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Two fires, one suspicious, at Wyoming home lead to its demolition

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Extent of water damage to Luzerne County records still unknown

<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; A stamp of approval from the township Zoning Hearing Board this week gave Dallas School District the ability to move forward with plans to construct an intermediate school.</p><p>The zoning board unanimously approved the district&#8217;s request for a special exception to build the school in an agricultural zone and for a buffer variance for the distance between a proposed road and an existing waterway, said Dallas Township Zoning and Code Enforcement Officer Carl Alber.</p><p>The plan is for the Dallas Intermediate School to be constructed next to Wycallis Elementary in the current location of two athletic fields at the corner of Conyngham Avenue and Hildebrandt Road.</p><p>The athletic fields would be relocated to the area currently occupied by the aging Dallas Elementary School.</p><p>A proposed one-way road leading to a faculty parking lot and student drop-off area would be located behind the planned school and between the athletic fields&#8217; new location and a stream, Alber said.</p><p>The road, at its closest point, is 81 feet from the stream, which is a violation of the municipality&#8217;s zoning ordinance that requires a 100-foot buffer zone from a waterway, he said.</p><p>The zoning board&#8217;s approval is just the first step of many the district will have to conquer before it can break ground in the spring of 2018, explained Alber.</p><p>The district will also need to present construction plans to the Dallas Township Planning Commission, he said.</p><p>&#8220;There are a lot of criteria to be met for land development,&#8221; Alber said, noting the building plans will also have to be approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection and by township supervisors.</p><p>Alber said the district wants to open the Dallas Intermediate School in the fall of 2019.</p><p>It would house third, fourth and fifth grades.</p><p>Kindergarten, first and second grades would be located in Wycallis Elementary.</p><p>Wycallis and the intermediate school would share a bus pad off Conyngham Avenue.</p><p>The proposed 57,371 square-foot school includes a gymnasium, lobby, cafeteria, music and art rooms, a media center (library), and eight third-grade classrooms on the first floor, according to building plans presented by the district&#8217;s architecture firm Alloy 5 in July.</p><p>The new school will have a &#8220;manlock&#8221; front door system that will require guests to be buzzed in to the building and additional security doors to restrict the public&#8217;s access to first-floor classroom areas.</p><p>The project would be funded by a bond agreement with PNC Bank at a cost not to exceed $39.5 million.</p><p>The building&#8217;s price tag is estimated at $18.5 million, according to Alloy 5&#8217;s July plan.</p><p>At the May school board meeting, David Payne, a financial adviser at PNC Bank, said taxpayers could expect to see a tax increase of about 2.2 percent, which is equivalent to &#8220;$45 per parcel.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Issues at Dallas Elementary</strong></p><p>The 45-year-old prefabricated Dallas Elementary, originally constructed to house flood victims in 1972, has many troubles, including issues with plumbing and the heating and cooling system.</p><p>In May, a leaky roof created a mold problem, which was contained to classroom 106, neighboring girls and boys restrooms and an adjacent room used as a computer lab.</p><p>The mold was removed, and air-quality tests taken following the incident came back clean.</p><p>In June 2016, Mark Barnhardt, senior vice president at E.I. Associates, an architecture and engineering firm, told the school board nearly $11.5 million in upgrades are required to bring the building up to par.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Dallas Township Zoning Hearing Board has approved the Dallas School District&#8217;s request for a special exception to build a new school in an agricultural zone. The board also OK&#8217;d a buffer variance for the distance between a proposed road and an existing waterway. Plans for the school are shown on these blueprints. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Dallas-School-Planfixed00.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Dallas Township Zoning Hearing Board has approved the Dallas School District&#8217;s request for a special exception to build a new school in an agricultural zone. The board also OK&#8217;d a buffer variance for the distance between a proposed road and an existing waterway. Plans for the school are shown on these blueprints. </caption0><photoCredit0>Eileen Godin | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Dallas School District gets zoning approval on plans for new school