`west Side Story' Still A Winner 
Musical Classic Hits All The Right Notes At The Scranton Cultural Center

3 Borough Employees To Get Safety Equipment

By DAVID J. RALIS; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Saturday, February 07, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





FORTY FORT- Council President William Feldman will phone other board
members this weekend to see if they want to resurrect the issue of Patrick
Judge's status on the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 After a heated discussion during council's monthly public meeting Monday,
the board decided not to oust Judge from the authority. He continues to
represent Forty Fort on that board even though he lives in Moosic, Lackawanna
County. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; However, council came to that decision before the borough's zoning officer
was told that a consulting business Judge said he owns here is merely a
mailing address. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Judge maintains he uses the office on a part-time basis. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At issue is whether the consulting business is really in the borough and
whether Judge pays taxes to the borough from it, Feldman said Friday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Under state law, members of an authority must live, own a business or pay
taxes in the municipality they represent on an authority. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I want this resolved by our March meeting," Feldman said, adding if
council wants to hold a special meeting, its members should invite Judge to be
there to answer questions. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Judge, general manager of A&amp;A Auto Parts, welcomed a chance to clear the
air publicly when told Friday about the possible meeting. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The people of Forty Fort have been most kind to me over the years and if
they have questions, I will answer them to lay this to rest," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He also said he continues to operate a consulting business from the office
of the Tallman printing shop on Elizabeth Street. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But Zoning Officer Sheldon Glahn said that when he went to inspect that
office Wednesday, Tom W. Huntington, Tallman's president, told him Judge uses
the address as a mail drop. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In addition to getting mail at the single-story building, Judge maintains
he also uses a computer and a desk in its small office. "I was there this
morning," he said Friday. "You can see my lease." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He also said he continues to pay the borough's business privilege and
mercantile taxes. However, that could not be independently confirmed this
week. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Although a list of who does and does not pay those taxes is considered a
public record under the state's Right To Know Law, the borough never maintains
a list like that, according to Feldman, Mayor Robert Megatulski and other
borough officials. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Don Wilkinson Agency collects those taxes for the borough and the
Wyoming Valley West School District. It furnishes Forty Fort only a monthly
check and a report showing how much was collected on the borough's behalf. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Shirley Johns, the agency's vice president, declined to furnish the tax
information at the request of a Times Leader reporter Thursday, saying her
private company is not covered by the state law. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She is correct, according to John Feichtel, media law counsel for the
Pennsylvania Newspaper Publishers Association. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But under a Commonwealth Court ruling in 1982, the borough is

Forty Fort Again Eyes Judge Issue 
At Stake Is Whether The 
Appointee To The Wyoming 
Valley Sanitary Authority 
Meets The Requirement Of 
Owning A Business In Town

Forty Fort Again Eyes Judge Issue At Stake Is Whether The Appointee To The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority Meets The Requirement Of Owning A Business In Town