HONESDALE, PA — The fountain at Honesdale’s Central Park, the park’s main attraction, hadn’t worked all summer.

It became a non-operational eyesore after the borough’s entire Department of Public Works (DPW) resigned en masse in April, leaving no one to maintain it. Borough councilors and volunteers tried to fix the fountain, which came back on in mid-August. But it became clear the fountain’s aging parts needed to be replaced.

“This situation highlights the invaluable work of the DPW staff, often unrecognized by the public,” said Kevin Kundratic, the interim borough manager, during an informal discussion on August 26, after the borough council’s regular meeting was canceled for the lack of a quorum. “Appreciating the fountain’s beauty when it is running should also mean appreciating the efforts of those who keep it operational.”

Councilor David Nilsen suggested the Parks and Recreation Committee conduct an engineering or feasibility study on a fountain restoration.

“The current design requires significant time and money for an individual to monitor the fountain several times a day to ensure it’s not clogged or in need of cleaning,” Nilsen said.

“Skip, a former DPW employee, kept it running perfectly,” said the DPW’s former director, Joe Rulis. “It just needed water added and the filter cleaned weekly, which took about two hours a week.”

From seven workers to two

The borough hired two new DPW workers but still falls short of the seven-member crew that resigned in April. With an average of 10 work orders per day per worker, the department was chronically understaffed, even before the resignations. Workers said snowstorms, broken pipes, special events, and requests from councilors made daily scheduling difficult.

When the workers approached councilors with demands for better pay, working conditions, and union representation, they were initially met with concern and promises to do better. But negotiations quickly stalled, and the promises never materialized. The crew resigned later that month.

In May, the borough police asked the former DPW workers to take lie detector tests as part of a criminal investigation into an incident at the borough pool, in which piping seemed to have been cut from its plumbing system. Officials claimed vandalism, and Councilor William McAllister offered a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator.

But Richard Southerton, the borough’s police chief, later revealed that the pool had not been vandalized but improperly winterized by contractors.

“The water had been turned off for the winter in the fall of 2023 and was turned back on in April 2024.” Southerton said in a news release on June 26. “Several pipe fittings connecting pipes in the Pump House had frozen and subsequently failed when the water was turned on to the Pump House. These leaks caused water damage which was reported as vandalism. A section of pipe reported as cut out and missing was removed by contractors attempting to repair fittings.”

The former DPW workers say being investigated for criminal activity has damaged their reputations, and that the borough has yet to apologize to them.

The borough is suing Rulis for the fee for his commercial driver’s licence (CDL). Rulis noted that he was one of three men who took the course but is the only one being sued.

The borough has been hiring outside contractors for maintenance while still paying the $11,000 yearly fee for the iWorQ program, previously used by the DPW for scheduling.

Sycamore Point Park transformation

What was once Industrial Point, where the Dyberry Creek and Lackawaxen River meet, is now Sycamore Point Park.

Strolling through the park along 12th Street in Honesdale, PA, you can envision its future as a community space with access to a river trail that continues to White Mills, Hawley, and Lake Wallenpaupack.

Councilors talked about plans for the park, started by a partnership between the Wayne Pike Trails and Waterways Alliance and the Wayne County Commissioners back in 2017. They commissioned a trail feasibility study, and the result is a river trail plan that features access points and parking areas accessible to people with disabilities.

The borough next meets at 6 p.m. on Sept. 23, at 958 Main Street, Honesdale, PA 18431.