Author Archives: pheimel

Exhibitor space has sold out and people are registered from nine states for the three-county Natural Gas Expo, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, March 17-18, at the Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle. Helene Nawrocki, executive director of the Potter County Education Council, reported at Tuesday’s Potter County Natural Gas Task Force meeting that interest in the event [...]

How will Potter County’s economy be affected by the dawning natural gas boom? How will our communities change? How should local leaders respond? Those are among the issues that will be addressed as a respected rural economics professor from Penn State, Dr. Tim Kelsey, speaks at the next meeting of the Potter County Natural Gas [...]

A committee is being formed to serve as a liaison with the consulting firm that is developing a master site plan for expansion and improvements at the Austin Dam Memorial Park. Austin Borough, in cooperation with Austin Dam Memorial Association, has hired Pashek & Associates to create the plan. After the committee is formed and initial [...]

More than a dozen area maple syrup producers are opening their doors to the public over the March 27-28 weekend for the sixth annual “Maple Weekend.” Six of the operations are in Potter County. Goal is to promote the potential of maple syruping in the region and increase public awareness of the industry.
Visitors to the [...]

Help is available for anyone who has questions or concerns about the 2010 U. S. Census forms. Five free workshops will be held at Potter County Human Services in Roulette. There’s also a Questionnaire Assistance Center, available toll-free at 1-866-872-6868. With census forms now being sent, county officials are stepping up their efforts to [...]

Potter County Office of Emergency Services will mark Weather Preparedness Week by holding a severe weather exercise on Thursday, March 18. Its purpose is to allow public agencies and other facilities can test their severe weather plans and procedures. The exercise will begin at 9 am, when the National Weather Service issues a severe thunderstorm [...]

Delivery of 2010 U.S. Census forms has begun and the Census Bureau has established a Questionnaire Assistance Center, available at 1-866-872-6868. In addition, Potter County officials plan to establish at least two centers for county residents who need help with the census forms. Details will be announced.
Potter County has a lot to gain – or [...]

Although a 2010-11 state budget now on the table would slash an operating grant for the Potter County Fair, organizers say the show must go on and are busy planning for the Aug. 1-7 event at the fairgrounds in Millport. Politicians slashed the state grant from $18,000 to $10,000 in 2009 and the budget submitted [...]

A state grant was recently approved to subsidize Potter County’s recycling operations, but it came with a warning that the spigot may soon be turned off. The Potter County Solid Waste Authority received $59,200 which will be used for a recycling collection truck.
While the politicians are debating how long the recycling grants will continue, Mike [...]

A township organization has joined the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) in urging the Pa. General Assembly to restore oil and gas rights to the real estate tax rolls. A Supreme Court decision in 2002 exempted mineral rights from the real estate tax due to inadequate language in the General County Assessment Law. [...]

Two state organizations representing energy companies large and small are nearing a merger in preparation for natural gas production that is expected to reach historic proportions in the next several years. If the merger is approved by both memberships, the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association (POGAM) and the Independent Oil and Gas Association of Pennsylvania [...]

Residents of the village of Genesee will finally be getting a new bridge on Rt. 244/School Street. After years of delay, a PennDOT project manager has informed the Genesee Township Board of Supervisors that the bridge project will be put up for bids in late June and construction should begin by August.
The new bridge likely [...]

Members of the Potter County Human Services (PCHS) Advisory Board heard a number of updates during their first meeting of 2010:
Agency On Aging: A proposal to relocate the Coudersport Senior Center to the Coudersport Volunteer Fire Department Training Center was abandoned after the CVFD board of directors rejected it. Waiting lists are still being maintained [...]

Veterans’ compensation and pension claims coming into Potter County have reached an all-time high at $113,866, according to Pennsylvania Adjutant General Major General Jessica Wright. Lenny Kalkbrenner, Potter County director of veterans affairs, has been reaching out to area American Legion and VFW posts to encourage veterans to apply for benefits and inform them of [...]