Sykesville council supports C.G. Johnson marquee

SYKESVILLE — The Sykesville Borough Council has drafted a letter of support to the DuBois Area School District for an electronic marquee being placed at C.G. Johnson Elementary School in Reynoldsville.

DASD School Board Vice President Gil Barker spoke to the council on Monday, joined by school board president Larry Salone and member Sam Armagost. Barker said they were not representing the opinions of the board, but rather making inquiries as they are the construction committee. He said they have the opportunity to place an electronic sign similar to the one in DuBois at C.G. Johnson Elementary School. He said there are 65 children from Sykesville at the school. He said they would like to get a source of information out to the community, as the sign would be a way to communicate with the taxpayers and the community as a whole. He said the sign would have the same information as the one in DuBois, and they want to share school information such as events, schedules, snow days and students who deserve recognition.

He said it lends a layer of transparency to the school district. He said the sign in DuBois is a wonderful thing for the district, but not everyone in Reynoldsville has the opportunity to travel the six or seven miles to DuBois every day. He said it won’t be the same size as the one at DuBois, but will have the same information.

Council president Michelle Yamrick asked if this was something the school board voted on recently. Barker said it was voted on at the June meeting and failed for lack of support. He said the funds are in place to put a sign up there and they have both the ability and technology.

Yamrick said as she understood, the Reynoldsville Borough Council sent a letter of support. Barker said that was correct. Yamrick said she drafted a letter of support, which reads as follows: “To the respective members of the board of the DuBois Area School District, Sykesville Borough Council is respectfully requesting reconsideration of your decision to deny the installation of a marquee sign, which was to be placed at C.G. Johnson School. This

was recently denied at your June meeting. Many children from Sykesville attend C.G. Johnson School. Council feels the marquee sign would be an excellent source of news in the school such as upcoming events, employment opportunities, student recognition, meetings and much more. It is noted that the same type of marquee signage is in place at the DuBois Area Middle School, as well as the DuBois Area Senior High School. These provide the families of DuBois the aforementioned information. Know that parents are grateful to be able to have that information displayed, because as you may know, not everyone is on social media, and in fact some may not have internet at all, and this would benefit those families keeping them in the know. We all know the value of transparency in regards to public offices, school board activities, etc. and this marquis could facilitate that as well. On behalf of the citizens of Sykesville as well as the Sykesville Borough Council, we respectfully request re-evaluation of your decision.”

Sherry Pruzinsky made the motion to sign the letter and send it with Barker and company. Ron Morris gave the second and the motion passed.

Barker thanked the council for their efforts.

In other business:

Road update: construction

Wendy Kephart asked the council during the public comment section if there could be any work done to Van Wort Alley.

Yamrick asked Brian Williams if there was anything they could do with that alley. He said the only reason they didn’t put it on their list of roads to be paved was because the new waterline being installed on Main Street will hook back around on Van Wort and it will be paved then. Yamrick asked if there was anything they could do right now. Council member Nate Alvetro said he would look at it. Yamrick said the tar and chip on the alley is gone and it is now just tar. Kephart said vehicle tires and even shoes sink into the tar now and you can hear the excess tar cracking as you go down the road. She said there is a lot of traffic on that alley.

Pruzinsky said she has seen a lot of comments on Facebook regarding the state of the borough’s alleys. She specifically brought up

Curvex Street and said in the winter it is treacherous going around the curve because the gullies are so bad. She said it would be good even if they do something small until they can get some funding to fix them next year. Yamrick said they are hoping to get the multi-modal grant again next year and they should start putting together a mental list of roads that need fixing. Other streets mentioned were Kaufman Street, Sykes Street Alley, Sugar Camp Alley and Coolspring Avenue. Alvetro said the issue with getting alleys paved is when they apply for the multi-modal grant, the road to be paved has to be a certain length and width to qualify.

update: Alvetro said he spoke with PennDOT and they had someone come down regarding the traffic light. He said PennDOT completed their study and will not be doing anything with that light. He said PennDOT told him the length of time that light is green on Route 119 is not only within their specifications, but should actually be longer, rather than shorter as indicated by an individual at the last meeting.

PennDOT

Yamrick said PennDOT explained to her that traffic lights are not a speed control device, but rather a traffic flow device and the traffic flow that is at that intersection at present is what PennDOT determined it needed to be. Yamrick said they have been very helpful. She said if they went and adjusted the light themselves and an accident did occur, the borough of Sykesville could be liable.

Alvetro said PennDOT also informed him about the jake brake issue on North Park Street. He said PennDOT referred him to the jake brake signs in Brookville, which do not prohibit the use of jake brakes. He said because of the grade, PennDOT wouldn’t allow that. He said it is the same situation coming off of the cemetery hill on North Park. He said with the grade and the 90-degree turn, PennDOT would not allow that because there would be too much of a risk of a vehicle taking out a house. He said PennDOT said the borough could put up a sign that asks trucks to limit jake brakes, but Alvetro said that couldn’t be enforced.

Alvetro said PennDOT is done with their study and both matters are now over.