TyronePA.com

Tyrone Borough Council held a special meeting last evening to address the proposed $120,388.80 gypsy moth spraying on its 4,000 acre watershed property on Ice Mountain. Council approved the project by a seven to one vote, with Councilperson Steve Hanzir the sole member in opposition.
Low bidder Ag Air, LLC out of Dover, PA, will spray approximately 3,400 acres of the watershed in attempt to eliminate a gypsy moth problem that borough consulting forester, Paul Noll of Noll’s Forestry Services, Inc. in Loretto, PA, feels could have a domino effect that would spread into Reservoir Park and the Tyrone community.
The borough has already set aside $125k in this year’s budget for the spraying. It’s water department fund currently holds roughly $650k, including what is in the present budget. A vote on the project was deemed necessary due to the time frame needed to prepare the “Bt” or “Bacillus thuringiensis” pesticide, and to spray the gypsy moths at the right time.
Bt is a natural organism found at low levels in soils throughout the world. It works by secreting one or more toxins after being ingested by an insect. The toxins are often specific to a family of insects. It appears not to harm humans or other life forms except for the intended targets.
Noll, along with PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Bureau of Forestry representative Mike Nelson, informed council of why the gypsy moth spraying was necessary and what would happen if it was left astray.
Noll said that the overall health of the forest and land on the watershed was “good,” but he noted that there are issues that need to be addressed such as invasive species, regeneration, and gypsy moths. Back in the 1980’s, the majority of the watershed was defoliated by gypsy moths, but the majority of timberland releafed.
He stated several reasons why the forest recovered, which included that the trees might have only been eaten off one year due to the gypsy moth population considerably decreasing, and that the forest might have received enough rainfall to get the trees to leaf back. Ninety percent of the trees will releaf after being eaten off only one year.
“There may have been some major or minor mortality in areas,” said Noll. “These dead trees were probably removed when the timber was harvested in the early 1990’s.”
According to Noll, the gypsy moth egg mass count is extremely high in some areas on the watershed. A healthy mass could have 500 to 1,000 eggs in it. He said that if spraying is not done to stop the trees from being defoliated in back to back years, the mortality could be “very high,” which would cause an “astronomical domino effect.”
The result of that domino effect could include soil erosion, millions of dollars in future timber revenue lost, and the aesthetics of the countryside would be replaced by mostly invasive species. Wildlife would also suffer the consequences. If the trees die, a salvage cutting would have to take place where roads and landings would be built on the watershed.
“This is something I think you need to worry about big time,” stated Noll to council. “I’m giving you reasons why to spray, because I don’t think you’ll like what you’ll see.”
Council agreed with Noll. Mayor James Kilmartin and Councilperson Jim Grazier drew from personal experience what kind of devastating effects the gypsy moth problem had on Tyrone in the 80’s.
“I remember growing up on Janesville Pike when we had all those issues, and it was horrible,” said Kilmartin. “We had to hose them (gypsy moths) off our house, and I don’t want to see that happen again to our community.”
Grazier recalled when the gypsy moth problem was at its peak in the 80’s, people were cautious of walking through Reservoir Park because of potential slipping and falling from all the splattered gypsy moths covering the ground.
The PA Game Commission does not have plans to spray the gypsy moths this summer, but the PA Bureau of Forestry will spray tens of thousands of acres throughout PA. County Conservation Districts decide what area to spray and Blair County will only be spraying around housing developments this year, which is why the borough must foot the bill.
Councilperson Hanzir, who voted against the project, stated that he wasn’t against the revitalization of the watershed, but he questioned the cost and success of the spraying when the borough will likely have to spray again next year, and perhaps the following two years after that.
“It’s just a lot of money to spend when we neglect the downtown,” said Hanzir. “We’ve ignored the watershed since it was logged in the 90’s, one more year to see what’s going on and a little more studying wouldn’t hurt.”
He added, “To rush into a special meeting just because you have a one month window now, when you haven’t worried about it for the last 10 years, to me is silly.”
Hanzir also brought up Gamesa’s proposed 10 to 15 turbine wind farm on the watershed. He said that the “uproar” about the windmills is disturbing the forest by bringing machinery in, which Gamesa promises will be minimal. But, he said that spraying the gypsy moths on the mountain will bring in bulldozers and skid steers to spray chemicals.
“Everybody makes a big deal about the windmills, which are green,” noted Hanzir. “This is spraying chemicals, tearing down trees, and running heavy equipment in the watershed.”
Noll added, “Many people think the placement of wind towers on the top of the mountain will look bad. There will be no comparison to how bad the mountain will look in the middle of the summer if the trees all die.”
Councilperson Jennifer Bryan agreed with Noll, stating, “We can’t let our forest go.”
The watershed property has its problems, but it also has potential, according to Noll. Borough Water Department Superintendent Gary Barr told council that the watershed will need close to $750k of work put into it over the next 15 years to help progress the property.
Ag Air, LLC will begin spraying for gypsy moths on the watershed property by middle to late May.

Tomorrow, at the Tyrone History Museum, local historian Mike Halloran of Altoona will give a presentation on the former Altoona Speedway, which was located in Tipton and was often referred to as the Altoona-Tyrone Speedway.
The program is titled “The Former Altoona Speedway – One of the World’s Fastest Mile-and-a-Quarter Board Racetracks”.
Halloran will show some old film clips of the raceway and three tables will be set up to display pictures, posters and other memorabilia.
The museum will open at 6 p.m. to allow early arrivals extra time to view the displays and the presentation will begin at 7 p.m.
In addition, the displays can be viewed at the museum from 1 to 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon during regular Wednesday visitor hours.
Halloran said he became interested in the former speedway about 15 years ago when he purchased a race program at an auction. He has always been interested in antique cars which prompted him to purchase the program.
It was that program that piqued his interest and Halloran decided to search for more items from the speedway. He placed an advertisement in the local newspaper which led to the purchase of several original 8×10 photographs of the board track.
Once those were in his possession, Halloran said his interest in the speedway really grew.
“A lot of people don’t realize this track was the top echelon of racing,” said Halloran.
He explained it wasn’t just locals racing here, but people were traveling from all over to participate in the events in Tipton.
“People raced in Indianapolis and then traveled to race here on June 14 and they came back again in the fall to race on Labor Day.”
The track, which was constructed of wood, opened in 1923 and closed in 1931. Halloran said at times 70,000 people would attend an event at the raceway.
Interested individuals are invited to stop by the museum tomorrow to view the many artifacts Halloran has collected throughout the years including posters, photos and a stock certificate from Delaware.
His presentation will include the construction and the history of the speedway.
Halloran said many people are not aware that such a track existed, yet it was right here in our own backyards.
Over the years, the oval racetrack went through many transformations, becoming an airfield and then a drag-strip and finally an industrial park.
This program is free to the public and everyone is welcome to attend.

PennDOT has announced that bids were awarded for the I-99 Tyrone Viaduct painting contract in Snyder Township, Blair County.
Bridges R Us Painting, Co. Inc., of Campbell, OH came in with the lowest of 10 bids to win the contract with an amount of $2,977,000.
The work on this project consists of the cleaning, blasting and painting of the Tyrone Viaduct and the associated ramps.
Work on this structure is anticipated to begin in mid-summer and is expected to be completed in August 2009.

On April 22, residents and staff at Epworth Manor celebrated Earth Day by planting a tree. Residents gathered in front of the old building, and Personal Care Activities Director Rachel Guiher and Skilled Nursing Facility Activities Director Karen Rumberger shared information on Earth Day and read poems. Tyrone Mayor, Jim Kilmartin, was also on hand to speak at the ceremony, and Rev. Mark Liller shared a prayer of dedication. Residents Marion Richards and Ardrienne Dixon also participated by throwing the first dirt onto the newly planted tree. (The Daily Herald/Amanda Golden)

The Tyrone Area Basketball Boosters Club held their annual Recognition Banquet on Saturday, April 26, 2008 to honor the junior high, junior varsity and varsity boys and girls basketball teams and coaches. Those who were honored with awards included first row (from left to right): Ross Black-Junior Varsity Defensive Player of the Year, Rachel Emigh-Girls Varsity Most Valuable Player, Johnny Franco, Kassie Faretta-Girls Varsity Best Defensive Player, Brandon Gehret-Boys Varsity Best Defensive Player, and Mara Hawes-Girls Varsity Most Improved Player and Girls Junior Varsity Most Valuable Player. Second row: Andy Brokenshire-Boys Junior Varsity Offensive Player of the Year, Travis Peterman, Steve Catich- Boys Varsity Most Valuable Player, Matt Murray-Boys Junior Varsity Most Improved Player, Nathan Dane, and Kyle Updyke. Missing from the photo, include Carly Ray-Girls Junior Varsity Coaches Award, Charlene Adams-Girls Junior Varsity Most Improved Player, Jordan Faretta-Junior High Boys Adversity Award, Jared Templeton- Boys Junior High Most Improved Player Award, Derrick Emigh-Boys Junior High Attitude Award, and Trevor Jackson-Will to Win Award. (The Daily Herald/Bob Miller)