Wednesday's Internet Edition, August 27, 2008.
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| SUMMER READING PROGRAM- The annual Hamilton Public Library Summer Reading Program was held July 15 – 18. The Friends of the Library provided the program and furnished all the supplies and refreshments for the children. Library Director, Mary Vela, said it was a great success with circulation for one day last week at over 200 books checked out. |
Lacey claims that the ditch being improperly maintained caused flooding to two houses he owns in Pottsville and esti-mates the damage at $20,000. He further charges that a neighbor buried a water line in the ditch, filling it in. He con-tends the neighbor was selling water to another neighbor.
In a letter to the Herald-News, Lacey says that he bought the houses in 2004 and became aware of the problem with the ditch in 2006, when the houses became flooded with rainwater.
Lacey said he first contacted Boatwright in 2006 about the problem and that Boatwright stated he would excavate the ditch. However, Lacey claims that Boatwright did not clean-out the ditch, and he continued to have flooding problems.
Lacey says that he discov-ered the water line on Sept. 9, 2007 when he was excavating the ditch himself.
Lacey wrote in his letter, “Mr. Boatwright told me in September of 2007 that he would finish cutting the 40 feet of ditch towards the drainage culvert and would double the size of the culvert with a new one. It is now June 2008 and he has yet to perform on his word.”
Boatwright told the Herald-News that the ditch was exca-vated.
In December, the two men had an argument over the exca-vation of the ditch that led Boatwright to file charges against Lacey for threatening a public official. Boatwright says that Lacey threatened to shoot him. Lacey claims, “Mr. Boat-wright approached me on my property in a very unprofes-sional manner and was making threats towards me …”
The case was presented to the Hamilton County Grand Jury last spring, but Lacey was no-billed. Lacey claims that the case was again presented to the grand jury this summer and that he was again no-billed. Boat-wright said that the case has not been presented to the grand jury a second time, but that he understands that it will be pre-sented again in September.
The Herald-News contacted Commissioner Boatwright to allow him an opportunity to respond to Lacey’s allegations. Boatwright said that because Lacey is threatening suit, he has been advised by the county’s legal counsel not to make any public statements.
Boatwright said, “In the full capacity of my position as county commissioner, I have no comment on the matter.”