CALL IN NEWS.....to
Hazel Baker [Marietta]
426-3643 :
Cherie Dillow [Mount Joy]
653-1609 ;
The Susquehanna Times
426-2212 or 653-8383
SUS
Merry Christmas
Vol. 79, No. 50, December 19, 1979
'
QUEHANNA
Susquehanna Times & The Mount Joy Bulletin
MARIETTA & MOUNT JOY, PA.
E. Donegal Twp. budget is lower
East Donegal’s 1980
budget will be lower than
1979's. A budget of $267,
243 was adopted for 1980 at
last Thursday's meeting of
the Township Supervisors.
This is down from
$344,997 in 1979. The
reason for the drop is that
the new municipal building
debt has been paid off.
Taxes will not change.
The property tax still stands
at 7 mills. The per capita tax
is $5, the occupational tax
remains $10, and earned
income tax is still one half of
one per cent.
An ordinance was
adopted, as requested by
Donegal School District, to
require owners of apartment
complexes to report lists of
their tenants four times per
year.
A revised ordinance for
the flood plain was adopted,
allowing property owners to
secure flood insurance.
A refund of $682 was
realized from workman’s
compensation because of
fewer accidents in the
township last year.
than last year; taxes remain same
A total of $1000 was
granted to the fire company
to reduce the debt on the
tank truck.
Two new air packs will be
purchased for fire company
use. The two now in use will
be repaired. One will be
available for local residents,
if needed, to be adminis-
tered by a trained volunteer.
Twenty calls were re-
ported by ambulance per-
sonnel for November. Fire
calls amounted to seven
emergency calls, with no
property damage.
Marietta boro council fails to meet
because only 4 members show up
Last week only three
of the seven members of the
Marietta Borough Council
were on hand for their
regular monthly meeting,
which had to be postponed
for lack of a quorum.
Councilman Roberts, who
was present wrote the
following letter to the editor
of the Lancaster Intelligenc-
er Journal:
To the Editor:
This letter is to express
my personal feelings about a
very sad situation that
presently exists in Marietta.
For two years | have been
member of borough
+ouncil. My reason for
seeking election to couneil
was dissatisfaction with the
way things were being
nandled. In my two years of
scrvice | have seen a split in
council on major issues
which directly affect the
borough. Most of these
issues were resolved in the
vest interests of the borough
su 1 felt no reason to voice
my opinions publicly. But
what happened Dec. 11,
1979 has given me reason to
speak out.
On Dec. 11, 1979, a
regularly scheduled council
meeting night, the borough
failed to have a quorum to
conduct this meeting. (This
problem has existed at
committee meetings but this
is the first time it has
happened at a public
meeting). At this meeting
very important issues were
scheduled for action; adop-
tion of the borough budget
for 1980, action on demo-
lition bids for condemned
property, action on a new
~ trash collection contract and
action on a request for a
change in zoning of
industrial land (which is
very limited in the borough)
to residential. These issues
all directly affect the future
of the borough.
I felt very sad and
disappointed when 1 left the
council chambers. To those
in attendance at the meeting
I apologize. If this type of
action by elected officials is
accepted without action by
the residents of the borough
then the future is quite
bleak.
Postponed meeting this
The Marietta Council was
to meet this Tuesday,
December 18.
Some readers of the
Susquehanna Times have
suggested the newspaper
publish dates of important
meetings each week, for the
information of the general
public, and for the informat-
ion of participating officials.
Besides the re-scheduled
meeting of the Mareitta
Council this Tuesday, the
In the past, absenteeism
at meetings caused un-
necessary delay in resolving
important issues. This has
cost‘ the taxpayers money
because we must pay for the
scrvices of the professional
people involved at
meetings. This type of
absenteeism has placed a
negative effect on the
efficiency of our government
at all levels.
In closing, I would like to
say that as part of my job as
a councilman I listened to
the feelings and complaints
of the residents and after
investigating those com-
plaints 1 tried to take
appropriate action.
Thank you for listening to
my feelings and complaints
and 1 feel certain that they
will not go unheard. 1 ask
that all of you who care to
become active in your local
government. If Marietta, or
any other community is to
prosper and grow, we need
involvement by those who
do care.
Jay R. Roberts
Councilman
Tuesday
only major governmental
meeting in December will be
the meeting of the Mount
Joy Borough Planning Com-
mission on Thursday, De-
cember 27 at 7:30 p.m. in
the Mount Joy Borough
Office Building.
Met Ed chief Robert Arnold
FIFTEEN CENTS
I
-Met Ed officials meet with people;
discuss T-M ‘1 radioactive releases
A meeting between local
people and top Met Ed
officials, arranged by local
State Representative Ken
Brandt, was held last week
at the East Donegal
Municipal Building in May-
town. The meeting pro-
duced both good news and
bad news.
The good news includes
new calculations showing
that the area served by the
Susquehanna Times re-
ceived almost none of the
radiation that escaped from
TMI during the reactor
accident last March. The
bad news includes the
possibility that several, as
yet unannounced, releases
of radiation into the
environment may happen in
the course of the clean-up
operation.
WHERE THE RADIATION
WENT
Maytown, Marietta and
Mount Joy were almost
untouched by the radio-
active gasses that escaped
from TMI Unit II last March.
A study by a consulting firm
(hired by Met Ed) indicates
that radiation totaled less
than half a millirem above
normal background in May-
town, because the wind was
blowing away from this area
at the time of the accident.
North of the plant site, the
total dose of radiation was
generally less than 100
millirems. Total natural
annual radiation for this
area is 116 millirems per
years. So, health physics
expert Keith Woodard told
the crowd, ‘‘The radiologic-
al consequences of the
accident were negligible.’
THE KRYPTON GAS
The krypton gas now
floating inside the TMI II
containment building can be
released, according to Met
Ed calculations, without
adding more than .1
millirem to the annual
background radiation level
here.
Krypton gas, it was
pointed out, is less
dangerous than most radio-
active substances, because
it is not absorbed by human
beings, and tends to diffuse
in the air, rather than
settling on objects.
Krypton gas is, however,
more than twice as heavy as
air, and some anti-nuclear
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