James Rada Jr.
News Correspondent

(7/2011) As motorcyclists by the hundreds roll into the area for the 10th Annual Bike Week, they will bypassing Gettysburg and heading to Granite Hill Campground near Fairfield.

"It seems like we’re as prepared as we can be," Police Chief Richard Hileman, III, told the Fairfield Borough Council on June 28.

Bike Week is July 7 to 10 and Hileman said that he and his officers feel so prepared that it makes him nervous. They’ve got plans for how to deal with the increased traffic from the motorcycles in town, any noise issues, any fights and little issues that might crop up.

"The biggest concern we have is going to be the traffic running through the town," Hileman said.

On the bright side, Hileman said that the local businesses will probably see an increase in business during Bike Week, particularly the restaurants. Besides, he feels that the all of the road construction, road closures and detours in Gettysburg will encourage the bikers to stay local. He said that there will more than enough people to fill area restaurants and bars to capacity.

So it is just a matter of waiting to see how things play out when Bike Week comes to Fairfield.

Fairfield School Board approves $15.5-million budget

The Fairfield Area School District will shrink next year, though the tax burden on district taxpayers will be increasing.

The 2011-2012 budget that the Board of Education approved in June was for $15.5 million by a 7-1 vote. This budget is "less than the budget we operated on last year," Superintendent William Chain told the Gettysburg Times. Board member John Tomko was the dissenting vote and board member Melissa Cavey was absent. Board members Robyn Koons, Kathleen Anderson, Michael McDonald, Marcy A. Van Metre, Amy Randt, David Potts and Board President Pamela Mikesell voted to approve the budget.

The approved budget cut $756,727 from Superintendent William Chain’s original request. A seventh-grade language arts teaching position was cut and the teacher reassigned to the library. A third-grade teaching position was also cut. A full-time reading teacher and a full-time environmental education teacher were reduced to part-time positions. The elementary summer school program and kindergarten Jump Start program were also dropped.

However, even with the budget cuts, the board members also approved the maximum allowable property tax increase from 0.3143 mils to 9.2953 mils. Board members repeatedly made sure to tell residents that the increase represents only a 12 cent per day increase for taxpayers.