VOL. 83 NO. 12 DALLAS, PA. PHONE 675-5211 FIFTEEN CENTS | Hook-UpsStart Sewer System Of the 4,000 customers who eventually will beerviced by the sewer system and treatment plant of Dallas Area Municipal Authority, 90 have started using the system since it became operational March 2. A total of 344, as of March 28, had applied for hook-in permits. Among those who became regular customers of the system this week was R. Spencer Martin Jr., who has served as chairman of the authority since its in- ception. Other authority members, who live i 150 feet of a main line, will be hookink'in to the system as quickly as they can get pipes installed by a plumber from their home to the street connection. All property owners, within 150 feet of a to hook in to the system. All customers will have four fees to pay—three to the guthority and one to the plumber they hire. Each property owner will pay an assessment of $8 per froni fe ‘age. Ac- cording to the D.AM.A. oft ce, most assessment bills have been delivered to the approximately 4,000 potential customers. ; The second fee is a $150 installation fee for a normal four-inch laterial, which is used for most hores. A six-inch lateral costs $200; an eight-inch lateral, $250. These Igager laterals are commonly used far commercial and industrial customers. An annual rental fee of $118 will be the af Khority for a period of 30 years. Payments on this charge may be made quarterly at $29.50. Fourthly, the plumber’s fee involves the installation of pipe from the residence to the street connection. The cost is determined by the amount of pipe needed and the depth of the installation. The system, which has been in operation less than a month, services residents of Dallas and Kingston Town- ships and Dallas Borough. The total cost of the system was $11,300,000, of which $1,300,000 was allocated for the con- struction of the secondary treatment plant, located off the Dallas-Luzerne Highway, across from O‘Malia Laundry. The authority’s temporary office on Memgrial Highway will be moved to its perm#™ent home in the control building at the treatment plant by April 15. R. Spencer Martin Jr. (right), whose residence is on Carverton Road, Trucksville, is one of the many Back Mountain residents with sewer lines being installed from the home to a street connection. Mi. Martin, who is chairman of the Dallas Area Municipal Authority, and Robert Costigan, an in- spector, look at the deep trench in Mr.. Martin's front yard in a scene typical to the area. Photo by J. Kozemchak Sr. Throughout Back Mountain Donna Newcomb, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ted Newcomb, Shavertown, places lilies, symbolic of Easter, at the altar of the Shavertown United Methodist Church. Come the beginning of next week, TV sports fans in the Back Mountain will have something to cheer about—unless the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., decides to reconsider a recent memo ruling of the Federal Com- munications Commission. Like the spate of jokes much in vogue nowadays, there’s both good news and bad news for sports fans. First the good news: The Back Mountain Telecable Co. will begin importing New York City Channels 11 and 9 and Philadelphia Channel 17 for its cable customers by the beginning of next week. For the uninitiated, Channels 11, 9 and 17 televise more sports per viewing hour than any other stations in the country. Channel 11 might be called the Home of the N.Y. Yankees, while Channel 9 televises most games played by the N.Y. Mets and N.Y. Knickerbockers as well as hockey games and sports events from Madison Square Garden. And one sports’ fan has suggested that Channel 17 practically lives in Philadelphia’s grand sports arena, the Spectrum. Now the bad news. It is still possible that this sports bonanza will remain a pipe dream—if Station KVVU in Nevada has its way. The Nevada station has filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals seeking a stay in action on the FCC’s ruling which permits a telecable com- pany such as the Back Mountain firm to televise these channels. In a 300-page ‘memo’ dated Feb. 3, the FCC ruled, among other things, that telecable companies could import three ‘distant signal’ independent stations plus any available educational channels. the effective date for this ruling is March 31, and telecable companies throughout the country are waiting with bated breath to comply with the ruling. j Robert Barni, head of Barni Distri- butors Inc. and its subsidiary, the Back Mountain Telecable Co., told the Dallas Post that his ‘equipment is all set to go’’ and that he “anticipates putting on the new channels by the beginning of April.” Looking to a distant day, Mr. Barni en- thusiastically suggests that the ‘‘Back Mountain Telecable Co. could easily expand into a 20-channel system even- tually.” : (continued on PAGE FOURTEEN) 17 Percent Increase Atty. James Lenahan Brown filed a motion for argument before the Penn- sylvania Public Utility Commission, in Harrisburg March 22 on legal questions in the interests of several local com- plainants who oppose the 17 percent rate increase granted to Luzerne Electric Division of UGI Corp. ; Filing of the motion was made by Atty. Brown in line with instructions and suggestions made at a pre-hearing conference March 13 before the PUC. In his letter accompanying the legal motion, Mr. Brown stated; ‘It will be noted that we are asking for legal argument before the commission and requesting permission to do our briefs on legal paper such as we have in the office. If permission is granted, photo copies will be made of the original, so that in fact, all members of the PUC will receive original copies of the brief.” Permission was asked to submit briefs on legal-sized paper rather than on 9x6 inch paper as called for by PUC Rule 47. The attorney noted his office is not the 9x6 inch pages. Apartments Planned for Risley Estate What Contractor Raymon Hedde calls “very preliminary plans’ for new gar- den-type apartments have been laid before Dallas Borough’s Planning Com- mission for its approval, the Post learned earlier this week. The apartments, approximately six in number, are to be built on the former Risley property on Huntsville Road and Lehman Avenue. tures will ‘look very much like private residences’’ and will be similar in ap- pearance to his apartment homes located at the corner of Pinecrest and Machell Avenues. (continued on PAGE SEVEN) Property owners along Pioneer Avenue in the vicinity of Schoolhouse Lane have complained for a number of years about detracts from their neighborhood. Action has been taken by Kingston Township Board of Supervisors to have the dilapidated old wooden structure razed by June 1. At their March meeting, Supervisors Ed Hall, Ed Richards and W. R. Mathers instructed Zoning Officer John Dana to send a certified letter to the property owners instructing them that the building must be torn down or legal action would be taken aganst the owners. The owners are Michael and Catherine Chalawich, Box 506, RD 4, Mountaintop. Mr. Dana received a letter this week from Mr. Chalawich stating the house will be razed by June 1. The owner also cars which are stored under the dwelling. Mr. Chalawich guaranteed that by the effective date of June 1 all signs of the building and debris therefrom would be completely removed from the site. The house is one of three located on Schoolhouse Lane, a short, dirt street running parallel with Pioneer Avenue, Kingston Township. It was vacated by the stood empty since that time. Tax Collector Vern Pritchard, Kingston Township, reported that the owners have paid $70 annually i in taxes on the property. Photo by J. Kozemchak Sr. { As attorney for complainants, the Back | Mountain resident stated seven legal questions are involved and should be | resolved before the taking of any. testimony. id 1. Since the UGI service lines are | connected to the Pennsylvania-New | Jersey-Maryland Inter-Connection, does | the PUC have jurisdiction or does the | Federal Power Commission? A 2. Is the rate increase granted in the a) PUC’s Order of Dec. 14,1971, a tem- il porary increase? ah 3. Can an increase to a public utility be granted in the absence of reasonable notice and hearing? 4, Should the PUC Order of Dec. 14, 1971, be revoked forth-with? sh 5. What is the effect of the Price i Commission on the 17 percent increase | granted, which must be coupled with the | 17 percent increase earned by the j company before the increase of Dec. 22, | 1971, took effect? Fred 6. Has the PUC pre-judged the case and thus deprived the complainants of due process of law? 7. The UGI cannot exist with part thereof being subject to the PUC and part not; in other words, as a conglomerate corporation, part of which is subject to regulation by the PUC and part of which # is not cannot exist as one legal entity. Complainants in the matter include the Back Mountain Protective Association and F. Budd Schooley, M.D., Atty. James M. Reinert-and Atty. Brown. with others, . Sewer Office Open Saturdays Announcement was made March 28 by Dallas Area Municipal 2 Authority that the authority’s Bh temporary office, located on Memorial Highway, will be open uy Saturday mornings beginning April 8. Dawn Covert, authority secretary, reported she will be in the office every Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. The authority office will con- tinue to be open every weekday from 4 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Miss Covert and ig Mrs. Raymond Parsons are office ie personnel, and one of them is always in attendance at the office Mondays through Fridays. The new Saturday hours are for . the convenience of customers who find it difficult to get to the office during the week, according to an authority spokesman. : : : Eiiy VON This unsightly house on Schoolhouse Lane, Kingston Township, will be razed by the owner in the near future. The house has stood=vacant for seven years, and is an eyesore in the neighborhood, as well as a health hazard.
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