The Conshohocken Recorder, February 20, 1964

              JS'ORT >N
COV.P
ZONE 4
PUC Hearing Next Thursday
On Relocation of Road
A Public Utilities commis-sion
hearing on the possible re-location
of Conshohocken Rd. will
be held 10 a.m. Feb. 27 at the
Court House annex, 400 Markley
St., Norristown.
The hearing was requested by
officials of Alan Wood Steel Co.
who say that Conshohocken Rd.
must be relocated if they are to
expand their plate finishing and
shipping facilities.
The mo/e would involve an In-crease
In employment of 100 to
150 new men.
John J. Root, publicity director
of the steel company, said that the
state has been considering the
elimination of a "hazardous" jog
at Conshohocken Rd. and New Elm
St. for many years.
"The plan calls for a wide 'S'
curve to replace a sharp jog,"
Root said. "The area is always
heavy with traffic.
"Cars and trucks coming from
Conshohocken along New Elm St.
must make a sharp right turn onto
a 50-foot stretch and another sharp
left onto Conshohocken Rd. There
have been several nasty accidents
at the spot.
"Alan Wood Steel is working with
the state to make land available to
replace any state property that
we use to expand. We are willing
to lean over backwards to come up
with an agreement that is satis-factory
to all."
Board Holds Lee
Assessment Proper
A request by the Lee Rubber
and Tire Co. for reduction of its
$1,147,000 assessed valuation in
Whitemarsh Township has been
turned down by the Montgomery
County Board for the Assessment
and Revision of Taxes.
The tire company had contended
that there was a considerable de-preciation
because of changed con-ditions
in manufacturing which
prevented use of the plant on a
profitable basis.
The Board said that these
reasons are not sufficient to
warrant a change in the assessed
valuation. It estimates that the
market value of the physical plant
and improved land is approximate-ly
$3.5 million.
Chief Says 'Bomb Scares1
Ace Happening Too Often
Some 400 students were
evacuated from Conshohocken High
School shortly after 10 a.m. last
Thursday when Borough police re-ceived
a phone call warning that a
bomb had been planted In the bullri-lng
at Seventh Ave. and Fayette
St.
The students were assembled for
a program in the school auditorium
when police received word of a
bomb. The school was Immediately
evacuated and the students were
released for the day.
Officers Robert Watson and
George Bland, of the Conshohocken
Police Department, searched the
buUding for three hours without
finding any traces of a bomb.
It was the second bomb hoax
since Dec. 3 when 420 students
were delayed five minutes from
entering school while police and
the janitorial staff searched the
building for a bomb that didn't
exist.
Charles Marwood, Police Chief
of Conshohocken, said that an in-vestigation
is still being conducted
into the bomb scare.
"This Is the third time in a
year that this has happened," Mar-wood
said. "Each time it has been
a young male voice. But we have
found no connections whatsoever
between the three incidents.
"Bomb scares have been hap-pening
much too often in this
area.
.'iiiilniiiiui tin- (Thratiuil Hill Sn .ilii
Conshohocken — West Conshohocken — Plymouth, Whitemarsh & Springfield Townships — Chestnut Hill
Vol. 93 No. 41 TA 8-4600 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1964 7c A COPY
250 Attend
Science Fair
Some 250 persons turned out for
Conshohocken High School's annual
Science Fair on Wednesday, Feb.
12. The fair was under the direction
of Joseph Kirby and Wesley Bennett
of the science department and was
sponsored by the high school
Parent-Teacher Association.
The judges of the fair were Dr.
Bernard H. Kress, Quaker Chemi-cal
Products, Inc., Lester E. Hoff-master,
a science teacher at Nor-ristown's
Elsenhower High School
and Roy Hartzler, a science
instructor at Plymouth-White-
"marsTi High SchooI.T""
There were 179 entries in the
various divisions and classes. The
winners of the fair were:
7th Grade: 1st prize - Nicholas
Racich; 2nd prize - Robert Ful-nier;
3rd prize - Chantel Smerecki.
8th Grade: 1st prize - Bruce
(Continued on page 3)
Plymouth Budget
Set; No Increase
The Plymouth Township Board of
Commissioners adopted a$374,650
general fund budget at a meeting
Tuesday night. No tax Increase Is
planned for the general fund budget.
The mlllage rate for the township
will remain at 8 1/2, but the budget
will be some $23,000 higher than
last year's budget of $351,155.
A sewer fund budget for 1964
was also adopted by the Board
of Commissioners. It anticipates
$261,146.86 in receipts, $214,660
in expenditures and a $46,496.86
surplus. It is $32,000 higher than
In 1963.
Incinerator Operating at a Loss,
Taxpayers Will Have to Dig Deeper
The new incinerator in White-marsh
Township is burning a hole
in the taxpayer's pocket.
It wUl cost the taxpayer one
full mUl ($30,000) to subsidize
the plant for 1964 and an addi-tional
quarter-mill ($7,500) for
the past deficit, according to the
proposed budget announced by the
Board of Supervisors at their regu-lar
meeting last Thursday.
It is the first time that the
Board of Supervisors has publicly
recognized that the incinerator is
operating at a loss. The incinerator
Students Objects D'Art
ART CONTEST WINNERS - Whitemarsh Junior Women's Club Art Contest winners display their works.
Shown from left to right are: Karl Howard, Mrs. Arlene Wilke, a P-W art instructor, Gall Fowler and
Barbara Solomon.
Whitemarsh Budget 'Not Final Answer'- Beeghley
fund has not even been listed on
previous budgets.
"This is something that can no
longer be swept under the rug,"
Jesse W. Beeghley, president of
the Board, said at the meeting.
"The incinerator plant is not a
paying proposition. It is not a
break-even proposition. We are
losing money on it.
"This deficit must be recognized
if the new budget is to reflect
reality. Ami we will have to sub-sidize
the incinerator plant untU
it is back on its feet."
Where did the past deficit come
from? The Recorder asked WUlard
E. Hargreaves, secretary and
treasurer of Whitemarsh Town-ship,
after the meeting.
"In 1962 we borrowed $7,000
from the general fund and placed
it in the incinerator fund to cover
the deficit," he said. "In 1963
we borrowed another $13,000from
the general fund.
"This $20,000 was never re-turned
to the general fund. But
we plan to replace part of It In
our 1964 budget through a quar-ter-
mill tax."
The incinerator plant, located
at Cedar Grove and Joshua Rds.,
was originally purchased from the
(Continued on page 7)
The Whitemarsh Township
Board of Supervisors has asked
for a two mill ($60,000) tax In-crease
in their proposed budget
for 1964. The final adoption of
the $469,177 budget is scheduled
for March 12 at a public hear-ing.
"This is a compromise budget
and doesn't please anyone," Jesse
W. Beeghley, president of the
board, explained at the supervisors
meeting last Thursday.
"It is not the final answer to
our problems, but we still have
until March 12 to change 'it. If
any citizen of Whitemarsh objects
to the budget we will welcome his
suggestions if they are put in
writing and addressed to the town-ship
building."
Beeghley explained the two-mill
•increase as follows:
One mill for the present Incin-erator
deficit; one-fourth for the
past deficit on the Incinerator,
accumulated since 1962; one-fourth
for the William Jeanes
Memorial Library levy; one-fourth
for the continuation of Installment
payments on the new section of
Miles Park: and one-fourth for
engineering and legal services.
Beeghley said that the one-fourth
mill for legal and engineering
services was due in part to the
fact that funds for these services
"had never been budgeted realis-tically
In the past."
The increased legal funds were
due In part, he said, to the fact
that the Board had received a
$10,000 bill from former soUci-tor
Elmer Menges. He said that
the present proposal Is to pay it
off in $2,500 yearly installments.
Beeghley then went to the black-board
and gave a breakdown of the
proposed budget compared to last
year's budget:
1963
(milU)
1964 requeued
(millf 1 (mills )
General 8 9J/4 ioh
Park and
Recreation Wl 1h l3/4
Library •••• M %
TOTALS 9 11H 12Vi
"If we would have honored every
request," Beeghley said, "there
would have been a three-mill in-crease
in the budget."
Beeghley then asked each mem-ber
of the Board of Supervisors to
express his opinion of the pro-posed
budget.
"I am not in favor of this bud-get,"
William McLaughlin said.
"I would cut back on expenses to
avoid a tax increase."
McLaughlin suggested:
1. Not to pay the $10,000 bill
owed to former solicitor Elmer
Menges until 1965.
2. To renegotiate the loan to
meet payments for Miles Park at
lower rates and over a longer
period of time.
3. To increase the per capita
tax for 1964 and drop it back after
the incinerator expenses are met.
4. To form a committee within
a committee to study each depart-ment
in the government and see if
expenses can be cut back.
Supervisor Richard Lownes
said: "I don't think we should
penalize the township this year
or in years to come by keeping
the mlllage down.
"There must be an Increase in
millage just to cover the bare
necessities. Our taxes have held
the line for the last four years
(Continued on page J)
Clubs Select
Top P-W Art
The Three Hallmark Art Talent
Contest winners from the senior
class of Plymouth-Whitemarsh
High School were the dinner guests
of the Whitemarsh Women's Club
and the Junior Women's Club, when
the two groups met for a covered
dish dinner and business meeting
last Thursday evening at St.
Peter's Lutheran Church, Lafay-ette
Hill. Mrs. Raymond Storck,
and Mrs. Chandler Crawford,
presidents of the respective clubs,
presided.
Mrs. Arlene Wilkie, an Art
teacher at the High School, intro-duced
the young winners. Mrs.
Wilkie said the patriotic theme
"To Strengthen the Arms of Lib-erty"
has been chosen by the
Hallmark Scholarship Award
Committee. Karl Howard, 4028
So. Warner Rd., will be sponsored
by the Whitemarsh Women's Club.
Karl's exhibit is: Liberty through
Unity and Understanding. The Jun-ior
Club will sponsor Gall M.
Fowler. Gail's abstract design
features different aspects of daUy
(Continued on page 2)