Wrestling Dual Meet Titles On Line

Watching Weather A Full-time Job 
Whether Teaching 
At Psu Hazleton Or 
Working As A Television 
Forecaster, Jon Nese 
Can't Get Enough 
Of Mother Nature

By P. DOUGLAS FILAROSKI; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Friday, February 06, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 4A 





ASHLEY- Earth Conservancy officials met privately Thursday to consider a
plan to sell at least 300 acres to the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of
Business and Industry. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The 45-minute session yielded a "partial agreement," said conservancy Chief
Executive Officer Michael Dziak. Chamber board members will meet later this
month to consider the proposal. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At issue is a portion of the 16,300 acres Earth Conservancy purchased from
the bankrupt Blue Coal Corp. in 1994. The non-profit conservancy received
federal funding to study ways to reclaim mine-scarred property. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 About 1,000 acres have been identified as suitable for industrial
development. Talks between the conservancy and chamber could involve at least
300 of those acres, a source close to the negotiations said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're making progress," Dziak said. "To say anything else at this point
would not be appropriate." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Chamber President Stephen Barrouk also declined to be specific about the
negotiations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The chamber, which develops and markets industrial parks, is running out of
available land, Barrouk has said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Both sides say the talks not only involve which parcels the chamber would
acquire, but how many improvements the conservancy would do before selling the
land to the chamber. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On another front, Dziak told the conservancy board of directors during its
meeting Thursday that the group raised nearly $1 million through small parcel
land sales in 1997. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The sales, which involved plots of fewer than five acres, bring the group's
two-year total to nearly $2 million. Many of the acres went to adjacent
property owners and small developers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In 1997, the conservancy sold 197 parcels, including 49 parcels in Newport
Township, 30 in Warrior Run, 21 in Sug

W-b Chamber Mulling Big Land Deal