By Diane Petryk
NORTHUMBERLAND — About 420 homes and businesses in Point Township begin the New Year with new street names or numbers as a result of a federal mandate for 911-friendly addressing.
That means no duplicate names, sequential numbering, and “city style” addressing in general, said Northumberland County Public Safety Director Paul Froutz.
The changes, announced by letter just before Christmas, took some homeowners by surprise, and some were angry because their addresses were changed, for the same reason, in 2003.
Larry Redington, who lives on Nottingham Drive, wrote to The Daily Item that his address was changed in 2003 after Point Township “went to the time and expense to do away with the rural box number system and assign some logic and proper sequence to addresses.”
It seemed to be working for 911 purposes, he wrote.
“It probably wasn’t done right,” Froutz said. “Didn’t meet the standard.”
And that would be the standard of the National Emergency Numbering Association, a federal agency.
Point Township Supervisor Justin Dunkelberger confirmed that there were still similar street names and names that duplicated those in the neighboring borough of Northumberland. Also, he said, there were some errors in numbering.
Both Point Township and the county emergency management center got a lot of calls from displeased residents after the letters started arriving.
Meeting federal standards is optional for townships, Froutz said, but there are powerful incentives to comply. The state can withhold liquid fuel tax revenue, and the township could possibly be at greater risk of a lawsuit in the event of a death or injury because emergency vehicles were delayed due to addressing confusion.
At this time, within Northumberland County, only Coal Township has declined to make changes, Froutz said, after people complained. Rush Township, he said, is working on them on its own. Froutz said his addressing division is strictly advisory.
Dunkelberger said the following Point Township streets have been renamed as follows: Oak Hill to Poplar View; Oak Road to Blue Hill Road; Oak View Road to Acorn Drive; Spring View to Pine View; Train Lane to Aqueduct Lane; Potato Lane to Circle B Lane; Kens Lane to Hoffman Lane; Orange Street (from Eighth to 16th) to Cannery Road; Parks Crossing Road to Stasney Road; 15th Street (above Cannery Road) to Locust Street; Ridge View to Cherry Lane; Watson Lane to Gum Tree Lane; Leeds Drive to Clarkes Drive; and Wedgewood Circle to Coningsburg Way.
