HONESDALE, PA — Appearing at an ordered September 19 hearing, state and county attorneys agreed and Wayne County Senior Judge Raymond Hamill granted their motion to continue the hearing on the Hankins Pond Dam demolition for 60 days.

The historic dam’s demolition was the result of its having earlier being termed as “high hazard” by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). According to a county statement, solicitor Lee Krause suggested that the DEP may need to be a party to the proceedings, since it issued the order requiring the state Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) to expand the existing breach in the dam.

The continuance will allow the two parties time to explore the county’s potential takeover of the structure and to answer questions about whether or not the PFBC may want to reserve some rights to the property. They also need to reach an agreement on who would be responsible for the interim maintenance of the site and the formulation of a hold-harmless clause, in the event that the county can avoid the further breaching of the dam.

After receiving some basic assurances that there is no imminent threat to life or property as conditions currently stand, Judge Hamill granted the continuance for 60 days. He noted that should conditions on the ground change over the next two months, the PFBC can come before the court to reconsider the delay.

The Wayne County Commissioners are hoping to take possession of the 180-year-old dam, which was initially breached in 1969, and have discussed the possibility for other recreational development of the property. Commissioners’ Chair Brian Smith briefly referenced the continuance at the board’s September 20 meeting. “The attorneys are talking. There will be more to come,” he said.

Separately, the commissioners issued a proclamation celebrating the September 22 commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the dedication of the Bethany Presbyterian Church, said to be the first distinctively Presbyterian Church in northeast PA.

In other business, the commissioners approved a grant and agreement for $80,000 in federal funding for inspection and assessment of several flood mitigation dams constructed by federal government after serious flooding the mid-20th century; applied for payment of $39,350 from Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds for 2018 county outlays providing emergency housing; approved a six-month, $650 per- month Honesdale lease for an ESG client; and approved a 2017 Solid Waste Performance Grant report noting 4,633.7 tons of recycled municipal and commercial waste.