See page 11 for details RALPH M SNYDER RD. 2 BOX 3040 MOUNT JOY, PA. 17552 SUSQUEHANNA 11MES SUSQUEHANNA TIMES & THE MOUNT JOY BULLETIN MARIETTA AND MOUNT JOY, PA FIFTEEN CENTS le n nt in Vol. 79, No. 4, January 29, 1979 Ricedorf sees some Mount Joy problems solvedin 1979 According to Charles W. Ricedorf, President of the Mount Joy Borough Coun- cil, the two outstanding tasks facing the Council now are : 1.) selecting a new borough manager to replace Joseph S. Bateman, who has resigned and 2.) finally solving the problem of the aging bridges over the railroad. Ammon L. Smith chairs the committee to select a new borough manager. As of last week from 12 to 15 candidates had applied for the vacant manager- ship. Ricedorf is hopeful that the perennial problem of Mount Joy's deteriorating street bridges over the railroad will finally be solved in 1979. The PUC has ruled that either PennDOT or Amtrak must repair the bridges. The state is responsible for those bridges which carry state highways: Marietta Avenue, New Haven St. and Florin bridges. Charles Ricedorf Amtrak 1s responsible for fixing the South Market and Jacob Street bridges. Two bridges have al- ready been closed: Comfort Alley and Lumber Street. The Comfort Alley Bridge will probably be taken down by July. The Lumber Alley bridge will probably be maintained as a pedestrian bridge, because it carries utility pipes for the Borough Authoirty. Ricedorf says the bo- rough is concerned about the South Barbara Street bridge, because it is essential as transportation route to Seiler School. A study of costs to repair the bridge must-be completed by April 1. Land Fire-fighting problems caused by the faulty bridges will be partially solved when Friendship Fire Comapny’s new fire- house is completed on New Haven Street on the south side of the railroad. In getting to some parts of town, three precious min- utes have sometimes been lost by the fire trucks having to take the out-of- the-way route over Florin bridge to fires south of the railroad. With a new borough manager appointed and the problem of the bridges at last solved, the Mount Joy Borough government will be over two big hurdles. Council President Kice- dorf is pleased with the financial management con- ducted by the borough council. He says, ‘‘The council could not get more than it does out of the tax money it spends.”’ Property taxes in Mount Joy have actually been reduced from 15 to 13 mills. Garbage collection costs each household $24 per year and is an excellent service carried out, Rice- dorf says, ‘‘like clock- work.” Ricedorf, office manager and recently promoted to the board of directors at The Sico Company (see page 10 of the Susquehan- na Times], approaches borough government as he would a business. ‘‘The borough is like any other business,”” he says. The borough of Mount Joy has an annual budget of almost half a million dollars. Ricedorf was first elected to council seven years ago. Along with neighbors he had become interested in community problems. As a member of the Mount Joy Lions Club he had headed a committee that was instrumental in founding the Norlanco Family Health Center. He had always had a ‘‘dream of getting involved in town govern- ment.”’ He wanted to apply business methods to the running of government: providing funds for the replacement of equipment, introducing business man- agement methods - and record keeping. Three years ago Ricedorf was elected president of the council, succeeding Warren H. (‘‘Pete’’) Foley, whose term had expired. [continued on page 8] Donegal School Board Girls’ Softball Team approved; field resodded The Donegal School Board approved a girls’ softball team, received new committee appointments, and decided to re-sod the football field at Donegal High School at their last meeting. Where the money for the new softball team will come from is up in the air right now. The re-sodding is expected to inconvenience some local community teams who have been using the field during the summers. Softball team The board spent several ‘minutes discussing this. Both money and practice space were at issue. The fact that there is no money budgeted for such a team made the board’s decision uncertain. Most members seemed to be undecided about it. Mrs. Eicherly spoke up in favor of the team. It was decided that the Athletic Committee will go ahead with plans for the team, even though the district might end up $2000 in the red, as Mr. Armold estimated. (On the other hand, the girls’s softball team might not cause a deficit—it all depends on expenses this year). The planned team will play non-league games until 1980, when they will join the league. Coaches, playing area, equipment, and probably uniforms will be needed. Soccer mixup It came out that, due to a mixup, Mr. Joseph King served as assistant junior high soccer coach without official approval. The board found itself unable to pay Mr. King. Mr. Bernie Thome, head soccer coach at Beahm, solved the problem with a very generous action—he paid Mr. King a full share of the coaching pay, $456, out of his own pocket. The school district made up $44.14 of taxes and fringe benefits. When this came out at the board meeting, presi- dent Dale Arnold said, I'm embarrassed. 1 wouldn’t like to see this happen again.” High School roof again The Donegal High School roof continues to leak. The gym roof was repaired for $14,000. In a related matter, the water-stained ceilings in the high school are still not fixed, and the district is still withholding $3000 from the the Heidler roofing company’s payment. The roofer’s insurance company still denies that the company was at fault, and has threatened to sue unless either payment, or a description of the damage and proof that it was Heidler’s fault are submit- ted. Football field The football field will be resodded and reseeded in June of this year. Regular summer users will be notified by letters. I.U. Authority The board has decided to join the new LU. 3 Joint Authority as a money saving move. However, they have rejected, for this year, the idea of joining the joint insurance program. Sani-Mist located Mr. Drenner found the fourth and last Sani-Mist machine that had been lost in the depths of Donegal High School for many years. Resignations The following retirement resignations were received: Mr. John D. Day, III, high school guidance counselor, retired after 33 years with the Donegal District. He will receive a $1000 bonus. Also, Mr. H. Martin Shank, high school social studies teacher, will retire after 23 years with the district. He will receive $500 in bonuses. Appointments : Mrs. Janice Rossi was hired as a junior high math teacher. She had been a full-time substitute before. Mrs. Robin Wenger of RD2 Manheim was hired as a full-time substitute in junior high math to replace Mr. Prowell. Mrs. Patricia Berg, a CETA tutor, was hired by the district after her CETA termination, at $2.83 an hour. Mrs. Barbara Portner was hired tc serve as an aide in tutoring Hiroshi Goromaru, a Japanese student at Riverview. Mrs. Jean Prescott, of Bainbridge, was hired as a homebound tutor for Kathy Bosley, a grade 4 River- view student who was injured on December 8th in an auto accident. [continued on page 8] Mount Joy sewer rates to double Mount Joy sewer rates will double on May 1st. For the average hookup, the cost will go up from $15 quarterly to $22.45. The minimum usage base will fall from 30,000 to 10,000 gallons; the remain- ing 20,000 gallons will be billed at $1.49 per 1000 gallons. Anything over that amount, up to 270,000 gallons, will cost $.94 per 1000 gallons. Those producing more than 300,000 gallons will be billed at $.72 per 1000 gallons over the 300,000 mark. The increase was decided at the last Mount Joy Authority meeting. The extra money will be used to help finance the $6.2 million Jacob Street sewage plant. Another rate hike is planned for 1981. This one will only raise rates 40%.
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