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Thursday, September 4, 1986, p. 9.

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Pictured is Shehawken Creek in Buckingham Township, where Hurricane Gloria began erosion problems last year. According to Larue Elmore of the Wayne Conservation District, installation of "gabion baskets" was previously supervised by the Army Corps of Engineers. Shown above is some of the damage done to the heavy gauge chicken-wire mesh and rock walls designed to retain creek-bed soil.

Soil erosion on
Shehawken Creek

By TOM RUE


HONESDALE - At their last several meetings, the Wayne County Commissioners have heard about soil erosion problems caused by creeks in Buckingham and Scott townships.

On August 28, Buckingham Supervisor George Whitlock and resident Joan Jacobs asked the county officials to assist residents along Shehawken Creek in Starlight. Whitlock and Jacobs said that land along the creek was sashed away by Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Properties along the creek were undercut and could sustain further damage, they claimed. Jacobs said that her daughter's house now has just five feet of ground from the back door to the creek.

They reported that Robert A. Muller of the Wayne County Conservation District sent a letter to the Department of Environmental Resources (DER), asking for an inspection of the creek-bed. "If the problem is not rectified in the very near future, damage to one or several of the homes is going to result," Muller warned.

Contacted on Monday by The River Reporter, Whitlock objected to a charge by commissioner Donald Olsommer that the township supervisors had not done their job during the flood program in 1985. "He [Olsommer] has proven himself to be irresponsible because he didn't know what he was talking about when he stated that," Whitlock stated.

The next day, September 2, Whitlock and George Taylor, another Buckingham supervisor, appeared before the commissioners "to straighten things out." Bearing an armload of documents and photos, Whitlock and Taylor reviewed the history of the Shehawken erosion problem, listing all the actions the township has taken.

Last week, Whitlock offered to personally donate materials to "rip-rap" the creek (line the banks of the creek with rock to deter further soil erosion). At the September 2nd meeting, the commissioners agreed to ask the Army Corps of Engineers to supervise the dredging and rip-rapping of the creek, which is expected to solve the problem.

In an unrelated matter, at the August 26th meeting, the commissioners received a letter from Whitlock disputing a front-page item in the August 21 issue of The Wayne Independent. According to Whitlock, the misstatement concerned a lawsuit against Buckingham and Scott townships, by Ronald and Irmgard Parrington for damages allegedly incurred due to creek work done near Ball's Eddy by the two municipalities.

Whitlock said that the work was a third party deal with Scott, Buckingham, and the county, and denied the existence of any official correspondence from Buckingham Township.

In another matter at the August 26th meeting, the commissioners were informed that the Wayne County Prison received "excellent" ratings from two inspectors with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Corrections, following an unannounced visit to the Honesdale facility.

Sheriff William Bluff told the commissioners that the inspectors had recommended installation of a segregated cell for prisoners with disciplinary problems, and a solid bullet-proof partition at the prison's entrance to impede outside accessibility.

Bluff also received authorization from the commissioners to hire a tenth deputy sheriff, William J. Witkowski, at an annual salary of $11,000.

The commissioners were told on August 28 that county auditors Lois Histed, Gail Wood, and Gene Compton were pleased with the county's financial condition, following their evaluation of it. They also made some specific recommendations for improvement.

In other business, the commissioners announced that Sun-Litho Printing of East Stroudsburg was granted the job of printing ballots for the upcoming elections at a cost of $2850; tabled a request from the Agency on Aging for a supplemental allocation of $3000; hired Linda J. Shuman as a clerk/typist to work in the domestic relations division of the Prothonotary's office; and praised the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce for its economic stimulation of the area.