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West Pittston officials enact emergency phone messaging system

WEST PITTSTON &#8212; Residents of Excelsior Street expressed concerns regarding the &#8220;unsafe and unnacceptable&#8221; condition of the road at a council meeting on Tuesday, April 7.Regina Gilligan, who had two alignments and a replaced tire on her vehicle since February, said delivery drivers will not use the road, preferring to park on nearby Race Street.&#8220;It&#8217;s basically a dirt road. It hasn&#8217;t been paved since 1978,&#8221; Gilligan said.Borough Engineer Tom Reilly agreed to survey the street and provide recommendations to council for temporary repair work. Reilly is currently in the process of acquiring three separate contracts for extensive road work in the borough, which will include Excelsior Street with plans for construction to begin in July and follow through until 2016.Council authorized the submission of a municipal recycling grant application for a mini recycling packer. The grant must be filed by June 30 and requires that the borough pay 10 percent of the $105,000 grant up front, with the expectation of reimbursement within three to four months.&#8220;It&#8217;s still a sound financial idea. The grant is a good opportunity,&#8221; Councilman Brian Thornton said, referring to similar purchases in the past which required the borough to take out loans.Council also adopted a new purchasing policy for the purchase of supplies, goods and services performed. Department heads must submit purchase requests through Bonita for approval.Council set forth the distribution of information about the CodeRED Notification System in the borough during a regular meeting Tuesday evening at the municipal building.The CodeRED system was adopted by the borough last month and is an emergency notification service meant to enhance the communication of time-sensitive information and is accessed only by authorized officials to notify residents and businesses in the borough regarding any concerns that may affect the safety and welfare of the community. Messages delivered via phone, text messaging, email and social media can include AMBER alerts, evacuation notices and traffic hazards.&#8220;It&#8217;s important that everybody participate in order for CodeRED to be successful,&#8221; said Borough Manager Savino Bonita.Ellen Quinn, president of West Pittston Tomorrow, praised the borough for its adoption of the system.&#8220;This is going to be a great benefit to the community,&#8221; Quinn said.In other news&#8230;&#8226; Mayor Tony Denisco received three anonymous donations amounting to $1,500 for the borough, which were used to purchase accurate motor truck scales through PennDOT.&#8220;We appreciate what residents do for the borough,&#8221; Denisco said.&#8226; The 38th Annual West Pittston 4-Mile Anthracite Run Race will be held on Saturday, June 6. Registration will begin at 7:30 a.m. at the municipal building and is open to the public. The race begins at 9 a.m.The first 100 participants to register will receive a free T-shirt. A pizza party will be held following the race.&#8226; Quinn reported that West Pittston Tomorrow is working on plans for an historic neighborhood designation in the borough, a project proposed in February. She also thanked PennDOT for donating gloves and hats for participants in the clean-up at Morris Park.&#8226; The borough accepted the resignations of crossing guard James Fiske and Department of Public Works foreman Leonard Pesta.

Excelsior Street residents confront West Pittston council about road conditions