Lititz Record Express

              THURSDAY, February 3, 1994
L i t i t z R e c o r d E x p r e s s
117TH YEAR LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA 24 Pages- No. 42 30 cents
Photo by Diane Nixdorf
BURGLAR HITS THE PEWTER MUG—A shatterred window
was the first indication that a burglar hit The Pewter Mug last Friday
morning. Robert A. Brejcak, 31, was charged with burglary, theft by
unlawful taking and criminal mischief after stealing approximately
$22,000 worth of merchandise from the gift shop between 4 and 5
a.m. According to police, Brejcak was arrested at his room at the
Chimney Corner motel, 707 Rothsville Rd., around 3 p.m. Friday
and was committed to Lancaster County Prison in default of $30,000
bail. Brejcak also committed several thefts from cars within the com­munity
and faces additional charges.
N e w c a le n d a r
am e n dm e n ts
■ m a k e -u p d a y s
CONNIE BUCKWALTER_______ '___________________________
Record Express Staff
With questions swirling about how Warwick is going to make up its nine
“snow days,” the Warwick School Board Tuesday night took action to amend
the school calendar.
Board members considered two proposals during the special meeting —
one that used Good Friday and one that did not.
With obvious reluctance, board members approved the option that includes
early dismissal (around noon) on Good Friday, April 1 if, and only if, school is
cancelled exactly 11 days. If school is cancelled less than 11 days or more than
11 days, April 1 will be maintained as a holiday in the school calendar.
The lost days in January are Jan. 4,7,12,18, 19, 20, 21, 27 and 28. Their
respective make-up days are: Feb. 18, Feb. 21, April 4, June 9,10,13,14,15
and 16. All but Feb. 21 and June 13-15 were already built into the calendar as
make-up days. If school is cancelled 10 days, school will be made up June 17.
If school is cancelled 11 days, that day will be made up on April 1 as an Act 80
early dismissal day. Should more than 11 days be required to be made up,
April I will be maintained in the school calendar and all additional snow
make-up days will be placed at the end of the calendar as needed, beginning
with June 20.
The other option would have had students making up all days after 11 at the
end of the calendar beginning with Monday, June 20, even if it was only for
one day during that week.
Out of respect to Christians in the community, Dr. John R. Bonfield, district
superintendent, said the district would have preferred not to have to consider
using Good Friday as a school day. He said they had investigated the possibili­ty
of holding school on the Saturday after Memorial Day, during a four-day
school week, instead of April 1. However, the state currently has no provi­sions
to allow the district to hold school on Saturday.
Nonetheless, should the state requirements or provisions change regarding
school make-up days, the board voiced its desire to sit down and amend the
calendar once again.
(Turn to Page 17)
Photo by Connie Buckwalter
SKATING IN THE STREET — This group of local youths madei
the best of an icy situation in Hemiock Circle, off Spring Drive. Strap­ping
on some ice skates, they skated on the road near their homes*!
A net was set up on the circle to facilitate playing ice hockey. Pic-:
tured are (l-r): (kneeling) Rebecca Stoltz, 12 years old, and Misty
Bailey, 10 years old; (standing) Donnie Stoltz, 10 years old, Andrew
Brownsberger, 12 years old, and Corey Pickel, 15 years old. The
students had one request of local road crews, “Please don’t salt this
road." i
M a jo r c rim e s d ro p
in W a rw ic k T ow n sh ip
Police presence acts as possible deterrent
W TM A lowers
sewer rates
CONNIE BUCKWALTER
Record Express Staff
Although the total number of crimes dropped in War­wick
Township, the police force was far from idle in
1993.
According to Police Chief Alfred O. Olsen, last year
the department answered 2,444 calls-for-service, which
surpassed the previous record of 2,429 set in 1991.
Calls-for-service include everything from traffic acci­dents,
to robberies, domestic situations and assisting
other agencies.
When looking specifically at the reported criminal
incidents for 1993, the numbers are encouraging. Part 1
crimes, which include homicide, robbery, rape, assault,
burglary, theft, arson and other major crimes, decreased
by 24percentfrom lOOincidentsin 1992to76in 1993 —
the lowest amount in more than a decade.
Burglaries reached an all-time low with only two
reported last year. Olsen said the previous low was in
1985 when only nine burglaries were reported.
He could offer no definitive explanation for the
decrease in major crimes, but said that the increased
police presence in the township could and should be act­ing
as a deterrent to criminals.
For the second year in a row, no rapes or robberies
were reported. But on the negative side, Olsen said he
was disturbed by the increase in domestic, interpersonal
violence. Assault took a slight upswing from six inci­dents
in 1992 to 15 in 1993.
In addition, the department answers many calls to
domestic disturbances that do not end in prosecution,
Over the years, those calls have steadily risen: 1989, 85
calls; 1990, 111 calls; 1991, 102 calls; 1992, 101 calls;
and 1993, 141 calls.
Olsen credited “bad weather, bad economy” for some
of the domestic situations.
Total Part II crimes (crimes of a less serious nature)
rose slightly from 1992 figures from 190 in 1992 to 199
in 1993. Olsen pointed out that many of the Part II crimes
like disorderly conduct, public drunkeness and driving
under the influence are patrol-initiated, meaning that if
the officers had not witnessed the violation occuring,
they never would have been reported.
Most of the Part II crimes did not represent any signif­icant
changes from 1992. However, 51 cases of fraud
(bad checks, etc.) were reported in 1993, compared to 35
in 1992.
And at a time when there is much talk about juveniles
breaking the law, Olsen said that the juvenile crime rate
in Warwick Township is nothing out of the ordinary.
“The juvenile crime in the township has not shown sig­nificant
increase,” he said. “We’ve had no specific prob­lems
that we haven’t always had.”
The clearance rate for crimes improved by 20 percent
from 1992 to 72 percent in 1993.
After a worrisome first half of the year, Olsen said he
thought that they were going to exceed the total number
of accidents from 1992 to 1993 in the township by a con­siderable
amount. To counteract the troublesome trend,
Olsen and the department stepped up traffic enforcement
in the middle of the year. The total number of accidents in
1993 was 140 and in 1992, 142.
“We’re going to keep up our traffic enforcement and
try to find a nice middle ground,” Olsen said. He said the
department wants to find a balance between having
strong police presence on the roadways without making
motorists feel unnecessarily oppressed.
In addition to the normal patrol duties, township police
have also been putting in time serving the community.
Olsen said the force worked on more than 150 communi­ty
projects in 1993, including sponsoring a meeting with
Santa, bicycle rodeo and talks in schools. Olsen credits
Crime Prevention Officer William Fasnacht with being
instrumental in more than 100 of those projects.
“Community service is a big part of our job,” Olsen
noted.
Meeting with members of the community on a non-stressful
level benefits the officers and the citizens, he
said. Because the township is spread out, officers are very
often only seen behind the wheel of a cruiser and citizens
may only encounter them in a stressful or traumatic situa­tion.
Community service allows the citizens of the town­ship
to get to know their police a little better and is a
chance for the officers to deal with the public on a friend­ly
basis.
(Turn to Page 17)
CONNIE BUCKWALTER
Record Express Staff
Warwick Township Municipal
Authority customers will have a
pleasant surprise the next time they
receive a sewer bill.
According to Troy Clair, WTMA
board chairman, the authority has
lowered sewer rates from $80 to $65
per quarter, effective Jan. 1. That
decrease is the second one in the past
three years, Clair said. Sewer rates
were once as high as $95 per quarter,
which was one of the highest rates in
the county. Now the rates are more
comparable to those of other local
authorities.
WTMA also controls water rates,
which will remain the same for now.
However, the water system is
targeted for a number of improve­ments
that will improve the water
pressure for residents in several areas
of the township.
Two new pumping stations will be
constructed — one in the Woodcrest
area and a booster extension off
Newport Road. The water pressure in
those areas is considered inadequate,
Clair said, and the changes should
help bring the pressure up to par.
The Woodcrest pumping station
carries a price tag of about $208,000
(booster, water line and extension),
and should be finished by summer,
Clair said. The Newport Road boos­ter
extension will cost around
$82,000.
Rothsville residents will also
enjoy improved water pressure in the
future. WTMA plans to build another
storage tank and to raise the level of
the tanks to bring water pressure up
in that area. The Rothsville improve­ments
carry a price tag of about
$530,000 and should be completed
within the next two years.
The changes tie in with the town­ship’s
new comprehensive plan by
(Turn to Page 17)
Photo by Connie Buckwalter
IT’S REASSESSMENT TIME — The crew of data collectors from Automated Valuation Services
began their canvas of Lititz Borough properties on Feb. 1. The data collectors will be collecting informa­tion
that will eventually be used in the countywide reassessment. As they go from house to house, the
workers will carry picture identification. Weather permitting, they work from about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday. The data collectors that will be working in the Lititz area include (l-r) Erich Sitko, Robert
Shelton, Leo Jenkins, Steve Orvell, Tom McEvoy, Renee Lautzenhiser and Margo Sweeney. Jessica
Willman is not pictured.
THIS WEEK IN THE RECORD EXPRESS
Gropplers snap Mules’ streak with big 28-23 win Beck leads LCAR into computer a g e
Two Section One powers
collided on Saturday when
Warwick’s and Solanco’s
wrestling teams squared off in
Lititz. And when the dust
settled, the Warriors had
gained a huge 28-23 win. They
improved to 4-0 in the Section
and snapped the Mules’ win­ning
streak of 22 league meets
in a row. Read more on page 8.
As the new president of the
Lancaster County Association of
Realtors, Dennis Beck is spear­heading
the organization’s effort
to install a state-of-the-art com­puter
system. Read more on
page 24.
THE INDEX
Business 18
Church 16
Classified 20-23
Editorial 4
Manheim 19
Obituaries 2
Out of the Past 4
School Menu 7
School News 6-7
Social 14-15
Sports 8-11
WEATHER: Thursday, mostly
cloudy. Friday and Saturday,
partly cloudy, highs in mid-20s.
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