The Tuna Valley Council of Governments reorganized Wednesday
during a meeting held at the Foster Township Building.

The council named Dan Costello as its new chairman.

“This is an important organization to be involved in,” Costello
said. “Communication between the municipalities is important.”

The council also made Chris Wolcott the vice chairman, and Cary
Frigo the secretary/treasurer – now a non-paid position. This meant
that Mona Kay Sullivan, who previously held the paid
secretary/treasurer position, stepped down.

Costello thanked Sullivan and wished her the “best of luck.”

Frigo hopes to continue COG’s account at Hamlin Bank, and Frigo
and Sullivan hoped to work out any further arrangements needed in
the changing of positions at a later date.

Mayor Michele Corignani hoped that minutes would be kept less
formally, where only votes will be taken down to make things
easier. She also mentioned to Frigo that dues have not been paid
for a long time.

In other news, it was mentioned by several COG members that the
attorneys for the municipalities are looking into formulating
replies to a letter of request from Brian Gustafson about his
Priority Care Ambulance and Emergency Ambulance Service Agreements
with the area municipalities.

Corignani clarified that it is a letter of request and not a
lawsuit. Costello said there is no litigation yet, but it could be
pending.

Costello also set up tentative meeting dates for September and
November. Costello said COG didn’t have to meet every month and
believed meeting quarterly would be sufficient. Wolcott agreed that
quarterly meetings would be fine, but said if something does come
up they could change it so COG could meet more often.

Since COG usually does not meet during the summer, the next
tentative meeting was set for 5 p.m. Sept. 6 at the Foster Township
Municipal Building.

Frigo suggested the November meeting be held as a dinner meeting
with a guest speaker, perhaps someone from the Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation, but Frigo said there’s lots of topics
that could apply for everyone in COG. The dinner meeting was
tentatively set for 6 p.m. Nov. 9 at the DeSoto Holiday House.

Paul Ridley, who is a new COG delegate for the Bradford Area
School District, asked for a mission statement and an explanation
of what COG does.

It was explained that COG works on issues collectively that
affect all the municipalities. Ridley also asked if COG did any
joint purchasing. Costello explained they do not at this time, but
that joint purchasing would be something they could look at down
the road.