H (h "The Dallas Post . 4 | 4 ® vol. 104 No. 28 High water rates bring wave of wells By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Ky When Libby Sutton received her first-quarter water bill from Gen- eral Waterworks, Inc., it didn't take her long to figure out how to save money; she drilled a well. She is not alone. Officials in Dallas Borough, Kingston Town- ship and Dallas Township have reported a wave of callers seeking information on municipal well ordinances, and well drilling b Oo companies have seen a surge in business. None of the three municipali- ties currently have well ordinances or require well-drilling permits. In December, 1992, the Public Utility Commission gave General Waterworks permission to double its yearly rates for 57 customers in Harveys Lake and Lehman, while its 98 Noxen customers paid an additional 32 percent for wa- ter. The company's 1,774 cus- tomers in Dallas Borough and Dallas Township saw a 62 per- cent increase, and bills for 919 customers in Shavertown in- creased by six percent. Customers felt the new rates’ full impact with their first quar- terly bill in 1993. Dallas Borough resident Sut- ton decided to have a well drilled after receiving a quarterly water bill for $226, up from $180 the previous quarter. “This is the highest it has ever been,” she said. “Itjust kept climb- ing.” Mrs. Sutton said that her well cost $3,400 to install. She figures that the well will have paid for Dallas, Pennsylvania itself in three or four years. “We have received lots more calls for information on drilling wells recently. With the uncer- tainty of water rates, people are trying to create a fixed cost for their households by drilling awell,” said Drew Fitch of R.N. Fitch and Sons, who has installed five wells within the past two weeks and has orders for five more. The average well costs between $3,500 and $4,500, depending on how deep the driller must go be- fore he finds a good water source yielding between five and 10 gal- lons per minute, Fitch said. Once the well, pump and stor- age tank have been installed, Fitch figures the monthly operating cost using a 3/4 horsepower pump will run around $5. “Although it's a high initial cost, customers can expect to break even within six years," Fitch said. “Considering that the average well's life is 12 years and many last much longer, that's not too bad.” The average water customer uses approximately 15,000- 20,000 gallons per quarter, which could be supplied within two days of continuous pumping by the average well, Fitch said. General Waterworks manager Mike Coyle said that he has re- ceived only one disconnection request recently. “We got alot of complaints when our customers realized the full impact of the rate increases in their latest quarterly billings,” he said. But Coyle said he hasn't re- ceived many complaints about the quality of service since the sulfur smell near the aeration tower in Shavertown was taken care of. Back Mountain water rates could decrease earlyin 1994 if the Public Utility Commission ap- proves General Waterworks’ merger with Dauphin Consoli- dated Water Supply, - Typical residential customers of the Dallas, Shavertown and Noxen water companies using 14,000 gallons a quarter would see a 35.5 percent decrease in their water bills, from $111.41 to $71.84, Harveys Lake customers would see a smaller decrease, from $65.69 to $63.72, for 12,000 gal- lons of water per quarter. Until the PUC rules on the merger with Dauphin Water Sup- ply, Back Mountain customers’ present rates will be in effect. Auction was hot time for all By GRACE R. DOVE “Post Staff With a heat advisory listed for last weekend and daytime temperatures in the 90's, the 47th Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction was certainly a hot event. “It's been a long, hot week- end,” said chairman Bill Jones Sunday evening. “We still have lots of merchandise to sell. The good bidding is holding off until later. I think that people are waiting to come until it cools off.” Shorts were the uniform of the weekend, as auction visi- tors lined up at the lemonade stand and the Hillside Farms ice cream truck for cool treats, browsed through the booths or collapsed onto lawn chairs in the parking lot to watch the bidding while little white moths flitted around the lights. Tongues of heat lightning flickered on the horizon Thurs- day night, but didn’t make good on their threat of thundershow- ers for the event's four nights. In an effort to beat the sti- fling heat and humidity, the Odds ‘n Ends booth and Mrs. See AUCTION, pg 2 { 1 THAT WISTFUL LOOK - David Roosa of Dallas cast an admiring eye on the lemonade during last week's Back Mountain library auction. David's feelings were understood by many as bidders POST PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK braved the heat to aid the local library. David's mom, Shelley, standing behind him, had already begun to quench her thirst. The auction is the library's largest fund raising event. ®" Freckles, faithful friend to young and old, dies ‘By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff ® « - She was everyone's friend, the Back Mountain's goodwill ambas- csador. Every day she went to work at (Dallas Centre Hardware with her s“mom and dad,” Jim and Carol rEason. When Jim and Carol went on vacation, she stayed home, faith- fully tending the store. t People from out of the area ¢ stopped by just to visit her. They sent her birthday cards and get- well cards when she was sick. Her name was Freckles. Mourned by the Eason family rand her many friends in the area, the beloved 15 year-old liver and white English springer spaniel . died Wednesday, July 7, hit by a | truck in a freak accident in Ea- | sons’ parking lot. ! The driver, unfamiliar with @ | Freckles’ habit of walking slowly . around the parking lot, never ' thought to look for her before | backing up. | Monday morning the family | took time from unloading a freight | shipment and Michele's work in | the beauty salon next door to | reminisce about her. | “Freckles was my little sister | and best buddy growing up,” said ® Easons' daughter, Michele. “She | always slept on my bed.” Jim Eason remembered when | | the family first bought the hard- ware store and freckles was his only companion at work. “Usually she never barked,” he said. “But ifI had to go in back for something, all I had to do was tell her to watch the store. If a cus- tomer came in, she let me know.” Freckles had the run of the store as its good-will ambassa- dor, escorting customers in and out, lying across the front steps and sunning herself on the front sidewalk on her break. When freight came in, she helped Jim open the boxes. “The contractors who came in didn't make a big fuss over her, but they always gave her a friendlv pat on the head,” Carol Eason said. Carol, who operated the beauty salon before her daughter took it over, remembered Freckles’ rela- tionship with her customers. “Every week when 1did Florence West's hair, her husband would leave the car door open so that Freckles could hop in and visit with him,” she said. “One day Florence was finished early, but when she went to the car to go home, her husband told her to go back inside. He wasn't finished talking with Freckles.” Freckles developed a penchant for tennis balls after a tennis- playing customer brought her a few spent ones from his games. See FRECKLES, pg 8 FAITHFUL FRECKLES - Freckles, the beloved springer spaniel owned by Jim and Carol Eason and a well-known resident of their hardware store, died last week. She is shown in 1990, when her front paw was in a cast healing a broken bone. Wednesday, July 14, 1993 WELL, WELL - A sharp rise in the price of water has kept area well drillers busy. Above, a crew sinks a well at Harveys Lake. Parents ask for buses By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Parents of children living in Orchard View Terrace asked the Dallas school board to provide school busses for the students in grades 6-12 at the school board's regular meeting Monday, July 12. Ruth and Thomas Peters, read- ing aletter from several concerned parents, said that they are con- cerned that students who use a shortcut to school through the woods must cross power lines and face illegal drivers and occasion- ally people with knives and BB guns. Thomas Peters said that Dallas Township Police Chief Carl Miers has conducted a traffic study but is out of town and unable to share specific figures. Peters said that Miers had told him that traffic in Orchard View Terrace has increased. Because ‘the development has no sidewalks, the parents feel that the increased traffic is dangerous for the 26 middle school and nine high . school students who walk through the development to school, Peters See BUSES, pg 8 DUI arrest Kehler's second in 3 years By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff When Harveys Lake Borough councilman Thomas Kehler was arrested for driving under the influence two weeks ago, it was his second arrest on the charge in three years. Kehler was arrested Thursday, July 1, by Dallas Borough Patrol- mandJames Drury after Drury saw him driving erratically, weaving his Jeep pickup truck on the See DUI ARREST, pg 3 T FILE PHOTO MH Little League All- Stars play a classic. Page 9 HM Newberry tea set for July 21. Page 7. 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