Local briefs
Anniversary planned Hearing announced
Events scheduled
Mailbox hints issued
Winter is here and PENNDOT District 12 wants to remind homeowners living along state routes that it’s time to prepare their mailboxes for heavy snow.
PENNDOT’s main goal throughout the winter is to maintain safe and passable roads. This often means plowing deep snow to the side of the roads to keep them open.
Snowplow operators are instructed to maintain lower speeds when plowing in areas where mailboxes are present. Occasionally, however, variable speeds must be maintained to contend with heavy, wet snow. Since most mailboxes are placed within PENNDOT’s legal right-of-way, it is up to the homeowners to make sure that their mailbox can with sand the weight of snow being thrown from a plow.
Normally, if a mailbox is placed as far beyond the shoulder of the highway as the postal carrier can reach and it is firmly supported, it should have no problem withstanding the weight of the snow as the plow passes.
PENNDOT offers these tips to help eliminate the possibility of a mailbox being damaged this winter.
? Place a six to eight-inch piece of reflective tape on the mailbox to help snow plow operators see it at night.
? Remove snow from around the mailbox, but avoid throwing it back onto the road.
? If the mailbox is located within the legal right-of-way and damage was experienced in the past, homeowners may want to consider relocating the mailbox before this winter.
? Make sure the mailbox is firmly supported in the ground.
Homeowners who have followed these tips in the past and have still experienced damaged mailboxes may want to consider installing a cantilever mailbox support that will “swing” a mailbox out of harm’s way. Plans for the Cantilever Mailbox support can be obtained by calling PENNDOT at 724-439-7375.
Audit reports issued
Auditor General Robert P. Casey said an audit found that the Fayette County Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Association FRA conducts its financial affairs in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
“I applaud the efforts of the Uniontown firefighters’ relief association,” Casey said. “Their continued success is critical to providing the necessary support local volunteer firefighters need to protect the lives and property of their neighbors.”
The Department of the Auditor General is mandated by law to conduct Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Association audits to ensure that relief associations are spending their state aid appropriately. These audits also ensure that relief association officials are operating in accordance with the volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Association Act of June 11, 1968, or Act 84.
Each of the Commonwealth’s nearly 2,000 VFRAs receives state aid based on two-percent tax on fire insurance purchased by Pennsylvania residents from out of state insurance companies. This aid is distributed to each municipality in which volunteer firefighters provide fire protection services. The municipalities have the responsibility to allocate state aid to local relief associations, who are then permitted to use the funds to purchase equipment to safeguard the volunteer firefighters and the communities they serve.
The Uniontown VFRA received $57,944 in state aid, through the City of Uniontown, during years 1999-2001.
Farm aid sought
State Rep. Peter J. Daley (D-California) is hoping to meet this week with Department of Agriculture officials to ask the state to intervene on behalf of southwestern Pennsylvania farmers being denied federal aid.
According to Daley, a clerical error is preventing farmers in Fayette and Greene counties from participating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Livestock Compensation program.
“I have been made aware of the clerical error that is being used by USDA officials in Washington, D.C., as the reason for denying disaster relief to local farmers. It’s one thing if the counties do not qualify for assistance, but if this is merely a procedural error, then something must be done to correct the situation,” Daley said. “Through no fault of their own, southwestern Pennsylvania farmers are being denied access to federal funding and I will not let that happen.”
Daley is the minority chairman of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. He has asked U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Johnstown) for assistance at the federal level.
“We’ve received a number of calls from farmers who are being hurt by this error and promptly called the USDA. The USDA tells us that they can amend the program to correct this error if Pennsylvania files an appeal, so we’ve delivered a letter to Gov. (Mark) Schweiker’s office urging that the governor move forward immediately with such an appeal,” Daley said.
According to Murtha, the problem can be fixed once the state files an appeal.