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 2019 Comprehensive Plan - Penn Strategies

Background:

In March of 2018, Penn Strategies helped to form the Barrett Township Stakeholder Advisory Committee, a non-partisan, diverse group involving local residents, business owners, and community leaders. Our goal was to obtain unbiased, non-political information to aid in the development of a comprehensive economic development strategy.

(WBRE/WYOU) — A convicted child rapist is sentenced in Monroe County Court Thursday.

45-year-old Matthew Sisler will spend more than 63 years behind bars. He was convicted of drugging and raping a 14-year-old girl in September 2018 in Barrett Township.

The assaults happened over a period of about seven years beginning when she was just seven years old. Sisler had nothing to say in court while the victim allowed a letter about her ordeal to be read into the sentencing record.

[Source]

[WNEP Article]

Update 1/7/2020 @ 10am

I am posting the remainder of the email thread between myself and Karl Stearns that didn't make it into the comments area:

Karl:
1/7/2020 @ 8:45am

My reference to you not understanding correctly was that you stated the Supervisors owned Barrett Elementary School and that is not correct.  The school was owned by the Pocono Mountain School District until it was sold supposedly for “senior housing”—which never materialized.

The whole history of the building of this school and the school in Tobyhanna is convoluted.  We were told back then that the old buildings were no longer “compliant” with laws regulating access by handicapped people.  Mostly because they were multistory buildings with no elevators.  The teachers were propagandizing the issue because the whole drive was to have new schools—nothing else.  Kids were going home armed with talking points to their parents and anyone who would listen about all the poor handicapped children who couldn’t attend school because the buildings were “old”.  I witnessed one young girl it total meltdown with tears and hysterical rambling as she tried to explain it to a group of adults. Amazingly, after the old buildings were vacated, they were eventually used again by the school district for classrooms. 

BARRETT TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- For the past 35 years, Gretchen Callie Reisenwitz and her husband Mark called Callie's Pretzel Factory near Cresco home.

"This is what I've done my whole life," said Gretchen Callie Reisenwitz, Callie's Pretzel Factory.

Every day for more than three decades, Mark would show up bright and early to make pretzels.

A $50-plus million plan for the construction of a new building adjacent to the Monroe County Courthouse is taking shape as a new board of county commissioners prepares to take office in January.

The ambitious plan, discussed for years as a way to cope with an old, cramped courthouse and explosive growth in civil and criminal cases, would involve the county taking the drive-through PNC bank at Sixth and Sarah streets, either through a purchase or through eminent domain, as the county did with 701 Main St., which it took to alleviate some space constraints in county offices.

Click here for PDF of Barrett Township's 2020 annual budget.  

Per Resolution No. 121119B, Barrett Township Supervisors have set the 2020 budget and millage rates. 

For comparison purposes, I have constructed the following table showing the 2020 vs. previous millage rates:

How is the millage rate calculated?
The county, municipality, and school district (taxing authorities) set their budgets for 2020. The taxing authority then divides its budget by the total assessed value of all property within the area it serves to arrive at a millage rate.

I'm honored!  A sincere thanks to the people who voted for me. 

It looks like the article I wrote last year about "suggestions for improvements to financial statements" has already helped.  The 2018 CPA audit is twice as long as 2017's, containing many more details than prior. 

Unfortunately, the 2020 budget has been released and is still under the existing format, with no actual vs. estimated, no comparisons with last year, and no notes.  This makes it difficult for voters to dissect, understand, and discuss the budget. 

(WBRE/WYOU) — A delicious holiday tradition can be enjoyed at a resort in the Poconos.

A giant gingerbread house can be found at the Skytop Lodge in Barrett Township. The sweet endeavor begins months in advance with the planning stage. Then the preparations begin.

It takes 920 eggs, 612 pounds of flour, five pounds each of ginger, sugar, and spice and hours of labor. This is the 10th year for the gingerbread house.

BARRETT TOWNSHIP, MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) – A man died this afternoon after he was pinned underneath his vehicle in an accident in Barrett Township, Monroe County.

Police say Richard Simon was working on his car on the side of the road when it fell on top of him.

Simon’s son freed him using a car jack, but he was pronounced dead on the scene.

The incident is under investigation.

[source]

Editor's Note: Read it for yourself
 Fact Finding Report

Update 12/13/19 @ 8:30am
Are PMSD bus drivers organizing an informal strike?

• PMSD closes schools after bus driver shortage
• Bus Driver Dilemma at Pocono Mountain School District

PMSD rejects fact finder’s report

On Wednesday evening the Pocono Mountain School District Board of Education voted to reject the fact finder’s recommendations regarding support staff contract negotiations. The vote was 7-1, with one abstention.

“It is with profound disappointment that our association learned of the board’s vote to reject the neutral fact finder’s recommendations for a fair settlement. We felt that his recommendations were a fair compromise that allowed both sides to move forward. Our members voted overwhelmingly in favor of the fact finder’s report. It’s frustrating to see the board’s lack of urgency to resolve this matter,” stated Dawn Cello, president of the Pocono Mountain Educational Support Professionals Association.

A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING BARRETT TOWNSHIP TO SUBMIT A PA SMALL WATER AND SEWER GRANT APPPLICATION TO THE COMMONWEALTH FINANCING AUTHORITY ON BEHALF OF PRESBYTERIAN SENIOR LIVING