TyronePA.com

A new senior high school was constructed on Lincoln Avenue in 1911. In 1929, the Waring property adjacent to the school was bought and then razed to build the junior high school addition. The present-day Tyrone Area High School was built in 1962, and the former high school became Lincoln Elementary School.
When the newly constructed elementary school on Clay Avenue was finished in 1999, all the elementary schools in Tyrone combined; leaving Lincoln School vacant. The building was soon sold to S&A Homes Inc.
It’s now 2008, and there has been no progress or plans made for the quickly deteriorating Lincoln School building.
Tyrone Mayor James Kilmartin stated last evening after borough council’s work session that something needs to be done as soon as possible.
“The consensus has been that they (S&A Homes) need to do something, and I think council-wise, we’re getting really tired of just sitting and waiting – and nothing being done,” stated Kilmartin.
The borough received a letter dated January 8, 2008 from Andy Haines of S&A Homes, addressing a correspondence letter sent by the borough on December 12, outlining numerous violations of the borough’s Property Maintenance Code that still exist at the building.
The borough has stated that it’s been very willing to work with S&A Homes, and very patient with the requests made. But at this time, without code issues being addressed, the borough is concerned about the dangerous conditions that exist at the property.
Borough Code Enforcement Officer Jim Metzgar said the building presents a danger to the public in terms of the public’s safety and welfare. He said the building has been deteriorating for the last five to seven years.
“When you have an open roof and water coming into the building, and with all the deterioration structurally, it is unhealthy for a building,” added Metzgar.
“Unfortunately, S&A hasn’t made small repairs on the building, let alone give us any plan of action on what they want to do with the building.”
Back in September of 2006, the borough’s engineering service, CET Engineering, Senior Structural Engineer Kenneth Grubb wrote a report for the borough on the condition of the Lincoln Avenue building. In the report Grubb stated that “left in its current condition, with the significance and number of roof failures, the deterioration will accelerate to the point where this building will become a hazard with eventual isolated failures and collapses unavoidable.”
Grubb added, “While we do believe that this building is salvageable, the cost for stabilization alone will be significant. Stabilization as a minimum will require a new roofing system, sealing all exterior coping, cornice and masonry joints, and closing up all window openings to restrict human entry as well as to exclude wildlife, birds and wet weather. In addition, we recommend that a survey be conducted of the building exterior and any loose or deteriorating elements be removed and or stabilized.”
S&A’s lack of attention to this matter left the borough with no choice but to issue a Condemnation and Demolition Order under the date of December 12, 2007. This project has continued for 18 months, and during those 18 months, the building has continued to deteriorate.
The borough stated it has continued to wait for repairs to be made, and S&A has not demonstrated cooperation or timeliness in making even basic repairs. S&A Homes had requested an appeal, however, this request was not made within the allotted 20-day time frame, making an appeal not an option.
Kilmartin added, “It’s a significant thing. Tearing down the building will be very costly, and fixing it up will be extremely costly. On their (S&A’s) part, they’re looking for funds, but they’ve been looking for funds for years; sometimes you just need to cut your costs and deal with it.”
The borough is requesting S&A Homes’ structural engineer to conduct an on-site inspection within 20 days from January 15, 2008, and provide the borough with a written report. This report must be received by the borough within 15 days from the date of inspection.
Therefore, the borough anticipates receiving a written report from S&A Homes on or before Monday, February 18, 2008. After the report is received, a meeting will be scheduled with borough representatives, including the borough solicitor and engineer, and representatives from S&A Homes, to review the report and S&A’s options at that time.
“We hope we can work something out and go over a plan, but if we don’t get any response we will commence with legal proceedings and continue to push the issue of demolition,” added Metzgar.
Kilmartin and Metzgar said that there have been ideas thrown out there for what could be done with the building, such as something recreational, but that plan was over a year and half ago and nothing was accomplished – that is unacceptable from the borough’s standpoint.
“They’re a reputable outfit and we always want to see someone come in and do something for the community, but we need a plan of action, stick to it in a timely manner, and open up that plan of action,” stated Metzgar.
Mr. Haines of S&A Homes did not return a phone message by press time.

In a press release early yesterday afternoon issued by the Little Juniata River Association, LJRA President Bill Anderson stated that the responsible party of a fish kill last February 21 at the mouth of the Tyrone Water Treatment Plant outflow was determined.
A total of 243 fish were discovered dead in the Little Juniata, according to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC).
Effective with an agreement signed by Tyrone Borough officials on January 23, 2008, the borough’s water treatment plant “had an unpermitted discharge of an unknown substance or condition into the Little Juniata River which caused a number of fish (including a number of brown trout) to die.”
As a result of the Consent Assessment and Settlement Agreement (CASA) between the borough and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the borough has been ordered to pay fines of $6,475 to the DEP and an additional fine for civil damages of $2,514 to the PFBC.
DEP spokesman John Repetz elaborated that the borough was accessed a civil penalty for the unpermitted discharge from the treatment plant, which is a violation of “The Clean Streams Law.”
The fine payment for The Clean Streams Law violation was made payable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Clean Water Fund. The PA Fish and Boat Commission’s accessed fine was made payable to the PFBC.
“The borough informed DEP that the problem was caused by an equipment malfunction, and that problem has been corrected,” stated Repetz.
Borough Manager Sharon Dannaway said that the fine was something the borough had to pay and it was paid in January. She knew the borough was expecting a fine, even though they never knew what caused the fish kill.
“We knew we would be fined because it was at the mouth of the outflow of the treatment plant,” added Dannaway.
Sewer Superintendent Tim Nulton continued by saying that what went through the plant was never identified, and it was proved it wasn’t caused within the plant by personnel at the facility.
“Something did come through the plant, but it wasn’t caused by us,” said Nulton.
In past years there have been several significant fish kills on the Little Juniata River. A major kill of the entire food chain, traced to approximately the area of the Tyrone Water Treatment Plant outflow, occurred in 1996.
Anderson stated in the press release that through the diligence of the PFBC, DEP and the Little Juniata River Association, they received an answer to the fish kill last February.
“Although the fine is minimal and came as the result of signing a Consent Assessment and Settlement Agreement, maybe closer attention, better maintenance and more robust systems in all three upstream water treatment plants will result,” said Anderson.
He added, “Hopefully the full implementation of improvement required for compliance with new water pollution requirements will help prevent future events such as this.”
To view the press release, visit the Little Juniata River Association website at www.littlejuniata.org.

Tyrone and Indian Valley both came into Monday night’s game looking to overtake the MAC’s top spot as they both posted 13-2 records in the conference. The Warriors already had a win over Tyrone earlier this season, beating the Eagles 57-54. Tyrone looked to change all of that, but it is always a tough task to walk out of Indian Valley with a win.
Steve Catich led Tyrone through the first half with 12 of the Eagles 23 points. Jay Hartman knocked down nine points, all from beyond the arc, giving the Warriors a 24-23 lead after the first half of play.
Austin Long didn’t waste much time in the third, opening up with a fade away jumper at 7:32, giving the Warriors a whiff of momentum to start out the second half, but Catich answered on the ensuing possession. These two stars battled it out for the second time this season, but both teams kept their guard up a little better this time around, as they were both held under 20 points throughout the night.
After the Warriors jumped ahead 35-30 at 4:23 in the third, Tyrone exerted a 7-0 run to take a 37-35 lead, but Long managed to get just enough room in the corner to sink a trey over Catich and snatch the lead back.
After a couple of buckets to end the third, Tyrone found themselves down 42-41 going into the final quarter. Tyrone shot 8-14 from the field and gave away four whereas the Warriors went 7-13 from the field and turned it over just three times. It doesn’t get much more even than that.
After both teams scored 18 points a piece in the third, neither team could get any type of offense rolling in the fourth. With 5:38 to go, Tyrone finally got on the board behind two free throws of Travis Peterman, cutting the Warrior lead to just one. It was a minute and a half later when Nate Dane added two points to give Tyrone a 45-44 lead at 4:07.
After a Warrior basket, Tyrone looked to switch the lead back to their side when Nate Dane drove the lane and made a great pass through traffic to Ben Ingle for the lead, 47-46. Tyrone then forced a Warrior turnover, where Dane was fouled and missed on an opportunity for two points on the one-on-one attempt. The miss gave Will Long his chance to shine with his only two points giving the Warriors the lead back at 48-47, with 1:30 to go.
What a barn-burner it was, as Dane redeemed himself with two free-throws at 1:06, giving Tyrone the lead back once again. Call it clutch, but Hunter Kratzer answered Dane’s foul shots with a nice baby hook shot from the small corner as the clock crept under 1:00.
The score read 50-49 in favor of Indian Valley, as the clock ticked all the way down to :20 seconds when Tyrone head coach, George Gripp, motioned for a timeout, but Indian Valley’s Nick Eversole managed to poke the ball away before the timeout was granted. Tyrone lucked out as he missed the lay-up, but Catich came up long with :08 seconds to go.
Hartman sunk two more foul shots and Eversole picked off the final inbound pass to seal the deal.
“We knew it was a big game for us,” Gripp stated, “because we wanted to win the MAC, which was one of our goals this season. If we win out, we can still get 20 wins and the Nittany Division title, which was also a goal for us before the season. You never know, Indian Valley could lose and if we win out, we are the MAC champions. We’ll see what happens this week after we play our last two games.”
Since the last meeting between these two teams, Tyrone ripped off 10 straight wins until Indian Valley beat them on Monday night. Catich led the way with 18 points, despite being shut out in the fourth quarter. Tyrone looks to finish up the season with a 20-4 record as they face Philipsburg, Wednesday, and Penns Valley, Thursday at home. Both games will put Tyrone in a position to win the Nittany and the overall MAC championship.
Long and Hartman combined for 32 points, knocking down 16 each. Hartman kept the pace in the first half, and Long cleaned up the second half as the two made it very difficult for Tyrone to defend the two. The Warriors improved to 15-6 overall and 14-2 in the MAC. They now have sole possession of the MAC with the win and take on Lewistown and Penns Valley to finish off the season.
Indian Valley 52 Tyrone 49
Tyrone – Catich 8 1-2 18, Dane 3 3-5 9, Gehret 2 0-0 6, Ingle 2 0-0 5, Brooks 1 1-2 3, Updyke 2 0-1 4, Franco 1 0-0 2, Peterman 2-2 2. Totals 19 7-12 49.
Indian Valley – Hartman 5 2-2 16, A. Long 6 2-2 16, Kratzer 3 2-2 8, Battista 3 0-0 6, Keefer 2 0-0 4, W. Long 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 6-6 52.
Score by Quarters
Tyrone 13 10 18 8 – 49
Indian Valley 13 11 18 10 – 52
Three-point foals: Tyrone-4 (Gehret-2, Catich, Ingle)
IV-6 (Hartman-4, Long-2)
Alex Lynn sparks Eagles over Indian Valley in Jayvee action
After taking a brutal blow to the face, Alex Lynn laid on the floor in a pool of blood. He walked away, but the damage was done when Tyrone made their comeback. From this point on, Tyrone made a run to win the game behind 16 points from Andy Brokenshire, edging the Warriors, 34-31.
Tyrone 34 Indian Valley 31
Tyrone – Brokenshire 7 1-2 16, Reihart 2 1-2 6, McKeehan 2 0-0 4, Henneman 2 0-0 4, Taylor 2 0-0 4, Murray 0 0-2 0. Totals 15- 2-6 34.
Indian Valley – Bridgens 3 2-2 8, Thompson 3 0-0 7, Marnin 2 0-0 5, Walters 1 1-2 3, Schaffer 1 0-0 2, Bargel 1 0-2 2, Sitch 1 0-0 2, Keefer 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 3-6 31.
Score by Quarters
Tyrone 5 6 14 9 – 34
Indian Valley 8 6 14 3- 31

The Tyrone swim teams swept Central Mountain in the Tyrone pool on Monday.
The Eagle boys moved into double-digit wins (10-4) with a 99-62 win over the Wildcats, while the Lady Eagles won by an almost identical 92-69 decision to improve to 4-8-1.
Ian McGregor (200 freestyle, 100 freestyle), Allen Hosko (200 IM, 100 breaststroke), and Ethan Nulton (50 freestyle, 100 backstroke) led the way for the Tyrone boys with double wins in the individual events. Tyrone also won both the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay to capture nine of the 11 overall events.
Nulton, Hosko, Dustin Elder, and Kegan Fink won the 200 medley relay, and Ethan Lewis, Hosko, Rick Day and McGregor won the 200 freestyle relay.
The Lady Eagles received double wins from Chynna Beisel (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle), Kelly Pearson (200 IM, 100 backstroke), and Brittany Day (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle) to lead the team. Salena Bradigan won the 100 butterfly. The Lady Eagle 200 freestyle relay team of Beisel, Christina Brisbin, Abbie Cowfer and Day, and the 400 freestyle relay team composed of Beisel, Cowfer, Pearson and Salena Bradigan both crossed the finish line first.
Boys
Tyrone 99 Central Mountain 62
200 Medley Relay – 1. Tyrone (Ethan Nulton, Allen Hosko, Dustin Elder, Kegan Fink) 1:57.12, 2. Tyrone (Ben Feller, Ethan Lewis, Dudley McNitt, Russell) 2:15.38, 3. Central Mountain 2:17.77; 200 Freestyle – 1. Ian McGregor (T) 2:07.78, 2. Evan Lewis (T) 2:22.03, 3. Foster (CM) 2:22.30; 200 IM – 1. Hosko (T) 2:27.18, 2. Ellis (CM) 2:28.69, 3. Travis Johnson (T) 3:15.65; 50 Freestyle – 1. Nulton (T) :23.99, 2. Petroski (CM) :25.96, 3. Judd (CM) :26.45; 100 Butterfly – 1. Barrett (CM) 1:13.53, 2. Et. Lewis (T) 1:14.05, 3. Bennett (CM) 1:16.20; 100 Freestyle – 1. McGregor (T) :55.70, 2. Judd (CM) :59.58, 3. Petroski (CM) 1:00.70; 500 Freestyle – 1. Elder (T) 5:47.87, 2. Yanes (CM) 7:02.31, 3. Russell (T) 7:14.64; 200 Freestyle Relay – 1. Tyrone (Et. Lewis, Hosko, Rick Day, McGregor) 1:46.53, 2. Central Mountain 1:48.20, 3. Tyrone (EV. Lewis, Grant Gonder, Johnson, Russell) 2:00.04; 100 Backstroke – 1. Nulton (T) 1:00.72, 2. Foster (CM) 1:10.91, 3. Ev. Lewis (T) 1:15.52; 100 Breaststroke – 1. Hosko (T) 1:11.79, 2. Ellis (CM) 1:18.02, 3. Et. Lewis (T) 1:24.60; 400 Freestyle Relay – 1. Central Mountain 4:13.09.
Girls
Tyrone 92 Central Mountain 69
200 Medley Relay – 1. Central Mountain 2:14.98, 2. Tyrone (Kelly Pearson, Christina Brisbin, Salena Bradigan, Brittany Day) 2:15.38, 3. Tyrone (Gherity, Lizzie Shields, Steph Snyder, Elizabeth Ditty) 3:15.15; 200 Freestyle – 1. Chynna Beisel (T) 2:19.45, 2. Marshall (CM) 2:23.02, 3. Brisbin (T) 2:43.93; 200 IM – 1. Pearson (T) 2:44.89, 2. Helbley (CM) 2L52.13, 3. Snyder (T) 3:28.54; 50 Freestyle – 1. Day (T) :28.84, 2. Handley (CM) :29.86, 3. Kulick (CM) :36.85; 100 Butterfly – 1. Bradigan (T) 1:14.78, 2. Abbie Cowfer (T) 1:17.92, 3. Register (CM) 1:19.38; 100 Freestyle – 1. Day (T) 1:05.58, 2. Handley (CM) 1:06.91, 3. Shields (T) 1:26.28; 500 Freestyle – 1. Beisel (T) 6:05.99, 2. Marshall (CM) 6:23.22, 3. Lugg (CM) 6:39.98; 200 Freestyle Relay – 1. Tyrone (Beisel, Brisbin, Cowfer, Day) 2:01.06, 2. Central Mountain 2:16.27, 3. Central Mountain 2:25.03; 100 Backstroke – 1. Pearson (T) 1:13.36, 2. Lugg (CM) 1:16.84, 3. Cowfer (T) 1:23.93; 100 Breaststroke – 1.Helbley (CM) 1:19.77, 2. Register (CM) 1:26.57, 3. Brisbin (T) 1:27.50; 400 Freestyle Relay – 1. Tyrone (Beisel, Cowfer, Pearson, Bradigan) 4:28.86, 2. Central Mountain 5:31.09.