DUBOIS – Earlier this week, Sandy Township residents were given the opportunity to share their views on the proposed consolidation of Sandy Township and DuBois City.
The supervisors’ meeting was held at the West Sandy Fire Co., so that more people could attend and take part in the public comment period.
Most opposed the proposed consolidation, specifically under the terms of the Nov. 2 ballot question. Four of the five township supervisors also opposed.
Supervisor Kevin Salandra said he favored consolidation of the two DuBois area communities, but not as it’s being proposed on the Nov. 2 ballot.
He outlined concerns regarding the process with community engagement still being his primary concern, noting only 234 people attended the Oct. 12 public meeting.
This, Salandra said, wasn’t a very good representation since the DuBois area has 19,000 residents. Another concern was related to the fire departments.
Salandra questioned how the area’s fire coverage would be affected, an issue he said the Pennsylvania Economy League (PEL) “barely touched” upon.
Salandra called attention to a “hitch” with the fire departments. He said DuBois City manages its fire departments while those in Sandy Township act independently.
“[Our] fire departments are largely self-financed through fundraisers,” he said, “and operate for the township under contract.”
Salandra also questioned the anticipated tax savings. He said the PEL report was “overly optimistic” with anticipation of an annual tax savings of $400 for the median household.
Based upon township calculations, he said it was believed to be more like $19 to $27 annually per median household and $68 to $92 per median DuBois City household.
Supervisor Bill Beers opposed the current consolidation “push” that he stated was based upon too many assumptions, not enough facts and too much sugar-coating.
He said the PEL claimed the municipalities, if consolidated, would be “good” and keep the same fire department budget. Beers serves as a fire chief for West Sandy Fire Co.
He said the four township fire departments work their “rear-ends off” to fund the stations while the five DuBois City stations have funds “handed” to them.
Beers also said if the DuBois-Sandy consolidation ballot measure had been proposed as a home rule charter, he would be in favor. “… I want to do it the right way.”
He went on to argue that the proposed consolidation, as it will appear Nov. 2, will not give area residents a voice, as many claim, but actually will take it away from them.
Beers said if the ballot question passes, the consolidation process will look different than under a home rule charter, which allows the new community to vote to start the consolidation process.
Then, if passed, he said a new municipal government would be drafted and the joint community would vote to either accept or reject the proposed government.
Conversely, he said if the consolidation passes Nov. 2, there’s a single vote. He said there will be no second vote – by the new community – to approve/disprove of its new form of government.
Supervisor Jim Jeffers said his position has always been “for the township,” and he didn’t believe the proposed consolidation was in the “best interest” of Sandy Township or Treasure Lake.
When he spoke and was asked, he didn’t specifically say whether he was for or against consolidation, but stressed he wanted what was best for Sandy Township.
He did note that he was in favor of initiating the original consolidation study and went on to propose ways to resolve township problems without consolidation.
Jeffers felt home rule charter was a possible solution, saying they could explore conversion from a second-class township to home rule charter on their own.
Another option, he said, to hit the millage cap would be to change the worth of a mill. Currently each mill is the equivalent of $110,000 and Jeffers said the dollar value per mill could be changed.
Debt also appeared to be a mark against consolidation for Jeffers. He said most city debt was tied to its water/sewer system and would be paid for by the system’s customers.
Ideally, he said Treasure Lake residents and other non- DuBois water/sewer customers wouldn’t be responsible for this debt or for the approximate $45 million for the new water treatment plant.
Supervisor Sam Mollica said he was “sort of responsible” for the question of consolidation appearing on the Nov. 2 ballot because he felt voters should be given the opportunity to say yes or no.
He didn’t believe the supervisors would ever return to the consolidation process and still doesn’t understand why they even terminated the process back in June.
As a local businessman, Mollica said township businesses pay $3,000 to $4,000 more than city rates for water, which drives business away from Sandy Township.
Mollica said he only had three days to craft the petition, which is why he reused the 2002 ballot question. Salandra questioned Mollica about claims of working under such time constraints.
Salandra said the citizen petition wasn’t even launched until about seven weeks after the township voted to terminate the consolidation process.
Mollica explained that once it was decided to move forward with the petition, he only had three days to work on its language. Mollica and Salandra reconciled.
Mollica ended by addressing PEL’s report regarding fire coverage. He said if Sandy/DuBois were satisfied, then there wasn’t any need for changes here.
Beers, however, accused Mollica of “sugar-coating” the fire department issue, saying if they remain post-consolidation, they’ll become fully funded and result in higher taxes.
Later in the meeting, Mollica spoke again and was optimistic that the consolidation – if passed – would work out in Sandy Township’s favor.
He said all council seats, including mayor, in the consolidated municipality would be voted upon by residents of Sandy Township, DuBois City and Treasure Lake.
Mollica also suggested that because Sandy Township has a greater population that it could fill most of the council seats and decide city specifics in terms of ordinances and zoning.
Supervisor Mark Sullivan spoke at length about the “downsides of consolidation,” as well as a flyer put out by the “One Community Committee.”
The flyer was mailed out and distributed at the Oct. 12 public meeting. Sullivan said it used out-of-date data from March and “cherry-picked” the “rosier” data favoring consolidation.
Sullivan urged the township to expediate its plans to release a newsletter and clearly outline Sandy Township’s view of the proposed consolidation.
The supervisors then voted on whether to release the newsletter Sullivan, Jeffers, Salandra and Beers were in favor; Mollica cast the lone nay vote.
Resident Barry Abbott, who assisted Mollica with the citizen petition and ballot measure, challenged the legitimacy of the vote. The state recently added voting requirements on governing bodies.
He said the board couldn’t vote on a matter that wasn’t on the meeting agenda, which must also be finalized and advertised 24 hours in advance. Exceptions exist for emergencies.
After the meeting, Salandra clarified that the newsletter was already in the budget and also in the works. He said the vote wasn’t required and therefore not in violation of the new state law.
Residents who spoke during public comment were also largely against the proposed consolidation. Most were from the Treasure Lake and Sabula areas.
Treasure Lake residents asked why they should favor consolidation, as they would be at-risk for DuBois City water/sewer debt when they have their own water/sewer service through Aqua PA.
They also feared consolidation would “water down” their influence. Currently Treasure Lake makes up 38 percent of the township population and that would shrink to 19 percent, if the two municipalities consolidated.
Township Manager Shawn Arbaugh broke down the debt scenario. Sandy Township has $5 million while DuBois City has $18 million in total.
Arbaugh reported that the city has $6 million general fund debt that affects all taxpayers and $12 million that affects its water/sewer customers.
Looking ahead, Arbaugh said DuBois City’s water/sewer debt will increase with the construction of its $45 million water treatment plant.
Another concern that arose several times was that the outer-lying areas of Sandy Township, such as Sabula, would be forgotten and overlooked even more so than they already are.
One resident cautioned against bigger government, but it was countered by resident Terry Noble, who believed consolidated operations would actually be more efficient.
Noble encouraged others to speak with St. Marys residents about their views after their consolidation process. “Almost to a ‘T,’ they feel it’s been beneficial. We’ve seen this happen just 30 miles north.”
Some residents, however, still feared that consolidation with DuBois City would mean the end to a more “rural lifestyle” for Sandy Township.
Also, at this week’s meeting, the supervisors announced that the township would work on a voter referendum for the May election ballot.
They noted this voter referendum would only occur, if the proposed consolidation fails to pass Nov. 2, and would seek authorization to spend $50,000 to resume the original consolidation efforts.