The LuLac Edition #256, July 3rd, 2007

FORTY FORT RESPONSE



Had an interesting response about my Forty Fort grilling article. Joe Chacke, a member of Council clarified the situation for us. Here's his e mail:


Mr. Yonki,
I wanted to clarify what our ordinance actually changed. Apparently, WBRE didn't care about what the actual ordinance said, but instead decided to rile up the residents of Forty Fort. Sometimes I wonder what we do as a council and question it and maybe some of us are testicular challenged, but there is a great misunderstanding here. The ordinance adopted in 1997 by a prior council, I was a sophomore at Penn State, prohibited all types of burning in the Borough, unless you received permission from the fire chief for a grill. With the extreme popularity of fire pits, tiki torches and the like, compounded by residents complaining about neighbors and the fire department being called out multiple times to the same residences, we felt it was time to "legalize" and control, on a safety level, these devices. Now, you are permitted to have a fire pit, where yesterday it was "illegal". Now you can grill on your deck, provided "setback" requirements are met (fire extinguisher and distance), where yesterday it was "illegal". The ordinance may not be perfect and I agree government, including myself, should not legislate certain activities, but when the safety of residents, neighbors, visitors, emergency responders, and property is concerned, we are charged to protect that. Also, this ordinance has been discussed for over 2 months and tweaked between my concerns with it, the code enforcement officer, fire chief, fire marshall and solicitor. We didn't leap like lapdogs, we took some time to try to get it right and if after some time we feel changes need to be made, we will amend it. So grill, light a fire and dance around your tiki torch, next time you're in Forty Fort!
Respectfully,
Joe Chacke
President of Council

Two things on this letter, first, as much as I love WBRE TV, their report crystalized what is wrong with TV news of any form. Sometimes they don't have the time to give the full story. The second is about Mr. Chacke, given the straught forward and factual letter he wrote in response to my ramblings, I wonder how in the hell the 120th District Republicans passed him over for the opportunity to run against Phyllis Mundy last year. Who knows, it might have been State Representative Joe Chacke responding to me rather than Council President Joe Chacke. I thank Mr. Chacke for illuminating me on this issue and now am officially a true fan for whatever office he might aspire to. I'd light my tiki torch for his candidacy anytime! And to the people of Forty Fort, even a few of my relatives there, I apologize for my smart ass remarks. My cousin Debbie held no ill will though, she invited me to a backyard barbeque...........Jan. 5th!