Page 2—SUSQUEHAN: A TIMES Seomhama Tos Susquehanna Times & The Mount Joy Bulletin Box 75-A, R.D.#1, Marietta, PA 17547 ~ Published weekly on Wednesday [52 issues per year] Telephone: [717] 426-2212 or 653-8383 Publisher—Nancy H. Bromer Editor—Nicholas S. Bromer Advertising Manager— Diane Krantz Society Editor—Hazel Baker Vol. 78 No. 52, December 27, 1978 Advertising Rates Upon Reques: Entered at the Post Office in Marietta, , 1, as second class mail under the Act of March ;, 1879 Subscription Rate—$6.00/year [Outside Lancaster County, $6.50/year] EMERGENCY EMERGENCY MEDICAL CALLS MEDICAL SERVICES Saturday Afternoon Available Day & Night Sunday and Monday COLUMBIA HOSPITAL Norlanco Health Center (Mount Joy Area Only) 7th & Poplar (Emergency Entrance) OPPOSITE ERS'S MARKET 569-5353 Where Our Cuslomers Send Their Friends AUCTIONS eens marketing livestock! NEW HOLLAND makes the difference in auctions! MONDAY —8 a.m.—-Fat Hogs : 10 a.m.—~Horss Sale 11a.m.—-Hay & Straw 1:30 p.m .~Fat Steers, Bulls, Cow & Veal WEDNESDAY —12 Noon—-Hay & Straw 12:30 p.m. .--D airy Sale 1:00 p.m.—-Feeder Pigs THURSDAY —11 a.m.—-Fat Steers, Bulls & Cow 4:30 p.m.—-Sheep & Veal New Holland Sales Stables, Inc.§ New: Holland, Penna. Abram W. Diffenbach, Manager Phone [717] 354-4341 Tew flood law [continued from front page] cil, scheduled for Jan. 9. He will make recommenda- tions at that time, and council will have to decide what strategy to follow to counter the potentially destructive effects of the new rules. The complexity of the federal guidelines will not make council's job any easier. This newspaper has obtained about 100 pages of mimeographed informa- tion from the federal flood insurance administration, but this mass of paper represents only a fraction of the information which will have to be taken into consideration. MANY QUESTIONS UNANSWERED Some important ques- tions which remain unan- swered at this point in- clude; 102 N. Market St., Mount Joy, PA Cala New Year’s Eve Party DINNER SERVED - 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. PARTY - second floor Cocktail Lounge LIVE MUSIC - Dance to your favorite songs No cover charge $15.00 per person minimum Champagne, sparkling burgundy, setups, noise makers, hats and favors supplied at party as part of minimum. Reservations for Dinner and Party required 653-2056 or 367-1370 Free Coffee Breakfast served at 2:00 a.m. (included as part of minimum ) iy 3 Savings from Nationwide Your home { may qualify for important insurance discounts. ® |f your home was built in the last seven years, Nationwide has good news for you. We now have discounts of 2% to 14% on homeowners insur- ance premiums. ® Current policyholders who qualify will automatically get the same discounts at re- newal time. ® And whether your home is new or old, we have a dis- count for you if you have an approved smoke detector or burglar alarm system. e Call your Nationwide agent for details today. ® Discounts available in most states. JACK TYNDALL 806 Church Street Mount Joy, Pa. PHONE 653-5970 NATIONWIDE 8 INSURANCE e Nationwide is on your side Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company Home office: Columbus, Ohio What constitutes ‘‘flood- proofing”’? The federal insurance administration wants all new construction or repairs to be made only on houses which are ‘‘substantially impenetrable to water.’”’ Would waterproofing foundations, plus installing valves on basement drains, satisfy this requirement, or must houses be elevated on stilts to qualify? The government engineers re- portedly estimated that flood waters could race through Marietta at fifteen feet per second, which seems to indicate that nothing short of a fortress could withstand such a flood. The borough may challenge this part of the report, since there has never been a moving-water flood in Marietta. However, it could cost a small fortune to challenge the federal claim. Are there ‘‘loopholes’’ in the law which will allow the restoration of old buildings to proceed? This question is ex- tremely important because of the new regulation’s “fifty per cent’ clause. In the event of another Agnes-type flood, all buildings which cannot be repaired for less than S50 - per cent of their original + market value will be ripped ; down. If, for example, a ¢ $20,000 house has cracked ~ walls, requiring $10,000 \ worth of repairs, it will be bulldozed. If, on the other hand, a $50,000 house has suffered the same $10,000 worth of damage, it will be spared. Borough solicitor Richard Umbenhauer says that, if the new regulations had been in effect in 1972, most of Front Street’s most valuable and historic man- sions would have been demolished. Today, thanks to the restoration move- ment which raised property values, those same man- sions might be repaired with federal flood insurance dollars, unless the damage were much worse. Juexpensive houses and run-down houses are the ones most likely to be torn down after any future flood. If the restoration move- ment is allowed to proceed, property values will rise and the community will become relatively safe from federal demolistion; but the new rules clearly intend to discourage restoration, or even repair. If the rules can be circumvented enough to allow restoration to proceed, the town’s chances of survival may be bright. If the rules make it impossible to upgrade houses, the town may decay, East Front Street may become a slum, and a future flood, when it comes, will destroy every- thing. December 27, 1978 The federal insurance administration does not enforce its edicts directly. Its only power over local communities grows from its ability to cut off their flood insurance. ‘Enforcement of the rules,”’ said an official of the federal agency, “is a community’s responsibil- ity.”” The official indicated that the agency is under- staffed, and that field inspectors have been un- able to visit every flood or mudslide-prone area in the United States. Asked whether a town which failed to enforce its anti-construction ordinance would lose its flood insur- ance, the official answered indirectly; ‘‘Well, if a community repealed its ordinance, then we would be forced to consider denying flood insurance to that area.” Marietta Council is free to name any agency or official to enforce the new rules. For example, the zoning hearing commission could get the job. Whoever enforces the new rules will have to follow federal definitions which will be built into the ordinance. The details of those definitions could make a big difference to homeowners who want to repair or upgrade their properties. We will print more information as it becomes available. How bad is it? Lack of detailed information makes it hard to say. The long-term effects of the flood insurance law could be very bad—Iocal people in the know are very upset. However, the amount of . information available right now is small. A number of , factors, such as just how : ‘‘floodproofing’’ is defined } in practice, could flirn the ' situation from bad to worse, or bad to better. (In ‘ the regulations we have obtained, floodproofing is defined as ‘‘any combina- tion of structural and non- structural additions, changes, or adjustments to properties and structures which reduce or eliminate damage...”” This isn’t too clear.) The law allows rebuild- ing and new construction if floodproofing is done. In talks with officials, this paper has heard talk of waterproof walls, backup prevention valves in drain pipes, and watertight base- ment windows. At at recent meeting of the Marietta Restorationists, president Ken Ross spoke of another town in Pennsylvania he had visited in which many houses were built on stilts as a result of the Flood Insurance Act. A sample copy of a building permit ordinance that HUD suggests to local municipalities as a model states that the local govern- ment must not give out a building permit for any structure in the floodplain (outside the 100 year flood line) unless the structure is ‘‘designed (or modified) and anchored to prevent flotation... use(s) construc- tion materials and utility equipment that are resist- ant to flood damage, and use(s) construction methods and practices that will minimize flood damage...” This seems to imply that using certain materials that won't rot away in a flood might do the trick, and that perhaps actual -watertight- ness won’t be required. If the regulations are liberal when brought down to a practical level, the next flood might only lead to the razing of less expensive and less sturdy houses along Front Street. Thus, in the long run, the new law might even turn out to have some benefit. Even if things turn out this way, however, it could still be bad news for the restoration movement in Marietta. People could get scared off and stop fixing up the old mansions on Front Street, which would lead to a downturn in all property values, which in turn would discourage res- toration: the 50% rule would make fixing up an old house too dangerous. As of now, no one whom this newspaper talked with has any hard answers. It could be a tempest in a teapot, or it could be the end of Marietta as we know it.
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