Lititz Record Express

              T H U R S D A Y , A p r i l 1 0 , 1 9 9 7
T :
■ ’ t n d E x p r e s s
120TH YEAR 30^ Pages- No. 62 LITITZ, PENNSYLVANIA Two sections 30 cen ts
INSIDE b o ro u g h faces a n n u a l loss of $100,000
STEPHEN SEEBER
Record Express Staff
LOTTZ — Lititz residents can
expect a 10 percent increase in sew­age
bills next year if Gov. Tom Ridge
is* successful in removing a $30 mil­lion
statewide municipal grant from
the 1998 budget.
According to Borough Manager
Sue Ann Barry, Lititz began receiv­ing
the sewage facility subsidy,
referred to in the state budget as the
Act 339 Grant, from Harrisburg 20
years ago when the plant at 50 Lititz
Run Road was upraded. Such assis­tance
has allowed the borough to
keep local billing rates at a comfort­able
level.
Last year, Lititz received $99,651
to help pay for operating costs at the
sewage plant. But if Ridge’s plan
goes through, the money will be
phased out over a three-year period
and local residents will pick up the
tab in full starting in 2001.
“We would have to raise sewer
rates to make up for the loss,” said
Barry. “At least 10 percent.”
Last month, the borough sent a let­ter
to District 97 Representative Jere
Strittmatter and Senator Noah
Wenger, seeking support in the
effort to keep the funding alive.
On Tuesday, Strittmatter said that
this funding has been an ongoing
concern for both Lititz and Warwick
Township and added that he will be
fighting to make sure the funds are
restored to the 1998 budget before it
is approved.
Strittmatter and other state rep­resentatives
fought the same battle
for their constituents in 1996 and
won. This year, they’ll be at it again.
A House-sponsor© T on:i---i1wn'si« to
the budget that resto.-.". ¡¡a ' i
has been presented with hopes of
keeping the funding intact
“This is one of those areas where
we (the state) need to help local gov­ernment,”
said Strittmatter, adding
that the grant has provided a great
partnership between Harrisburg and
small municipalities up until now
because tax money is coming back to
the people and the people are manag­ing
how it is used.
Press office personnel for the gov­ernor
did not return Record Express
..¡ij, ‘‘■■■Tore deadline, but,
“ trittmatter, Ridge’s
decision to cut the funding is based
on the perception that sewage and
water maintenance is a local function
and therefore should be funded local­ly.
Strittmatter sees it differently.
“We need to have clean water,” he
said. “And it’s certainly a state inter­est
to have clean streams.”
If the Act 339 grants are phased
out after this year it is not likely that
local stream quality will suffer, but it
is certain that Lititz and Warwick
Township residents will field the
financial burdon of maintaining the
lux’iry of dean water.
chiefs
about
declining support
Local fire
concerned
RICHARD REITZ
Community map and
directory is here
The 1997' Lititz Coinmuns’y
Map and Directory is höre!
Your copy is a featured insert
in this week’s Lititz Record
Express, and a write-up on
the new map is on Page 14.
P o st Off'ce CriTsn
Remember that your feder­al,
state and local income tax
should be completed and
mailed by Tuesday, April 15.
To help those procrastinators
who are waitinq until the last
\: ■ • - ■ the Lititz
Post Office will be open until 9
p.rn, on Tuesday.
LWC Book Sale
returns Saturday
Local writer Tony Brewer
and artist Joe Poster will sign
their book as the featured
guests at the annual Lititz
Woman’s Club Book Sale on
Saturday from 8 a.m.-l p.m. It
will be held at the Lititz
Community Center, and
benefits the Lititz Public
Library. Page 21.
Exploration Expo is a
first year success
Over 130 parents and stud­ents
took advantage of the
many interesting stands at the
first Warwick Middle School
Exploration Expo last Friday,
which featured hobbies, activi­ties
and more for the
younsters to try out. Page 8.
Record Express Editor
WARWICK TOWNSHIP —
Volunteer firefighters are declining
in numbers, and so are the number of
supporters of the local fire
companies.
That was the report from the fire
chiefs for the three fire companies
that cover Warwick Township, who
spoke to township supervisors at
their April 2 meeting.
“Fifty percent (of Lititz Borough
residents) fund the department, and
something needs to be done about
that,” said Lititz Fire Chief Ron Oet-tel.
“It’s sad when roughly half the
community carries the bail.”
At the request of supervisors, Oet-tel,
Rothsville Fire Chief Claude
Young Jr, and Brunnerville Fire
Chief Ken Kline addressed numer­ous
topics of concern for their depart­ments,
and also answered questions
posed by the boat!.
Fundraising
Kline and Young expressed simi­lar
results in their fundraising drives.
Young said they receive about a 40
percent return in Rothsville, while
Kline’s figures were between 40-45
percent for Brunnerville.
Young suggested that because of
the inequity, perhaps more of the
funding should come from the town­ship,
particularly for the purchase of
expensive equipment.
“People who support us do so very
well,” Kline told the board. Brunner­ville,
which recently purchased a
new $325,000 pumper, works on a
cash flow basis rather than a strict
budget, “if the money is there and we
need something, then we buy it.”
Young said that Rothsville uses a
professional fundraising firm for its
drives, but Gettel and Kline said their
departments do not.
‘They said that 25 percent is a
good return,” Oettel said of the one
firm they contacted. “They were
amazed that we could get 50
percent”
Supervisor Michael Vigunas
if the f v f r^nsid-
• f*i a sy if- m rinrii-r to the V.* m,lex
Community Ambulance, which
offers annual memberships. Anyone
who utilizes the service and is not a
(See Fire Chiefs, Page 12)
B
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»
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.if.v-
Photo by Stephen Seeber
Tom Williams (left) and Jerry Snavely are two Chimney Corner customers that are enjoying the smoking
ban at the Lititz restaurant. Waitress Theresa Bender (right) said emotions are mixed, but it's too early to teil
how it will affect business.
Chimney Corner goes smoke-free
STEPHEN SEEBER
Parking will be OK
on Crosswinds Drive
RICHARD REITZ
Record Express Editor
WARWICK TWP. — Parking
will be allowed along Crosswinds
Drive after all.
After two months of debate, War­wick
Township Supervisors and resi­dents
of the Crosswinds housing
development have come to a mutual­ly
agreeable solution to their frustrat­ing
parking problem.
Several residents came to the
board in February angry after discov­ering
that parking would not be per­mitted
on either side of Crosswinds
Drive, where their new homes were
located.
The parking restriction was a con­dition
when the plans were initially
approved in 1992, but homeowners
said they were unaware of the restric­tion
until no parking signs were
erected in January.
Some were also concerned that
overflow parking lots were proposed
on their property.
Kids fish in g
d e rb y to kick
off 97 se a so n
Following a productive meeting
between the residents, developers
and township officials, the residents
circulated a petition requesting park­ing
on one side of the street.
At the board’s April 2 meeting,
they accepted the proposal, and park­ing
will now be permitted on the west
side of the road.
The road is 30 feet wide, and pro­viding
eight feet for parking will still
allow Crosswinds Drive to meet the
(See Crosswinds, Page 12)
Record Express Staff
WARWICK TWP. — This com­ing
September marks the 20th
anniversary of Terry Donley’s own­ership
of the Chimney Comer
Restaurant on Rothsville Road. But
this year will be celebrated smoke-free.
M
uch to the dismay of her regular
smoking customers, Donley
restricted smoking inside the restaur­ant
on April 1.
She said that lost some customers,
but added that it was a business deci­sion
in which she considered the ben­efit
of all her customers.
“It was a tough choice,” she said.
“A lot of people are taking it person­ally,
but it’s not that. I’m not in busi­ness
to lose business, but I think it
was a good move.”
The practical reason for the
change, according to Donley, was
that the restaurant has no exhaust
system, making it difficult to remove
smoke from the building. As a result,
she said she was losing customers
that did not want to eat in a smokey
environment.
“I don’t want to come across as
harsh, but it was a change we needed
to make,” she added. “You can actu­ally
smell the food now.”
Tom Williams, a non-smoking
regular customer, said that the
change was “long overdue.”
‘There is nothing more horrible
than eating your lunch and having
someone blow smoke on you,” he
said. “I think they took a chance, but
in the long run the decision will bene­fit
everyone, even the smokers.”
Laura Yunkin, a Chimney Cor­ner
employee and former smoker,
said that she has lost some customers
since the change, but has also seen
some new faces.
“I’m getting mostly good com­ments
about it,” she said. “I’m very
excited.”
Some of Donley’s smoking cus­tomers
have taken their business to
other restaurants that allow smoking,
but, for the most part, are not holding
a grudge.
Mel Hilbert was a smoking cus­tomer
at Chimney Comer for the past
20 years. She said she will continue
to eat there.
“I have absolutely no hard feel­ings,”
she said.
Still, others are taking it more
personally.
Rose Long said her husband Jer-
(See Smoke-free, Page 12)
Manheim Central
displays renovations
The Manheim Central High xhe Lititz Sportsmen’s Associa-
School renovations a re com- ¡jon wju holding its annual Kids
plete, an d last Sunday th e Fishing Derby this Saturday, April
community gathered for a look ¡2 at the stream improvement area
a t the culmination of two along Route 772 and Clay Road in
y e a rs and $ 2 0 million worth of Warwick Township,
work. P a g e 24. The derby is open to boys and girls
ages 15-and-under. Registration will
be held from 7-8 a.m., with fishing
slated for 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Sportsmen’s Association will
B u s in e s s 1 4 -1 5 be supplying free food, free prizes,
Church...1...".".".!!....".."...22-23 f
ClflQQifiAri 9fi 90 LSA President uassip ea.... ...... ..........¿b ¿s said were ab oDutr emk Fkrididsm wgheor
editorial / Letters......... .............4 participated last year, before
Entertainment..... ........— .18 improvements got underway to the
Manheim N ew s ........2 4 -2 5 stream.
Obitua r ie s..............................2-3 This year, they are expecting
Out Of the P a s t......... ..............3 0 between 150 and 200 kids for the
Police Log............. .................... 23 popular event.
S ch o o l N ew s ........ ..................6 -7 “We’re trying to build it, build it,
Social .20-21 build it, and get more kids involved
Sports " * 8-11 ™ outdoors,” Fridinger said.
B r o p h y s s e t t l e ‘ i n n ’
STEPHEN SEEBER
J !
Photo b y Stephen Seeber
Ed and Delores Brophy moved into the General Sutter Inn last week,
and officially purchased the historic landmark on April 3.
Record Express Staff
LITITZ — The sale of the Gener­al
Sutter Inn was officially com­pleted
April 3, five days after the arri­val
of new owners Ed and Delores
Brophy.
The Florida couple is now busy
getting acclimated to innkeeping
with their daughters Kaitlin, who
joined the first grade class at Lititz
Elementary last week; and Meghan,
who is the newest member of the pre­kindergarten
class at the Lititz Com­munity
Center.
The Brophys plan to maintain the
historic charm that Richard and
Joan Vetter brought to the landmark
eatery when they purchased it in late
1979, but some changes a r e .
anticipated.
The Brophys arrived in Lititz
March 31, and, according to Ed,
week one in the borough was a busy
one. But after meeting new custom­ers
and being introduced to the Lititz
AMBUCS, Rotary and Lions clubs,
he said that his family has exper­ienced
a warm welcome from the
community.
“Everyone seems genuinely inter­ested
in finding out who we are and
what our plans are,” he said.
They will live on the third floor of
the Sutter with Dolores’ mother,
Ann Quattrone. Ed will manage the
bookkeeping, marketing, and food
and beverage aspects of the business
while Dolores will run the front desk
and dining room, manage house­keeping
and landscaping, and work
with catering events.
Kaitlin has already been busy
helping bus tables in the coffee shop,
and four-year-old Meghan is eager to
help mom at the front desk.
The Sutter staff of 40 full- and
part-time employees will remain the
same, but will undergo a more for­malized
training program, according
to Ed.
Also, the menu will experience
some gradual adjustments, the Sut­ter’s
14 rooms will get a bathroom
make-over, and the traditional Satur­day
night entertainment of guitarist
George May will continue.
In addition, renovations are under
consideration for the bar and patio.
With all this committment to
improving the inn, it’s hard to ima­gine
that just 30 years ago borough
council thwarted plans to level Pen­nsylvania’s
oldest inn in order to
make room for a gas station at the
corner of South Broad and East Main
streets.
But what makes the inn so tucri-tive
as an inn instead of a gas station,
and worth the effort of relocating a
family all the way from Boca Raton,
Florida, is its versitility. And Ed said
they don’t want to mess with that
With a restaurant, breakfast shop,
bar, banquet facilities, rooms, patio,
and the Herb Shop renting next door,
the Sutter building offers its owners a
constant income from a variety of
sources.
When they do get a recreational
moment the Brophy family plans to
(See Brophys, Page 12)