Lititz Record Express

              THE RESS
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101st Year ESTABLISHED APRIL, 1877, AS THE SUNBEAM
I CONSOLIDATED WITH THE LITITZ RECORD, 1937 Lititz, Lancaster County, PA. 17543, Thursday, August 18,1977 15 CENTS A COPY; $5.00 PER YEAR BY MAIL
WITHIN LANCASTER COUNTY 18 Pages - N o . 2 1
$220,000 Deficit Uncovered In School Budget
By Peggy Frailey
A cash deficit that is ex­pected
to amount to $220,000
by next summer has been
uncovered in the school
district budget.
An audit of the 1977-78
budget that was approved
June 30 by Warwick School
Board showed that money
was not actually included in
the budget to cover teachers
salaries for July and August
of 1978, and that other
projected expenditures had
been underbudgeted. These
include an approximate
$20,000 shortage for teachers
salaries (the cost of two
teachers added to the staff),
a $5,000 shortage of the
district’s share of work­m
en ’ s com p en sa tion
premiums (which the
district was told last
February would go up), a
$1100 shortage for summer
curriculum writing, a $2400
shortage for elementary
testing and guidance
materials, and some small
errors in other areas, in­cluding
contributions to
employees’ social security
funds.
An error in the district’s
favor, the failure to include
$204,582 in the state revenues
due to the district for 1976-77,
will help offset the un­derbudgeted
areas, but the
total projected deficit at the
end of this fiscal year is
estimated at approximately
$220,000, and not the
estimated $195,826 on which
the 10 mill property tax
incease was based last
spring.
Errors Verified
The errors were verified
by the local accounting firm
of Miller and Miller, called in
by the new superintendent of
schools, Dr. John Bonfield,
when he began im­plementing
the budget and
realized that $306,000 sup­posedly
set aside in the
budget for accrued teachers
salaries (to cover July and
August 1978) were not in­cluded,
but actually had
been subtracted from the
projected deficit.
In the course of the audit,
Dr. Bonfield and the ac­countants
uncovered the
numerous other reported
errors in the budget.
The school district will be
able to borrow money to
cover its expenses at the end
of the year, Dr. Bonfield
said.
“It’s not a panic situation.
We have a beam on it, we can
control it,” he said.
Educational Programs
Educational programs will
not be affected in any cost­saving
measures, he
stressed. “Our big con­sideration
will be how can we
continue to provide a quality
education in a more efficient
manner?” he said.
He said the School Board,
the administration, and the
staff has been called on to
work to increase the amount
of funds available at the end
of the fiscal year, to keep the
amount that has to be
borrowed as low as possible.
“ This will require the
cooperation and efforts of
everyone,” he said.
He said the most serious
error in the budget was the
apparent misunderstanding
by the Board and the former
superintendent, Dr. H. Dale
Winger, about the accrual
system, used to pay teachers
salaries during the summer.
He said he had discussed
the budget and the reoorted
errors with Dr. Winger and
the former business
manager, Robert Boltz, who
resigned last March, and
neighter were able to shed
much light on the thinking
process that resulted in the
errors.
Asked if he thought a
business manager could
have caught the errors, he
said yes.
Not Pointing Finger
However, he said, “I’m not
pointing the finger at
anyone. Dr. Winger was in a
difficult position working
without a business manager.
And under the budget
procedure used, the Board
saw so many changes in
figures that it was hard to
stay on top of them all.”
He explained that school
boards generally rely on the
superintendent and business
manager to come up with
figures, and then based on
these figures, make the
decision whether to raise
taxes or make cuts.
He said it is hard for the
average school board
member to stay on top of all
the changing figures in
working budgets, unless he
or she is used to working in
depth with budgets.
Accured Salaries
School Board president
Bill Owens told the Record
that the “lion’s share of the
mistake” was in the accrued
salaries. He said the Board
had been assured by Dr.
Winger that the 1977-78
salaries were there, scat­tered
through the budget
under instruction, pupil
personnel, and health.
“I think Dr. Winger really
believed they were there,”
Owens said. “I don’t think
there was any deliberate
misleading on his part.”
He said that everyone
involved with the budget
procedure must shoulder
some of the responsiblility
for the errors.
t Board “Goofed”
“We’re going to lay it on
the line,” he said. “We
goofed and we admit it.”
“I don’t see how anybody
can duck this other than live
up to the responsiblity of
what happened. We ap­proved
it (the budget) and in
that sense it was our mistake
as much as anyone’s.”
“We had lousy projections
and lousy estimates,” he
said. However, when asked
if he felt the budget
procedure used had con­tributed
to the errors he said
eludes a provision allowing
budgets to be reopened,
Owens said he would not.
Must Correct Mistake
“The mistake has been
made and we should sit back
and do everything we can to
correct it. We should not load
it on the taxpayer.”
“I think the whole district
should sweat it,” he said.
no. 5««-“The most important thing
There was nevpr a time now is that we nip what we
when the BoardA saw the
the bottom line,” he said.
“The budget would still have
been put together in error if
it had been done by com­mittees
(as it was done in the
past) because no committee
would have checked all the
figures. It really goes down
to looking at the total salary
figures and saying this is it.”
“I should have checked the
figures,” he said.
Asked how the projected
state subsidies due to the
district could have been so
far off, Owens said he did not
know.
Asked if he would approve
reopening the budget if the
state legislature approves
higher subsidies and in-can
in the bud.’
“I don’t think we’ll ever
come up with enough money
to balance the budget,” he
said. “I think we’ll end up
with a lousy cash balance
and end up borrowing.”
The district will be in
exactly the same situation
it’s in now, he said. “We’ve
already borrowed $90,000,
maybe more, and we’re
going to have to borrow the
the next payroll.”
“Dr. Bonfield is reviewing
every requisition in the
school district to see where
we can cut down,” he said.
“We’re going to rout through
every item in the budget and
cut where we can without
hurting the educational
program.”
He said it will all be fun-neled
through the Finance
and Legal Committee.
Business Manager
Asked what the Board
would decide to do about
hiring a business manager,
in light of the budget
problems, Owens said the
Board is waiting for a
decision from Dr. Bonfield
on whether the district can
function better or not with a
business manager.
“I don’t think an inex­perienced
business manager
would have caught this
thing,” Owens said. He said
he “leans toward” letting the
present clerical staff handle
the business department,
supervised by an ex­perienced
member of the
administration. “ The job
needs someone familiar with
school finances,” he said.
Dr. Bonfield outlined the
following actions that the
district has already taken to
help remedy the problem:
Actions Being taken
1. The administration is
[Continued on Page 3]
Township Residents
To File Appeal on
Landfill Decision
Penn and Elizabeth Township residents will file an
official appeal with Commonwealth Court in
Harrisburg Monday, seeking a reversal of Lancaster
County Court’s ruling that the townships must accept a
sanitary landfill that a Harrisburg geological firm
wants to install along Penryn Road.
Meanwhile, residents have scheduled a public
meeting Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Old
Penryn Fire Hall, Newport Road, to bring citizens up
to date on the status of the landfill problem.
Scott Shank, Penry, will conduct the meeting, and a
panel of residents will also be on hand for a question
and answer session.
The meeting is open to all interested persons.
Residents have already collected nearly $4,000 in
contributions toward court action, according to James
Bachman, whose name will appear on the appeal as
one of the intervenors.
“We’ve had a good response,” Bachman said,
referring to the cititzens’ fund raising. “Money is not a
major problem.” Bachman said the group of citizens
are now working on getting public support behind
them.
“We’re going all the way on this,” Bachman said.
If their efforts fail at the Commonwealth Court level,
they will carry their appeal to the state Surpeme Court,
he said.
Last November, both Penn and Elizabeth Township
zoning hearing boards denied a special exception
sought by R.E. Wright Associates, Harrisburg, to
establish and operate a sanitary lanfill on a tract of
land that lies in a rural district, partly in Penn and
partly in Elizqbeth Township.
Wright appealed the decisions to Lancaster County
Court of Common Appeals and in July, Judge Paul A.
Mueller, Jr. ruled that Wright could establish the
landfill. Judge Mueller stated that the zoning hearing
boards had committed an “abuse of discretion” in
making several unsupported conclusions of law.
Citizens had opposed the landfill for numerous
reasons, including possible well and stream pollution,
dust and odor, heavy truck traffic on township roads,
devaluation of nearby properties, and misuse of far­mland.
$ THIS WEEK’S $25 JACKPOT
WINNER. . .
MRS. ANNA H. BAER
218 Owl Hill Rd., Lititz
NOTE-Mrs.
Baer or a member of her family must claim the
$25 by 5 P.M. tomorrow (Friday, Aug. 19) at the
LITITZ RECORD EXPRESS, 22 E. Main St. If prize is
not claimed by specified time, $25 will be added to
next week’s jackpot.
These Persons Are Eligible for the “GRAND PRIZE” Of Gift
Certificates To Be Awarded October 1st.:
• Mrs. Jane Smith, 449 S. Broad St.
> G. Blankenmyer, 379 E. Main St.
• Jerry Shaeffer, 302 Fairview Drive
• Donna Maser, 919 May Road
« Raymond E. Weaver, 1431 Brunnerville Rd.
> K. Geib, 605 W. Orange St.
• Ruth Wagaman, 940 Rothsville Road
• Kay Rihn, 128 E. Lincoln Ave.
• Shirley Shenk, 656 Owl Hill Rd.
• Jane Neal, 423 S. Cedar St.
Complete Rules of the “Shop Lititz First"
$25 Weekly Jackpot Can Be Found On Page 2.
" Record Seeking Material :
For 100th Anniversary Issue ;
, Much of the history of Lititz and its surrounding '
' townships is recorded in old photographs, newspaper ¡f
clippings, articles, and club and church notes saved by y
, residents of the area.
*
The Lititz Record Express is planning to publish a
special edition in October to mark its 100th an- „
niversary, and is looking for any contributions local
residents, or former residents may have in the way of
old pictures, histories, old issues of local newspapers
with headlines of significant world or national events, ,
etc. The paper is particularly interested in histories '
' depicting the growth of local churches, clubs, fire and
ambulance associations, industries, and businesses.
All contributions will be returned to the owner upon
request. They should be mailed or delivered as soon as
possible to the Editor, Record Express, 22 E. Main St.,
Lititz, Pa. 17543, with the name of the owner attached.
- The Record cannot guarantee that all items submitted >
will be used, and reserves the right to select material '
,,, to be used according to general interest and available ...„
ssi space. fjs
Appeal Considered For
Rothsville Doys Home
Following the July 20
decision by Warwick
Township zoning hearing
board denying the special
exception request by Pine
Aires, Inc., a Manheim-b
a s e d n o n - p r o f i t
organization, to open a boys
home in Rothsville, mem­bers
of the organization may
consider appealing the
ruling.
Though a final decision on
whether or not to appeal has
not been made, John Gibble,
Lititz attorney and
spokesman for the group
reported that members will
be meeting within the next
few days to discuss the
matter.
The zoning hearing
board’s denial was made on
the grounds that the group
home was not specifically
designated as one of the
special exceptions allowable
under zoning regulations.
Pine Aires had requested the
exception, hoping to fall
under the catagory of
clustered living, detailed in
the Warwick Township
zoning ordinance as
hospitals, nursing homes and
clinics.
The Pine Aires request had
been protested by a large
group of Rothsville residents
when it was first presented
to the board on July 15.
Fearing increased van­dalism
and a resulting loss of
property value, more than 50
concerned residents spent
over three hours trying to
convince the board that
approval for a boys home in
Rothsville would be
detrimental to the neigh­borhood.
Pine Aires spokesmen
explained that the home was
being planned for boys
between the ages of 12 and 15
who could not be classified
as “hard-core” delinquents,
but who needed the guidance
and security a group home
could offer.
Pine Aires has two more
days in which to decide to
take their request further via
an appeal.
F a m i l i a r F a c e s In this issue
1 Business Directory 14
Look for Familiar 1 Church News 12
Faces on page two. I Classified Ads 16,17
Wilbur Landis is this 1 Editorial Page 4
week’s featured per- 1 Sports Section 6,7,8
sonality. 1 Social 10
Boro Gets $6.8 Million Sewer Grant
By Peggy Frailey
Lititz has finally received
the promised $6,852,750
federal grant for a new
larger sewer treatment
plant, which is expected to
be started next spring and go
into operation within 18
months to two years later.
The grant has been in the
works for the past several
years, and announcement
that it was awarded was
received last week by the
borough.
It will constitute ap­proximately
75 percent of the
cost of the new plant,
estimated at $9,900,000,
according to Howard Red-cay,
secretary of the Lititz
Sewer Authority.
The remainder of the cost
probably will be raised
through bond issues, he said.
Lititz borough will have to
raise $2 million and Warwick
Township, $1 million, for
their share of use. Warwick
Township has already
received a federal grant to
design its own collection
system to tie in with the
Lititz plant.
According to Lititz boro
manager, David Anderson,
residential sewer rates will
go up somewhat when the
new plant is in operation, but
new rates still have to be
worked out. He said rates
will probably fluctuate for
several years.
More Employees
He said that the borough
expects to have to hire at
least seven more employees
to work with the three em­ployees
at the present
treatment plant. A personnel
study has not been made yet,
Anderson said, and the
borough is waiting for the
Environmental Protection
Agency to decide whether or
not the new plant will have to
have full work crews on all
shifts. At present, full crews
are on some shifts, but other
shifts are covered partly by
on-call employees.
The new plant will be
located adjacent to the
present plant on Lititz Run
Road. The borough now owns
two acres next to the plant,
but expects to purchase
about 5% more acres for the
expansion.
According to Redcay, the
tentative schedule for the
new plant is: Nov. 15-
advertise for bids for con­struction:
Jan. 11, 1978-
receive bids; April, 1978-
closing of bond issue (after
bids are in and the Authority
knows how much money will
be needed); Spring, 1978-
start construction.
At its Aug. 25 meeting, the
Sewer Authority will of/
ficially accept the grant,
Redcay s a id. The Authority
Hillside behind Lititz’ present
sewer treatment plant is part of the
area that will be used for a new $9.9
million treatment plant, to be started
' r*-/-
in the spring. Lititz has received a
$6,852,750 federal grant to cover 75
percent of the cost of the new plant.
will also have to start
discussing loans for con­struction,
since the federal
grant comes in the form of
periodic reimbursements for
money paid to contractors.
Redcay said that the
Authority has already
borrowed $25,000 from
Farmers First Bank for
some major repairs to the
present sewer plant, and that
the Authority does not have a
big surplus of money now.
Year 2000
The new plant, designed to
handle flow from the
borough and parts of
Warwick Township up to the
year 2000, is an expansion
from the present 1.17 mgd.
(million gallons a day) to 3.5
mgd. It was ordered by EPA
to improve the quality of
effluent going into Lititz
Run. It includes parts of
Warwick Township where
malfunctioning septic tanks
are endangering water
purity, according to EPA.
In the new plant, 43 per­cent
of the designed flow is
reserved for industries, the
biggest users being Travis
Mills, which has reserved
capacity for 600,000 gallons a
day, and Cellu Products, at
350,000 gallons a day.
It is designed for an
ultimate population of 20,000
people in the borough and
Warwick Township (two
million gallons a day
residential flow) and an
industrial flow capacity of
1.5 mgd by the year 2000.
Plant Overloaded
By comparison, the
present plant, now
overloaded, is serving an
initial population of 14,500
persons and receives a flow
of 950,000 gallons a day from
industry.
It will be a tertiary (three-stage)
plant, as compared
with the present secondary
plant the borough now has,
and will be designed to
convert sewage into water
that is 95 percent pure. This
will flow into Lititz Run.
The big difference between
a three-stage and a two-stage
plant is that the former
removes nitrates and
phosphorus from the ef­fluent,
Anderson said.
The new plant has been
over seven years in the
planning, and the present
plans are the third set drawn
up by the engineers hired by
the borough, Betz En­vironmental
Engineers
(formerly Albright and
Friel). The first plans were
for a 2.4 mgd plant, the
second for a 3.1 mgd plant,
and the third, accepted plans
for a 3.5 mgd plant.
According to Redcay, the
borough has already spent
$241,689 on land,
e n g i n e e r i n g , an d
miscellaneous related to
these plans, $231,000 of this
for engineering alone. He
said that any parts of the
plans not used in the new
plant will not be reimbursed
by the government.
Heritage Choir To
Perform At Park
Community Park Services
will be held at 6:45 p.m. on
Sunday, August 21, with
music by the Heritage Choir,
and First Church of God in
charge of the devotional
program and the Word.
The service will be held in
Lititz Springs Park and in
case of rain, services will be
held in St. Paul Lutheran
Church. Bells will sound in
Lititz in the event that the
service will be held indoors.
Pastor Paul Kocher of
First Chuch of God will
present the devotions and the
Word, and the Heritage
Choir will be directed by
Julia Keehn and Virginia
Burkey. Accompanists will
be Donna Burkholder, organ,
and Jean Longenecker,
piano.
Music will include
“ Praise, Thanksgiving,
Glory, Honor” , “Hymn to
the Trinity”, “Recessional,’
by Reginald De Koven,
“Holy Art Thou” , and
“Hallelujah Chorus” from
“ Mount of Olives” by
Beethoven, all performed by
the full choir.
The Men’s Ensemble will
sing “ Enternal Father,
Strong to Save” (Navy
Hymn), “Onward Christian
Soldiers”, and “Holy, Holy,
Holy”.
Other selections from the
full choir will be “America,
Our Dream”, “The Nation’s
P rayer” , “Honor and
Glory” , Hymn of
Brotherhood”, “Let There
Be Peace on Earth”, and
“The Battle Hymn of the
Republic”.
All persons are invited to
join in the community-wide
service and to enjoy the now-traditional
Heritage Choir.