Eldred Township accepts donation of Lovewell painting
Eldred Township supervisor Gary Hoffman accepts a Frank Lovewell painting from John Kile. Kile and his wife Linda are relocating to Florida and wanted the painting to stay in town. The painting depicts a scene of the center of Kunkletown looking north from Chestnut Ridge.
ABOVE: Many Kunkletown landmarks are visible in this Frank Lovewell painting, including the stone arch bridge, the mill, the old post office and St. Matthew’s church sitting on the hill. BELOW: Eldred Township supervisor Gary Hoffman accepts the painting from John Kile. Kile and his wife, Linda, are moving and want the painting to stay in town. JUDY DOLGOS-KRAMER/TIMES NEWS
Thanks to the generosity of a township couple, the Eldred Township Municipal Building will display not one, but two paintings by local artist Frank Lovewell. During Wednesday evening’s township meeting, residents Linda and John Kile presented the township with a 1993 painting by Lovewell of the center of Kunkletown. The artist also created the large painting of the stone arch bridge that hangs in the township meeting room.
The Kiles are downsizing and wanted the painting to remain in town.
“Linda and John were both very active in getting our community center off to a sound start,” said Chairwoman Mary Anne Clausen. “They are longtime residents and exceedingly generous with their time and energy.”
According to Clausen, the Kiles have also been active in both the Kunkletown and Polk Volunteer fire companies.
“Sadly they are moving to Florida this spring,” Clausen said. “The township will miss them.”
The township’s new Lovewell shows a horse-drawn cart crossing the stone arch bridge coming from Chestnut Ridge north. The large gray building to the right of the bridge is the old mill that was demolished last summer.
Ordinances adopted
The township adopted several new ordinances during Wednesday’s meeting.
Ordinance 2018-01 repealed prior Ordinance No. 98-2 which established a Recreation and Parks Commission. The supervisors followed by adopting Resolution 2018-03, which established a new Parks and Recreation Committee.
The supervisors also appointed five members to the new committee. The members are Bob Boileau, Annette Heist, Michael Orth, Cindy Smith and Tony Giordano. The committee will meet on the fourth Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. at the township building.
The supervisors also adopted Ordinance No. 2018-02 re-establishing the planning commission. According to township solicitor Michael Gaul, there were some inconsistencies in the existing ordinance so a new ordinance was drafted which is consistent with how the planning commission had been operating.
Also, Ordinance No. 2018-04 was adopted to officially change the township’s bank accounts to First Northern Bank.
Other business
In other township business, the township hired Sandy Berger as a part-time custodian for the community center. Berger will work eight to 12 hours per week at a rate of $14 per hour.
The supervisors voted to advertise for bids for repairs to the community center parking lot.
Supervisor Gary Hoffman made a request to have the Pennsylvania State Police come to the township building to do a security assessment and to make recommendations on how to improve security. His request was approved.
