seen the many faces of Peter Janicelli and learned what each one meant,” Legg added.

The D.A. added that the honoree understood the law and how to handle people. “I cannot think of a better person to receive this award.”

District Judge Suzanne Brainard also spoke highly of the way Peter handle his position while he was in office. She highlighted his accomplishments and offered her congratulations.

Thomas Chamberlain, a member of the executive committee, had the honor of making the award presentation.
In thanking the Baden Powell Council for honoring him, Janicelli spoke of all the great people who were honored before him. He praised all those who he has worked with over his years as District Justice, especially the ladies who handled the administration duties of the office. He thanked all who came out to honor him and support the local Boy Scout program.

Members of the planning committee for the 2013 Distinguished Citizen Award dinner were: Joan Janicelli, Jason Legg, Suzanne Brainard, Tom Chamberlain, Lori Moore and Eric Upright.

BRANDON WALSH

BY ROBERT L. BAKER

A 30-year-old Clifford man who pointed a gun at patrons of a Susquehanna County bar and even pulled the trigger which did not fire last weekend, has been charged with criminal attempt to commit homicide.

Brandon Lee Walsh was arraigned Monday on charges pending from an incident on Friday, May 10.

According to court documents, Walsh entered the Clifford Hotel around 8:30 p.m., and started arguing with customers as well as bar owner Donald Edwards Jr.

Police said that at one juncture Walsh was upset and yelled, “I am going to get my gun and blow all of your f—ing heads off.”

He then exited through a front door, and 10 minutes later returned through a rear entrance.
Edwards told police that Walsh pointed the gun at him and one other, and pulled the trigger but the gun did not fire.

According to a police complaint, one witness said Walsh started pointing a gun at everybody and a couple of customers were able to knock Walsh down and get the gun away from him.

Walsh eventually left the scene and Edwards turned the gun over to Forest City patrolman Daniel Lomax.
In addition to the homicide attempt charge, Walsh also faces charges of aggravated assault, terroristic threats and reckless endangerment.

District Judge Suzanne Brainard in Clifford set bail at $50,000, and Walsh was able to post 10 percent cash.

His preliminary hearing before Judge Brainard was set for Tuesday, May 21.

In a separate case, Walsh also faces unsworn fasification charges.

In the early morning hours of May 11, he and a girlfriend contacted the state police at the Gibson barracks that a gun had been removed from Walsh’s vehicle.

It was the same gun that turned up at the Clifford Hotel.

According to a complaint, Trooper John Oliver charges that Walsh knew he was lying to troopers and that the gun was taken off of him earlier in the night.

A preliminary hearing in that matter is also set for May 21.

The expected approval of a budget proposal was held off by the Mountain View school board at its meeting Monday night.

Board member Dava Rinehart-Cowan asked that a tentative budget for 2013-14 be delayed for further discussion, and the board agreed.

A special meeting will be held Tuesday, May 28, 7 p.m., when it is expected a vote will be taken to make the proposed budget available for public scrutiny for 30 days before a decision is make on final passage by the end of June.

The budget that would have been presented Monday offered a bottom line of $18,047,684, based on projected revenue from a 35.8 mills real estate tax, an Occupational Assessment Tax at 100 mills, a one percent Earned Income Tax, and a one percent Real Estate Transfer tax.

District business manager Joseph Patchkoski told the board that that tentative budget total does not include figures for the ‘acquisition’ of additional teachers, as requested by school administrators, or administrative staff salaries. However, it does include support staff salaries based on recent contract negotiations.

“We could be looking at a deficit of about $1.1 million,” Patchkoski said, “but that’s before dipping into the fund balance from last year, which includes gas lease payments.”

Maintenance director Robert Taylor reported on a proposal by Johnson Controls Inc., the third company Taylor has consulted concerning an upgrade of security at the district’s two school buildings. The other two companies are NRG and Tri-Guard.

He told the board that the widest discrepancy between the three companies was the number of security cameras included in their proposals.

“Two of the companies proposed around 90 cameras around the high school, and about 40 at the elementary building,” he explained. “Tri-Guard offered 56 cameras at the high school and about 26 at the elementary.”

He also said Tri-Guard would use much of the existing security apparatus, and wire instead of fiber optics, which he stated would affect the speed and clarity of the system.

“Tri-Guard does not include a panic button as the others do,” he added. “A panic button pushed by a staffer would immediately dial 911 and put the security cameras at their highest resolution. Tri-Guard also does not offer a camera at the building entrance intercom.”

Some board members were concerned with the differences between the proposals of the three companies. “We’re looking at a large amount of money here,” commented Rinehart-Cowan.

Director Roy Twining suggested the companies be approached with some compromises. “Let’s see if Johnson Controls can come up with a plan with fewer cameras,” he suggested, “somewhere between their proposal and Tri-Guard’s.”

The board approved a proposal by high school principal Robert Presley to change the program of studies from general and academic classes to academic and honors classes, with a grade requirementof 93 percent or higher for placement in honors classes. The change also allows an option for parents to override a decision by the school not to place their student in an advanced class based on grade point average. The changes will become effective starting with 2013-14.

In other business:
*Family Health Clinic of Barnes Kasson, Susquehanna, was appointed as the school medical facility for 2013-14 at a rate of $75 per hour for health and sports physicals.

*The board reappointed attorney Joseph Gaughan of Scranton as district solicitor, and Diane Makosky as board secretary for 2013-14, and tabled the appointment of a district treasurer.

*The board removed from the agenda the appointment of several coaching staff positions for next season.

Susquehanna Community School District directors put a tentative budget of $13.7 million forward at their May 15 meeting.

The proposed district millage of 45.78 for Susquehanna County and 13.27 for Wayne County reflects at 2.5 percent increase in taxes and amounts to $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Directors were told this could change before the final adoption in June due to the state’s final budget and anticipated grants.

Directors Martha Stanford and Evelyn Cottrell were elected as treasurer and secretary with Board President Steven Stanford administering the oath of office. The treasurer position is for a one year term with the secretary being elected for a four year term.

On a 7-1 vote, the board approved a property tax installment resolution that would allow taxpayers to pay their taxes in three installments. The only nay vote was cast by Secretary Evelyn Cottrell who explained her objection was due to problems with the end of year reports. Carol Jackson was absent from the May meeting. Small businesses had previously been approved to pay their taxes in installments.
Peoples Neighborhood Bank will continue as the district’s depository; Attorney James Gaughan was approved as District Solicitor; Thomas P. Theobald, Government Software Services of Honesdale agreement for the printing of tax duplicates was approved.

A service agreement between the district and Lanesboro for campus safety and security was given the okay. According to Superintendent Bronson Stone, this will provide the safest school campus possible with an officer on campus for 180 school days.

The district’s All Hazard Plan met with board approval. Stone explained to the board this will guarantee that all employees will be aware of safety and security issues and how to respond and prevent a crisis.

Stone advised the board of an upcoming all campus drill on May 23. He added that he would put out the word this was a drill only and ask parents to not come to the campus.

Stone also mentioned the inclusion of Susquehanna Community High School in the list of 12 high schools in Northeastern Pennsylvania recognized in the 2013 U.S. News and World Report Best High Schools ranking. SCHS and Forest City High School were the only two Susquehanna County schools included in this ranking and each received a bronze medal.

Class night is scheduled for May 31st in the high school gym with an outdoor graduation (weather permitting) planned for June 6, Stone said.

Principal Robert Keyes advised the board in his report that Canyn Stone was selected to receive the local Elementary Principal’s Award and also received the county’s Principal Award presented during a luncheon at the Green Gables. The elementary student’s award ceremony will be held in the elementary gym on June 5, stating at 8:30 a.m.

Among the many hires at the May meeting included summer school teachers: Debra Stone, Katherine Edwards, Dori Spencers, Steve Nayduch, Jennifer Rockwell and Raymond Testa, Jamie Bollinger.

Summer school aides include Roze DeCicco, Sarah McNamara Sparks and Carla Perry.

Ellen Rockwell, Bridgette McKennas and Jessica Welch will be extended school year teachers for 2013.

Matt Misiura will fill the senior class adviser position for two years and Carly Batzel will remain as student council advisor for two more years.

Williams, the Tulsa, Okla.-based company whose pipelines deliver roughly one-seventh of the natural gas consumed in the United States, announced plans last week to expand its Tunkhannock office in a big way.

At a noon Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Stonehedge last Wednesday, Williams spokesman Shannon Spak said a proposed 32,000 square-foot building will bring local Williams’ employees under one roof.
It presently has an office on Warren Street in Tunkhannock borough.

Spak replaced scheduled Williams speaker Jack Walsh, technical services manager. Walsh was called away earlier that morning to deal with a crisis at a Susquehanna County compressor station.

In the Appalachian Basin (the Marcellus play), Williams’ focus is on its midstream operations, Spak said. “We work with exploration companies to get gas into use,” she said.

Spak said that many of the Williams’ employees, including her, were local hires and the company plans to add more positions in the coming months.

The majority of the positions available will be in operations and field services, Spak said, but there will also be employment opportunities in engineering, technical services and administrative support.
Spak said there is a challenge to build and buy talent in the industry.

Williams, she said, recognizes those challenges and has instituted several programs for its employees.
She also noted that the retirement of baby boomers could potentially create a “brain drain” and the company has developed a knowledge transfer to pass on the information of long-time employees to newer ones.

Williams is also partnering with local colleges, identifying Penn State engineering interns and partnering with Lackawanna College’s natural gas program.

Spak said the company is looking for employees with a solid work ethic. “There are long hours, call-in hours, and work out in the environment,” she said. She also said employees needed to be safety conscious.

A key part to Williams recruiting effort comes from referrals from current employees. Spak said about one-third of positions filled come from an internal referral, “people who know good people.”

On Wednesday night, Mick Goodwin, representing Williams on behalf of Milnes Engineering, spoke to the Wyoming County Planning Commission about the office complex Williams has planned.

The new office will be sited just off Rt. 29 near its intersection with Mile Road.

It is the same location where in September 2011 Bill Wilson and the Gas House Gang LLC had approached Tunkhannock Township supervisors and said it had an interest in placing an 8-pump gas station and mini-mart and office suites.

Williams purchased the property last winter, and its plans shared with planning commission members Wednesday reveal 20,000 square feet of office space in a 2-story building as well as 12,000 square feet of warehouse space.

The plan also calls for 112 parking spaces.

Community planner Nichole Wooten said that if all reviews/permits are submitted in a timely fashion, construction is expected to begin about August 1 and be under roof by early winter and allowing interior work during the winter.

Also at planning commission was consideration of a land development on the south side of the entrance to the Walmart Supercenter for a Verizon retail complex, to be known as ‘We-R-Wireless.”

There would be a story as well as three or four office suites adjoining.

The planning commission granted preliminary approval with the contingency that the county’s engineer, CECO Associates, re-review the plan relative to stormwater drainage.

Final approval would not be given until after CECO gets back to the planning commission.

A minor subdivision report including subdivisions of the Linda Holley Baker property in Lemon Twp. and the Kenneth Kachmar property in Forkston Twp. were accepted as submitted.

Ally Stocks releases a brook trout raised in the Montrose AP Biology classroom into Fall Brook Creek at Salt Springs State Park. STAFF PHOTO/STACI WILSON

BY STACI WILSON

Since November students in the Montrose Area High School AP Biology course have been raising fish.
With about 60 survivors from 400 eggs, the small, brook trout were released into Fall Brook Creek in Franklin Twp. by the students on Thursday.

Robert Fearnley of the Susquehanna County Conservation District told the students that both Fall Brook and Silver Creek, which converge at Salt Springs State Park, are rated as exceptional value streams in Pennsylvania and were both approved for trout stocking – the little fish were getting a good home.

AP Bio student Nicki Lewis said the class was responsible for feeding the fish, checking the water for nitrates and removing the dead fish.

Teacher Teri Evans said that when they introduced a living bacteria to the water the tank stabilized, resulting in the loss of fewer fish.

“(The bacteria) established a nitrogen cycle in the tank,” Fearnley explained.

But Fearnley said 60 was a good number of survivors. Some schools around the state that also participated in the program ended up with none.

The Trout in the Classroom program was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission in conjunction with Trout Unlimited. The conservation district provided a grant to pay for some of the equipment.

Trout in the Classroom participants, from left: Donnie Arnold, Myra Lattimore, Nicki Lewis, Rachel Mordavancy, David Koloski, Sheby Sticks, Courtney Kimmel, Askley Lewis, Ally Stocks, Megan Hinds and Courtney Harding.

The students carried the buckets of fish to the stream bank where they released them into the creek.

Fearnley said, “Trout are not a schooling fish,” describing them as a “lone wolf predator” he said they would find a niche they can call their own.

And that was one of the class tag lines for the project.

Courtney Kimmel came up with, “Helping fish find their niche” and “That’s what we’re all a’trout” – the saying written on the back of the tie-dye shirts worn by the students for the release.

Taking a break from their community service project on Friday, May 17, members of the Susquehanna Community High School student council, from left, are Amber Dubanowitz, Saige Perry, Mark Zappe, Ashley Miller, Olivia Rockwell, Chairman Sarah Serfilippi, Emily Staros, Lauren Marco, Micaela Rhone, Nick Chamberlain, Rachel Hubal, Tristan Megivern. Also working on the project but not pictured, are: Ivy Christensen, Rachel Gilleran-Plutino, Liz Delaney, Rachel Serfilippi, Mashawn Haggett, and Dan Storos.

BY HELEN B. FOSTER
Correspondent

Susquehanna Community High School student Sarah Serfilippi helped organize a community project that saw council members spending two afternoons weeding, scrubbing, pruning, trimming and cleaning up trash at the Veteran’s Memorial in the Shops Plaza off Main Street in Susquehanna.

According to student council adviser Carly Batzel, Serfillippi, a junior, worked with D&S Flowers in Thompson for the plants and mulch needed for the project that beautified the Veteran’s Service Board as well as other memorials in the park.

The Community Service committee selected the Veteran’s Memorial out of respect for those who served their country and completed the project in time for the Memorial Day services.

On Thursday afternoon, the students were seen by Ron Dubas, owner of Schneider’s Market and he showed up with cold sodas for everyone.

Dubas also expressed his thanks to the students for what they were doing for the community.

Council members finance their projects by holding dances, dinners at the American Legion and other fund raisers throughout the year.

On Saturday evening, May 18, the student council is hosting its “end of the year” dance, known as a MORP (prom spelled backwards), opposite of a prom.

According to Bazel, the MORP is held in the gym with a DJ and 250 young people dancing and snacking on pizza with no fancy decorations, or “spiffy” attire, just a casual dance.

Nathaniel Wellman, second from right, presents a check to Shirley Smith of the Women’s Resource Center, with Blue Ridge National Honor Society Vice President Sam Brush, left, and Principal Matthew Nebzydoski, at right. Wellman ran a teen domestic violence awareness campaign as his Eagle Scout project. STAFF PHOTO/STACI WILSON

BY STACI WILSON

Teen domestic violence.

It’s not a topic many want to acknowledge and fewer speak about.

But Blue Ridge senior Nathaniel Wellman chose to address the issue as his Eagle Scout project.

Wellman said he wanted teens to know that it wasn’t a “gender-specific” problem. And he wanted them to know that there was a place to turn if they needed help.

As part of the project, Wellman of Troop 98 headed up a collection of items at Blue Ridge High School for the Women’s Resource Center.

He also presented an teen domestic violence awareness assembly for juniors and seniors at the school.
“One in five high school girls and guys deals with teen domestic violence every day in an abusive relationship,” he said. “And one in four is either physical or sexually abusive.”

That’s a high number of teens impacted, Wellman said.

And it’s a project others in his school also got behind.

The Blue Ridge High School National Honor Society also donated a portion of the proceeds that made at an April e-cycle event to the Women’s Resource Center.

The donation came as a shock to Wellman. “I was surprised people were thinking about it,” he said, “and considering it with another fundraiser. Somebody was actually listening.”

And taking on something traditionally thought of as a “woman’s issue” didn’t occur to Wellman.

“I didn’t think of it as me making a statement. It was something everybody should be aware of. I did it to help out everybody I care about. It’s not a one-gender problem.”

Shirley Smith of the Women’s Resource Center said the organization tries to reach out to teens.
“To have (a teen) do this for us is amazing – just amazing,” she said. “It means so much for the Center and we can serve people in a much better way.”

For more information about the Susquehanna County Women’s Resource Center visit www.wrcnepa.org or call 570-278-1800 or the WRC Crisis Line at 1-800-257-5765.

Pump N Pantry Food Service Supervisor Wade Robinson demonstrates how to make a pizza to Mountain View Elementary life skills students that visited the New Milford store Monday morning. STAFF PHOTO/STACI WILSON

BY STACI WILSON

With help from the Pump N Pantry, Mountain View Elementary life skills class launched its coffee cart earlier this year.

Wade Robinson, Pump N Pantry’s food service supervisor, helped install the coffee cart program at the school and on Monday, he got a chance to show the students a glimpse behind the counter at the New Milford store.

Robinson demonstrated how pizzas and sub sandwiches, as well as other hot foods, are prepared each day in the store.

The students also toured the store’s cooler area – taking a look at the operation from behind the beverage case.

They then dined on the pizzas they watched being made especially for them.

The field trip culminated with a stop at the Lenox Dairy Bar for ice cream. The ice cream purchased out of proceeds from the class coffee cart sales.

Teacher Pamela Ealo said the weekly coffee cart has grown to serve about 30 customers and teachers at Mountain View look forward to their morning cup.

“It’s been a great experience with the kids,” Ealo said. “They are verbalizing more; they’re using more social skills and manners; and the teachers are complimenting those things.”