August 30, 1978
This photo, taken by Oliver Mateer, shows the back yard of his neighbor, Jeff
Brown, during the rain of Friday, August 11th. Water covers all.
...Birchland Avenue’s water (cont.)
[continued from front page]
““That’s nothing,”” Mr.
Brown said. ‘‘Things were
really bad in the spring.
The basements of some
houses were ankle-deep.”’
John Alcorn, of 305
Birchland, is one resident
who has had serious
flooding problems. He
showed our reporter the
warped floorboards in his
bedroom, and the crack in
his basement wall, both of
which, he said, were
caused by dirty water
pouring into his basement.
A broad stain, apparently
caused by a minor ava-
lanche of mud, flowed from
Mr. Alcorn’s basement
window to the floor. Both
the stain and the wall
around it had obviously
been energetically scrub-
bed. ‘‘The stain just
wouldn’t come out,” Mrs.
Alcorn said, grimly.
Most of the houses on
one side of Birchland
Avenue have been affected
by the flooding. The houses
are all worth at least 40
thousand dollars, and the
possibility of extensive
damage keeps homeowners
awake on rainy nights.
“l used to enjoy the
sound of the rain,”” Mrs.
Mateer said, ‘‘Now, it
frightens me.”
The muddy run-off
comes from a field in
Mount Joy Township, but
Birchland Avenue is
located in Mount Joy
Borough. Neither govern-
ment will take complete
responsibility for the situa-
tion. The field which
causes the problem is
owned by a woman who
rents it to a farmer, which
dilutes responsibility even
further.
The problem began two
years ago, after a fence
row was ripped out, and
the field, which had been
used to grow alfalfa, was
planted in soybeans.
‘Before that,’’ says Mr.
Mateer, ‘‘we used to get
some water, but it was
clear.” After the field was
plowed for beans, both the
quantity of water and the
amount of lost topsoil
which ended up on Birch-
land Avenue increased
tremendously.
Residents would like to
see a storm sewer installed
on their street, but no
funds have been appro-
priated for that expensive
project. They would also
like to see extensive con-
servation measures adopted
by the owner of the field,
but once again, the price
of doing the work is an
obstacle.
A ten-foot swathe of
grass, which was sown this
year between the beans
and the small backyards of
residents, did not seem to
do much good. ‘‘We hear.”
said Mr. Mateer, ‘‘that the
field will be planted back to
alfalfa next year. I hope
that makes a difference,
because it doesn’t look as if
Council is going to do
anything to help us.”
Angry Birchland Avenue
residents attended the last
Borough Council meeting
in force. They have also
approached the state De-
partment of Environmental
Resources, in an attempt to
force soil-conservation
measures on the owner of
the field.
“You know what they
told us at the DER?"’ Mr.
Mateer says. ‘‘They told us
they couldn’t do anything,
until a house was destroyed
or a serious disease broke
out.
“You can write that it
doesn’t look as if anybody
is going to do anything
about the situation.”’
Bob Flanagan is pleased to announce that
Jeff Dolan _
of Mount Joy has joined him and
will be cutting men’s and women’s hair at
Bob Flanagan’s
Barber Shop
347 E. Market St., Marietta
Jeff gives regular haircuts & specializes in
feathering
shags
wedges
bi-levels
layer cuts
one length angle
and any high fashion cut
Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tues. thru Fri.;
12 to 5 Saturday. Closed Sunday & Monday
PHONE 426-1859
STATE
THEATRE
downtown Columbia
684-2273
Starts Wed.
STAR
WARS
Nitely 7PM - 9PM
Sat. & Sun. Matinee -
1:30
ALL SEATS $1.50
AAG MO
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