Sewickley Herald

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Vol. 86 No. 35®
PMUTv jgjorriKiO
Wednesday, August 30, 1989
19 Gateway press Newspapers SUIUHKAN mmaURGH'S
LAMCESr CIRCUUriOM
50*
Sewickley thrifts OK, says S & L president
By B.G. Shields and Toiiy Soltis
“No one is going to lose money on savings and loans in Sewickley,” says George E/HartmaflTiirwident of the town’s oldest thriftinstitution. Hartman of theSewickley Savings & I«an Assn., heads orie of the nation’s smaU thrifts with current assets of $125 millibn.	’
Sewickley S&L operates three branches -the others located in Coraopolis and , Kobii^on Township — and has consistently made the small-thrifts “safe” list. ' In ,the wake of sho.ck waves reverberating from the failure of thrifts in the Southwest, concern about them has been evidenced all over the country, including conservative, enclaves Such as Sewicfleyj Hartman acknowledges.
But there is nothing to worry about, Hartman said, observing, “Gofigress certaii^y couldn’t allow their S&L depositors ta loS'e theif money.” -
tion|s rating of the IDO, a national ^financial rating system, as one indicator of hiS: firm’s soun^ess. Ratings run from zero to 300. .	..	’
.Like most of.the earlier .thrifts, Sewickley S'&L might be dubbed^a^'Tpddirr man’s bank, an institution that dealt iii home mortgages for people of ni'od^t means. It'was founded by a group of local businessmen in 1884.'
. IJntil 1974, Sewickley S&L was the only ^d on the.block. That’s when Bell JPederal Savings and Lo$n Assn. , whose home office is in &Ueviie,. opened its doors. Close on
ave heels of Bell came the Dollar Savings Bant.
In 1983, another thrift, Ffrst Federal of Pittsburgh, opened an office here.
Hartman, who has been with his firm since 1953, points out that now there are’ seven financial i^titutions in a town that had only three until 15 years ago; Naturally, this makes the competition kegn.
Reflecting on thie nature of banks, Hartman said that his is (he , most highly regulated industry in the country. ' .
^ “Up iintil'" the 1980s, home mortgages -were our main>business and our only, business.”
■	In the 1980s, thrifts were deregulated and permitted to offer checking and consumer loans. Some of the present problems facing the thrifts can be traced to'deregulation, said JfefWiatt. “They realized too late that you (can’t) deregW^ one sid6 of the ledger wittiout deregulating the other side.”	■
Things are in a state of flux right how due . to theeffects of Aug. 9 legislation signedin-’ toIaw byPresidentBHSh. It will take thitt^ for Ih0 new rules td filter on down, he said.
Hartman fished into his desk and pulled out ;0ne of the new logos that will' be displayed -on, all... i>f;-,-fei§^ije!l§raL cag^,r-Superimposed over the liatibnal-bird, it clearly reads: “Deposits federally insured to $lOOiOOO< - Backed by- the full faith and credifcof (he l|nited States Government.’’
Since liews has been.churning aroupd the S&p> Hartman has bwn interviewed by many of the-media. He said he generally finds reporters bring a d^rth of knowledge about banking to the interviews.
G^leaml \	>
KICKING OFF the *89 fall season are. the football, soccer, and field hockey teams'as well as the band and cheerleaders. QV cheerleader Connie Lawrence pictured here looks ready to rouse the crowd for the football season opener Sept. 2,12:30 p,m: at Avqnworth. QV’s home opener will be played Sept. 16 against Beaver,'	(Photo	by	Doug	Kaup)
Lights migy go d^rk in Bell's Sands Plan
By Tony Soltis
It’s a wait-aiid-(maybe)-see situation for angry residents from the Sands Plan of Bell Acres. Council has warned Saiids Tridents they Will have no street li^ts unless there is 100 percent compliance in payment of the electric bill.	■
Several r^idents attended the monthly borough meeting to protest doimcil’s threat, charging council with mismanagement of the funds.	,
Couhcil, which did not have a quorum, disrtiissed the meeting after hearing the complaiots, saying everyone would have to wait until the solicitor, Carl Kerchner, retunied from vacation.
Stanley Lapinski, who said he was speak' ing for hhnself, Andy JUla and John Kier-dak, aeciised council with bjreaching the 1950 contract reached between the borough and the residents of the Sands Plan.
No eopy of the agreement can be found in borough files, but basically it stated that the residents Would share* the cost for street lights ambng themselves.
Councilman George Gaydos argued that' it is not council’s responsibility to collect tiie money, just to pay the bill.
“We don’t assess ^ople (in the Sands Plan for the lights),” said Gaydos.
James FleyariSf another Sands Plan resident, asked why new street lights were installed in 1985 without resident petition.
LapiiisKi said he saw a copy of tiie petition in the borough secretaiy’s files. He said the petition was supposed to have 100 percent of residents’ sigmtures before new, lights could be inst?illed. He said the petition was undated and unsigned.
Lapinski said that only 32 residents are listed as having to pay while the number should be 38.
''They have no right to make Others pay for those who don’t pay,*’ said Lapmski, ,
Anna Lee Oswald, who collects the niohey from residents m Sands Plau, and iii return does not have to pay her share for the lights, said she has never counted the number of jiomes. She just checks who has paid off the list she is given by the borough secretary.
Some of the problems seem to be at^ tributed to new honries added since 1950, owners with more than one lot, and language such as prorata, assessment and per household used interchangeably m borough letters, according to Lapinski.
“I’ll pay niy share, not someone else’s,’^ said Lapinski. “For 10 years, some people have not been paying. Have we been over-charged?..,Why suddenly now do we haVe to have 100 percent compliance?...People don’t know what’s going on.”
By Lapinski’s estimates, if four to six-people have not been paying their share of the light bill, tiien $i;394 has been overpaid in the last 10 years, He added, however, that his figures are tentative.
Also Lapinski estimates that if the new street lights have been unlawfully installed, then residents have been unlawfully assessed $10^ each for the past five years.
LapUisIu^ added that he hopes at the September council meeting constructive suggestions and recommendations can.be made, atid a satisfactory solution will be found.
Inside
The iowddwn on teachers' salaries
-I
Canine classes graduate pooches
Sewickley newcomer tears up her turf
_ - Front-porching It:
*	Sewickley pastime
Ray Butler swims
in great big pond
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