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Lackawanna County Treatment Court completes restoration projects in Clarks Summit.
Treatment Court volunteers take a break after painting the Clarks Summit Department of Public Works building. From left, Korey Novak, Matt Casciano, Treatment Court community service director Tom Lavelle, Vinny Roberts, Justin Haymond, Steve Morris and Pete Graziano.
Treatment Court participants recently updated the exterior of the Clarks Summit Borough Building. They painted the garage doors, steel framing, and poles for a much-needed renovation.
Lackawanna County Treatment Court participants remove sediment to prevent flooding in the creek bed behind Hemlock Drive. From left, R. J. Gorton, Chris Montifia, Mark Webb, Jeremiah Fitch, Ron Nealon.
submitted photos
Clarks Summit and neighboring areas in Lackawanna County recently benefited from projects of the Lackawanna County Treatment Court.
The program provides a cost-efficient alternative to prison. Rather than locking up an offender on drug charges, the court mandates that unemployed participants get involved in community restoration projects in addition to their scheduled treatment meetings, helping provide a positive structure to their daily lives while giving back to the community by beautifying and cleaning up boroughs and municipalities.
According to the Treatment Court, the program saves taxpayers $7 million annually through non-incarceration of these offenders.
Since mid-June, Treatment Court participants have extracted more than five tons of sediment that had built up along the creek by the Mayor Donald L. Eilenberger Memorial Park on Hemlock Drive.
“The cement bed had been overcome with silt that was blocking the water. We needed to fix it for years and would have had to if the Treatment Court team didn’t provide the manual labor,” said Virginia Kehoe, Clarks Summit Borough manager, who acts as the liaison between the borough council and the Treatment Court team. “By removing the silt, they have allowed the water to flow freely and prevent flooding.”
Tom Lavelle, community service director for the Treatment Court, said the job required labor not machines.
“We went in with buckets and shovels and cleared it. We fixed the problem machines couldn’t reach,” he said.
“To have the borough’s DPW crew tied up (at the creek bed) for four days with this manual labor would have cost an unbelievable dollar amount and prevented them from attending to other important projects,” Kehoe said.
According to Christine Tsaklas, Clarks Summit Borough treasurer, the project saved the borough approximately $11,500.
“That’s including pay rates and benefits that would have gone to public workers. This is a significant financial savings (for taxpayers),” Tsaklas said.
After observing their work on the creek bed, Patrick Williams, Clarks Summit council vice president, presented the Treatment Court team with other projects. During the past few weeks, the Treatment Court participants painted the garage doors, molding, and poles on the borough building on State Street. They also painted the DPW building and refurbished the surrounding chain-linked fence.
“We’re so impressed with these guys. They never said no to anything, and never gave us a hard time; they just did the job,” Williams said.
“As a borough, we are obligated to use taxpayer money to make sure roads, sewers, and other public works are kept up, and we haven’t had time to maintain our own buildings. The Treatment Court team was able to make them look much more appealing at a very low cost to us,” Kehoe added.
“Not only does the county benefit from the service projects, but the participants benefit as well,” said Lackawanna County Judge Michael Barrasse, who oversees the Treatment Court. “They form relationships with others in their groups and become a working team, proud of their accomplishments. Many who once needed supervision become responsible and self-sufficient.
“This is a very strict program, with hard work and community outreach being only one part,” he continued.
The Treatment Court participants are currently working on a Rails to Trails project in Simpson, converting more than four miles of train tracks into walking trails.
Though the Treatment Court team provides manual labor for the benefit of the community, obtaining the necessary equipment has been an ongoing problem. The service group is seeking donations of a weed-whacker, lawnmower, or any other outdoor power equipment.
For more information about the Treatment Court or to donate to the Community Service Team, contact Lavelle Edwin Doherty, program coordinator, at 496-1736.