DUBOIS – At Tuesday night’s budget workshop, City/Township Manager Shawn Arbaugh presented the proposed 2025 budget for the City of DuBois, indicating there would be no new taxes but potential water/sewer rate hikes.

He reported that the city anticipates a significant savings from taking a pair of measures—namely switching its insurance provider and debt refinancing.

More specifically, its insurance switch is anticipated to save the city approximately $212,000 and its debt refinancing an additional $100,000.

Reduced chemical costs will add to these city savings once the new wastewater treatment plant goes online, Arbaugh said.

But, at the same time, the city has some new expenses, he said, like training a new K-9 unit and an anticipated $800,000 payment towards its construction loan for the wastewater treatment plant.

While the budget for water/sewer doesn’t necessitate a rate increase, Arbaugh did suggest a rate hike of $1.75 per 1,000 gallons each to align DuBois’ rates more closely with that of Sandy Township ahead of their consolidation.

If approved, the rate increase would also support infrastructure projects like the Coke Hill and Green Glenn projects.  It was noted that the city will pursue a $500,000 Local Share Account (LSA) grant for the Coke Hill project as well.

Calls for Resignation

Public tension also persisted on Tuesday night between council members and residents.

There’s been ongoing tension over interactions between three new council members and members of the DuBois Volunteer Fire Department.

It’s been building for some time now but came to a head about one month ago following accusatory statements by Council Member Jennifer Jackson.

During the October meeting of the DuBois-Sandy Joint Consolidation Board, Jackson said there were DuBois firefighters who would let her property burn.

DVFD Vice President Rick Sierzega urged Jackson to step down, accusing her and Reasinger both of biased behavior against the department.

Resident Stacy Downer criticized the new members of council—Jackson, Reasinger and Elliott Gelfand—saying they lacked the communication and empathy skills to lead the city. 

Downer called for their immediate resignation.

Former Council Member Diane Bernardo also recounted occasions when Reasinger allegedly disparaged outgoing council members and pressured then-Interim Manager Chris Nasuti into requesting fire department meeting and financial records without the knowledge of other officials.

Bernardo suggested that tensions with the fire department predate Jackson’s remarks, as she’s traced disagreements back to actions taken by Reasinger.

Jackson and Reasinger both declined to comment on the matter.

Tree Planting

On Nov. 9, volunteers helped plant trees in the City of DuBois—namely along Maple Avenue where a number of trees had been removed as part of road and sidewalk construction projects. 

There were 80 volunteers who helped plant 66 trees. “It was fabulous,” said City Mayor Pat Reasinger Tuesday night. Volunteers were both young and old alike, including cub scouts and retirees. 

There were also residents from both the city and township, as well as work groups from Domtar, Xylem, Martin’s and the DuBois Jaycees. 

“Everybody worked real hard,” said Reasinger, noting “it was about five hours of work, but we got it all done.”