Lititz Record Express

              ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________T H U R S D A Y , M a r c h 2 4 , 1 9 9 4
L i t i t z R e c o r d E x p r e s s
117TH YEAR LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA 28 Pages- No. 49 30 cents
THIS WEEK IN THE RECORD EXPRESS
Neiss opens new shop
When Linda Neiss
heard that The Hand­works
was for sale, she
made an offer and her
long-time dream of open­ing
a shop came true
Located at 22 E. Main St.,
The Main Street Peddler
officially opened on Jan
31. Read more on page
2 0 .
WARC barbeque set for Saturday
One of the sure signs of cious event is slated for
spring is the 11th annual Saturday, March 26 from 10
Warwick Area Republican a.m. to 3 p.m. Read more
Committee Chicken Bar- on page 28.
beque. This year, the deli-
John Beck teachers start TAR program
Teachers at John Beck
Elementary have taken it
upon themselves to keep
up with children’s litera­ture.
Organized by first-grade
te a c h e r Joy
Eubanks, the Teachers
As Readers program got
started in January at John
Beck. Read more on page
7.
Krushinski wins fourth-place medal
Wa r w i c k j u n i o r one, as he reached the
1 4 5 - p o u n d e r Br ad semi-ifinals and ended up
Krushinski made his first with a fourth-place medal,
trip to the State Wrestling Read more on page 8.
Tournament a memorable
THE INDEX
Business 20
Church 18
Classified 24-27
Editorial 4
Manitejm 22
Obituaries 2
Dut & the Past 4
School Mend 6
School News
Social
Sports
6-7
16-17
8-11
WEATHER: Mostly cloudy
Thursday. 50 percent chance of
showers. Partly cloudy Friday.
Township takes
control of WTMA
» Glace Associates contracted
CONNIE BUCKWALTER _________
Record Express Staff
Last Wednesday night, March 16, Warwick Township Supervisors offi­cially
adopted an ordinance that permits them to provide management ser­vices
to the Warwick Township Municipal Authority.
The day before, on Tuesday, March 15, WTMA board members passed a
resolution at their meeting that allowed them to enter into a management
agreement with the township.
In order to provide those management services, supervisors sub-contracted
the work to Glace Associates, WTMA’s current engineer.
Daniel Garrett, supervisor, said that the term of the agreement with Glace
runs for two years and can be cancelled at any point, providing the township
gives one week advance notice.
Michael W. Brubaker, supervisor chairman, said that Glace will be provid­ing
stability and management assistance during what is a transitional phase
for the authority. For the short term, Brubaker said that he did not foresee any
changes with current WTMA administrative employees. As for the long-term
personnel picture, Brubaker said it is too soon to tell what may happen. He
said the township plans to study the situation and take any recommendations
that Glace may make under consideration.
Prior to the adoption of the ordinance, Pat Herr, a former supervisor, voiced
her concern with the way the entire situation had been handled. She said that
she appreciated the two recent rate reductions by the authority and said she
could not see what was wrong with the way things were going.
“I’m in favor of keeping things the way they were,” Herr told supervisors.
She also questioned whether former authority manager Ron Nuss and former
township manager Robert Smith really resigned. She said she felt that the
township and authority may be getting rid of qualified personnel and should
set the record straight.
Supervisors told Herr that they had no authority to speak on Nuss’ employ­ment
because WTMA handled its own personnel issues. Brubaker said that
Smith personally signed a typed letter of resignation, which the supervisors
accepted.
Garrett said that the decision to take over control of the administrative and
management portions of the authority was not a reflection of the past opera­tions
of the WTMA. He said the ordinance was being enacted in order to make
better use of township and authority resources through the sharing of mater­ials,
equipment and labor. Garrett said that previously, some roadblocks had
existed that hindered a totally harmonious working relationship between the
two bodies.
In addressing another one of Herr’s concerns, Bruce Bucher, supervisor,
said that the township does not intend to privatize the authority. Herr had said
that she did not feel comfortable with having Glace Associates observe the
administrative functions of the authority, which the WTMA board previously
had asked them to do for a two week period. Glace Associates is also the
authority’s engineer. 1
Supervisors said that they did not perceive Glace’s involvement as being a
conflict of interest and noted that Glace had served the authority well in the
past and was very familiar with WTMA operations. Bucher said that Glace
(Turn to Page 24)
Wal-Mart plans
face opposition
CONNIE BUCKWALTER ______________
Record Express Staff
Wal-Mart’s announcement earlier this month that it plans to pursue build­ing
a 199,000-square-foot superstore along Lititz Pike has spurred the forma­tion
of a grassroots coalition that opposes the retailer’s proposed plans.
A core group of around a dozen people, some of whom live close to the
proposed project site, got together after the announcement and have gradually
been building up support. The group has encouraged local residents to attend
the township planning commission and zoning hearing board meetings on the
issue to make their voices heard.
Last week the group ran a half-page advertisement in the Lititz Record
Express in the form of an open letter to Irel Buckwalter and Mary Ann Buck-waiter
Hartzell, owners of the land that Wal-Mart wants to buy. Appealing to
the landowners as neighbors and friends, the letter contained about 81 signa­tures
and asked the Buckwalters to think seriously about the impact of what
they are doing.
David Trimble, spokesperson for Lititz Concerned Citizens (LCC), said
that letter was intended to be a courteous way of letting the Buckwalters know
about the “sincere opposition” and concern to Wal-Mart’s plans.
One of the LCC’s major concerns is traffic, Trimble said.
“It’s overkill for that site,” he noted. “Because it’s (Wal-Mart) an enormous
building ... and an enormous parking lot on a congested highway.”
Another one of the concerns is for the future of the current Lititz area mer­chants
and the possible detrimental impact that a Wal-Mart could have on
them, Trimble said.
“We realize that it’s (the site) zoned properly,” he said. However, Trimble
said that the group feels that the zoning ordinance did not take into considera­tion
the possibility of the construction of a building of such a tremendous
magnitude.
The group had planned to meet with legal representation earlier this week
and planned to attend Wednesday night, March 23, township planning com-
Photo by Connie Buckwalter
Signs like these were posted all around Lititz to make citizens aware
of upcoming meetings regarding Wal-Mart’s proposal to built a store off
Route 501.
Last week Food Lion submitted a sketch plan to Warwick Township, field Park off Route 501. In the sketch plan pictured above, Route
proposing the construction of a food store and pharmacy in the Wyn- 501/Furnace Hills Pike is off to the right side.
Food Lion looks at L ititz
CONNIE BUCKWALTER
Record Express Staff
In the wake of Wal-Mart’s
announcement that it would like to
build a store in Warwick Township,
Food Lion (a grocery store chain)
followed suit by submitting a sketch
plan to Warwick Township offices
Photo by Connie Buckwalter
FREE SNOW — Stauffers of Kissel Hill ran an unadvertised spe­cial
recently — free snow! Mounds and mounds of the white stuff
were piled up near the store at the intersection of Kissel Hill Road
and Route 501 /Lititz Pike. The special is still going on, but if you want
some, you better hurry. This week’s warm temperatures and rain
have gradually been melting away the stockpile.
last week. The sketch plan calls for
the construction of a combined
37,450-square-foot grocery store/
pharmacy at Wynfield Drive and
Danbury Drive in the Wynfield Busi­ness
Park.
Hie store is proposed to be built on
slightly more than six acres of land in
the industrial-commercial complex
off Route 501, which sits on the north
side of town. Of the approximate six
acres of land, the building plans
would cover about 3.58 acres.
(Turn to Page 24)
Comprehensive p lan
sparks controversy in
Elizabeth Township
DIANE NIXDQRF_____________
Record Express Staff
After several months of silence,
Elizabeth Township residents came
out of the woodwork Monday night
to voice their concerns about the
proposed comprehensive plan.
For the first time since the town­ship
planning commission started
working on the plan last April, resi­dents
stepped forward to express
their opposition.
“I’m totally opposed to it. It’s a
very, very radical change,” said Lar­ry
Wiker, a township supervisor who
attended Monday night’s public
workshop. “I’m wondering what’s
broke and why we’re fixing it.”
Wiker and his wife, Eleanor, are
especially concerned about the abun­dance
of land included in the plan’s
agricultural component
According to Katherine Daniels,
senior planner at Gehringer-Roth
Associates, the present plan offers
very little protection to farmers. “If
the area stays rural, it will eventually
merge into Warwick Township,” she
said.
By changing the land to agricultur­al,
the township would be directing
development away from the farming
areas and guaranteeing that sur­rounding
farms will not be
developed.
(Turn to Page 24)