Dawson council hears of break-ins, vandalism
DAWSON – Council learned Monday that vandalism in the borough continues. Mayor Barbara Wilhelm said that there have been several break-ins at the Dawson Laundromat over the past couple of months in addition to problems with juveniles using paintball and BB guns.
Wilhelm said that the owners of the laundromat reported that several machines were smashed during the most recent break-in.
She also said that the owners have threatened to close the facility early if something isn’t done to curb the vandalism.
In other unrelated matters, Wilhelm asked council to purchase a code enforcement officer’s badge for Mike Garlowich at a cost of $45. After a brief discussion, council agreed to the purchase the badge.
Council held a rather lengthy discussion on what measures should be taken to convince state Department of Transportation (PennDOT) officials that Railroad Street needs to be resurfaced.
Council President Patty Lint said a recent meeting with PennDOT officials did not yield any results.
Lint said the problem is that Dawson has several railroad crossing that are vital to traffic and emergency equipment and PennDOT officials said that they can’t resurface the road because the railroad crossings are to high off the road surface.
“They want us to agree to take out two of the crossings,” said Lint “but if we do that homeowners who live on the riverside of town will have no escape route if the river rises and overflows its banks.”
Lint said council has faced this problem in the past but doesn’t know how to get around it because of the problems with the river.
In other matters, council:
– Learned that the Dawson Volunteer Fire Company will hold an open house in April.
– Agreed to give the fire company a $500 donation to be used toward insurance.
– Hired Karen Hughes and Kathleen Riggin of Vanderbilt to do the borough’s audit. Secretary Mary Jane Winterhalter said Hughes and Riggin completed last year’s audit at a cost of $150 each. Council agreed to pay the women $10 per hour.
– Agreed to give a $25 donation to the Yough River Trail with one vote against, cast by Councilman Dennis Carter. Carter said many of the town’s people use the trail and suggested that council continue to give the Yough River Trail $100.
– Agreed to apply for a $7,000 grant through the Fayette County Aid Program. Winterhalter said in the past the borough has received $5,000 grants that have been used for streets and/or general maintenance purposes.