The
Journal of the POCONO PLATEAU ©2023, All Rights Reserved
VOLUME 28, NUMBER 8
Mid-September, 2023
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Tobyhanna Township seeks contempt order vs TTVFC by Ruth Isenberg The deadline for Tobyhanna Township Volunteer Fire Company to return fire apparatus to the custody of the township and vacate the fire station was midnight on August 20. They met that deadline, but township supervisors are far from satisfied. In a letter addressed to the residents, supervisors called out what they termed “shameful and illegal activity,” charging TTVFC Station 41 with stripping the trucks of all
denied the Stay, meaning his original order stood, directing the TTVFC to turn over the titles for all equipment except for two pieces to the township, and vacate both buildings.. The supervisors, through solicitor Harry Coleman, petitioned the court to find TTVFC in contempt of court. As of press time, supervisors had not yet received word of the date for a hearing. According to township supervisor David Carbone, the township does not usable equipment. The trucks will have to be re-equipped with hoses, radios, breathing masks and bottles, fire tools and more. They estimate the cost at several hundred thousand dollars to equip the units well enough to respond to emergencies. TTVFC had filed for a Stay on the Court of Common Pleas ruling issued by Judge C. Daniel Higgins on July 19. On August 18, Judge Higgins
know where the removed equipment is now, so they are moving ahead to re-equip the units, and expect to recoup the costs as an attachment to the contempt order. Carbone said that Atty. Coleman filed a report with the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department regarding the removal of the equipment. Reportedly, the cameras in the fire house were covered over as the units were stripped. You can read the full copy of the supervisors’ letter on the township website, tobyhannatownshippa.gov on the News and Events page, under the Township Announcements tab.