BLAKELY - Borough council is still waiting to take action to either change or preserve the name of Robert Mellow Park.
The park was named for the former state Senate Democratic leader before he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and filing a bogus tax return. Mr. Mellow began serving a 16-month prison sentence last month.
After Mr. Mellow's conviction, Blakely resident Tom Dubas, 60, started a social media campaign to change the name of the park to Sgt. Jan Argonish and Fallen Warriors Park. Sgt. Argonish was killed while serving in the Army National Guard in Afghanistan in 2007 at age 26.
Mr. Dubas questioned council at a meeting Monday on what documentation was needed to show support of changing the name of the park.
He said he was prepared to circulate a petition or even have a national polling company conduct a survey, but he wanted to find out what council members needed to see before he got started. He also suggested creating a borough policy on naming public parks, streets and other items.
Persistent pitch
Though his tone was polite, he told council he wasn't "going away."
"All I want to do is get to the point where they either go on the record and say we're keeping it this way ... or they change it," he said. "I will keep coming until they make a decision."
Council President Joseph Quinn explained that after the idea was brought up at a meeting in January, the council wanted to process all feedback.
"Council decided to wait a month or two to see what input would come from (the residents)," he said.
With or without surveys and polls, though, the future of the park's name will be determined by a vote.
"Council has to make a decision one way or another," he said.
Also at the meeting, Borough Manager Thomas Wascura announced the borough had been awarded an approximately $222,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Waste Management, to purchase a recycling truck.
Contact the writer: rbrown@timesshamrock.com, @rbrownTT on Twitter