voL. § No. 27 DALLAS, PA. Phone 675-5211 FIFTEEN CENTS Requirement Waived Word filtered down from Washington, D.C., Saturday, 15 days after the June flood, t/t flood victims seeking loans from Small Business Administration DO NOT have to get a contractor’s appraisal -as to the ‘“‘amount of loss.”’ This one -requirement--on whether a contractor’s ‘appraisal is required--has see-sawed first to ‘‘yes, it is needed’ to ‘‘no, it is not needed’’, and has been a source of frustration to those people seeking loans. ‘On Saturday, Thomas Kleppe, SBA administrator, Washington, was reported as stating ‘‘contractor’s appraisal has been waN¥ed.”’ Mr. Kleppe’s decision to waive con- tractors’ appraisals for refugees was directed to regional offices. Russell Hamilton, director of Region 3, relayed the information to the offices in the devastated Wyoming Valley area. According to Joseph Finch, regional ~ Housing Shortage a Top Problem Top prigrity in Wyoming Valley is housing folcesidents whose hog es were lost or severe. damaged by flood waters. RB Studies show n:ore than 23,000 to fe JS R in the strick®i''area sustained soiile structural damage. a the housing crisis, some 7,000 To ead house trailers will be shipped to the King- ston-Wilkes-Barre area, according to Francis X. Tobin, disaster coordinator for the Office of Emergency Prepared- ness, Northeastern Pennsylvania. Also 200 ‘“travel homes’’ have been ordered for the area. The first three families to move into mobile homes at Frances Slocum State Park arrived Sunday, Park Director James Zambo reported. The families, all from Wilkes-Barre, are the first to be placed in temporary quarters by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They are: Mr. and Mrs. Owen C. Lavery and four children, who formerly lived at 323 Horton St.; Joyce Truesdale and two daughters of 578 S. Main St.; and Mr. and Mrs. Cagion Garrett and five children, 200 Sambdurne St. There are 47 mobile homes already located at the state park in Kingston Township, and it is believed more families will be moving in shortly. These 47 units are the first of 350 units which will be placed at the park, as sites or pads are prep®red for them. (continued on PAGE TWENTY TWO) representative, and James St. Jean, project manager, this vital information was to be given this past Monday mor- ning to SBA workers in all disaster centers. All loan applicants beginning Monday were to be informed of this waiver. : This newspaper checked Monday morning with the SBA office in Dallas Senior High School. Personnel there for example had been informed of the high echelon decision regarding the waiver. Francis X. Tobin, top federal official in Wilkes-Barre, has assured Gov. Milton Shapp that SBA will step up its activities of providing individual loans. From their office at Mackin School, Mr. Finch and Mr. St. Jean reviewed President Nixon’s disaster area declaration, as of June 30. This called for a six-months declaration. However, both officials reiterated ‘SBA will remain here until the job is done. We are the first in and the last to leave.” They explained one aim of their par- ticular office is to hire people from the community, train them, and place them in the proper job within the SBA office. ‘We have a number of federal em- ployees, on temporary assignment, coming in from Philadelphia, Washington, ete.” stated Mr. Finch, “with more coming, However, we do prefer to replace out-of-town personnel as quickly as feasible with people from the community.” ne’ Mackin SchoGi Sb oifid cas approved to date more than $1,500,000 in loans to property owners whose homes and businesses were damaged by the Susquehanna River flood waters. Per- sons affected may receive loans of up to $50,000 for homes, $10,000 for household goods and personal property, and $500,000 for businesses. SBA checks arrived July 7 for ten property owners. These were the first to actually reach the flood area. As of Friday, SBA had issued 9,052 applications for loans. In the processing stage are 517 home owners with loans totaling $1,626,216 and 18 businesses with loans totaling $590,968. (continued on PAGE TWENTY TWO) Officials of the ‘three Back Mountain municipalities of Dallas Borough, King- ston Township and Dallas Township have expressed their concern about what impact temporary trailer housing for flood victims will have on their commun- ities. They met July 5 with members of their planning and zoning commissions and Gen. Frank Townend, solicitor for Dallas Township. The 19 men gathered at an em- ergency meeting to talk over their pro- blems and concern with John McKinnon, engineer representing HUD. The three municipalities have strict ordinances which control the placement of trailers in their areas. But, as of July 1, President Judge Bernard C. Brominski signed an order on zoning and presented it to Luzerne Cou» “ommissioner:. The order read: ‘On this first day of zoning regulations throughout Luzerne County are hereby suspended because of declared that because of the emergency no person may block the use of any established landfill or like refuse area without being in violation of the order of this court. “This order is to be enforced through the offices of the Pennsylvania State Police. Any person in violation of this order is to be arrested and delivered to the Luzerne County Jail.” Back Mountain officials realize, they “If I started to cry, I'd cry forever--so I’m not going to start.’”’ This declaration by a Kingston widow epitomizes the way thousands of flood victims feel about their situation. It’s rough, but as Mrs. Margaret VanLoon, 925 Market St., says, “What can we do? We must face these things.” The money was turned over to Kingston Township Police Chief Paul Sabol, who will release it to the owner upon proper identification. Chief Sabol, right, accepts the money from Mrs. Roth, Fred Ostrum and Peter Isbitski. > Many West Side residents who had to be evacuated have returned to their flood-damaged homes, where for the most part they are living on second and even third floors while the first floor is being cleaned and repaired. Mrs. VanLoon is a fine example of the spirit of the people. Her husband died nine years ago, and she has lived alone since that time. With a rueful smile, she observes, ‘“My greatest loss was when my husband died. After that I can face this.”’ This plucky widow is living on her upstairs porch and back room while her assist in cleaning the downstairs area. She reports that everything downstairs is “gone.” “I'm trying to get some repair work done because I can’t live in the entire house unless it is fixed. I want to try to stay here,” she states. This pleasant-faced woman relates that although her home was in the flood--she herself was not involved at the time. She and other relatives left early Friday morning for Tennessee, where they were to attend a wedding. As they were traveling south they had the car radio turned on and heard the orders to evacuate. Gesturing toward nearby damaged homes, Mrs. VanLoon said the travelers decided what was going to happen would happen whether they turned back or not. “You can imagine, though, how we all felt at the wedding,” she reminisces. The damages of the flood and its af- termath of inconveniences have been accepted by Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Gober of 172 S. Sprague St., Kingston. Busily at work Saturday afternoon at hosing and cleaning their refrigerator in the front yard, the Gobers matter-of- factly told of taking in a 78-year-old neighbor to live with them. Mrs. Gober relates, “I’m used to taking care of older people. I took care of my mother for a long time. Ruth (Lewis) had a one-story house and she lost everything. There is nowhere else for her to go, so she will live with us.” The two Gobers, who have been married 35 years, and Miss Lewis are living on the second floor of the Gobers’ green-shingled dwelling. There are many inconveniences--food must be cooked on a small propane stove, drinking water must be hauled from the National Guard trucks or Kingston Borough building, there is no electricity, food supplies must distance away or from food distribution centers, such as Independent Hose Company, where the lines of waiting people are very long. With a little laugh, Mrs. Gober tells, however, that there is running water for cleaning purposes and toilet facilities. What is the worst problem facing those people who are living back in their homes? According to Felix Materewicz, (continued on PAGE TWENTY TWO) say, there is an emergency and wish to lend all assistance but fear the conse- quences wan the emergency is over. They feel their citizesis dre carrying a financial burden ai‘gady with sewer as- sessments,; and said they believed Back Mountain residents would have to be taxed additionally. It was feared single dwellings could be made into multiple dwellings, or multiple erected in single-dwelling zones or that trailers will be placed where ordinances prohibit them. Solicitor Towend said he ‘thought perhaps the order by Judge Brominski referred to trailers only, but he offered to get a clarification from Judge Brominski. Those present at the meeting shot ques- tions at Mr. McKinnon, who seemed un- able or unwilling to answer any of the questions. He said his job was to place emergency homes after he had been given the sites or pads. The Dallas Township solicitor re- marked that answers should be sought for the following questions: Who will pay for sewer connections or septic tank in- stallations or the trailer park rent? If land used belongs to a private owner, will he be reimbursed? Who will pay for ex- tension of water lines? Will the costs of additional school burdens be absorbed by Back Mountain residents? Will trailers be put in over the objections of local mun- icipalities? Both Mr. McKinnon and Solicitor Townend told the group they would try to find out all they could. Further meetings are to be held. Zoning ordinance for Kingston Town- ship on trailers and trailer parks states in part: “No trailer, trailer coach or mobile home shall be permitted to be parked out- side of a permitted trailer park, to pro- vide living quarters or space for the con- duct of business, except that it may be used temporarily for office purposes during the construction of a principal building or a road, on the issuance of a temporary permit by the Zoning Of- ficer.”’ Jack Dana, Kingston Township zoning officer, reported Tuesday that no final decision on issuing temporary housing permits has been made by his board of supervisors. A “We are trying to get answers from HUD, but have not got them so far. We would hope that if HUD selects individual sites they would come to the zoning of- ficer for a temporary permit,”’” Mr. Dana said. J (continued on PAGE TWENTY TWO)
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