By: GARY P. KLINGER Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

Not since 1990 have residents of Warwick Township seen their taxes increase. And they won’t see them go up in 2013 either.

That was the word from Warwick Township Manager Dan Zimmerman last week.

With the township’s current millage rate set at .0274, that means the average home assessed at $200,000 will pay $54 in taxes.

Township supervisors approved a draft of next year’s budget and have made it available for public review prior to a final vote at its Dec. 19 evening meeting. The new budget takes effect Jan. 1.

Included is the completion of the 2017 Impact Study and the hiring of a full-time coordinator for Warwick Emergency Services Alliance (or WESA).

The new WESA coordinator will be a joint effort between Warwick Township, Lititz Borough and Elizabeth Township. According to Zimmerman, the three municipalities are yet working through the details of the new position, including budget and job description.

"All three municipalities are supporting the position," he added. "We are going back to DCED (PA Department of Community and Economic Development) to work out a revised amendment to the charter for WESA. The goal is to have the position filled by late spring of 2013."

The cascading water and beautiful scenery is an autumn treat!

Mike Shull is the winner of this month’s It’s All About You photo contest. His fall photo of the Shawnee Waterfall at Ricketts Glen State Park caught the collective eye of the Record Express judges. Congratulations, Mike!

Check out all the fall tradition photos submitted by readers, on pages B6 and B7 in this week’s Record Express.

In the meantime, we are now collecting photos for our December pages. The theme is Holiday Traditions.

Send your high-resolution jpegs to Stephen Seeber at sseeber.eph@LNPnews.com. Photos can also be dropped off at our Ephrata office or mailed to P.O. Box 527, Ephrata, PA 17522.

When submitting photos, please include all necessary identifications and your contact information (in case we have any questions). Submitted information should include names of those in the photos, your local connection, where and when the photos were taken, and identity of the photographer.

Please limit the number of submitted photos to three.

After serving as a Pennsylvania state representative for the past six years, Rep. John Bear (R-Lancaster) will no longer represent the residents of the 97th Legislative District come Dec. 1, as he will start his role as managing director of Stevens & Lee’s state and local government consulting practice.

"I want to thank my constituents for giving me the opportunity to serve and for putting their faith in me almost seven years ago," said Bear. "But most importantly, I thank them for giving me a chance to be their representative, because it has been a distinct honor and a privilege to represent them in Harrisburg. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and an experience I will never forget and one I will always look back upon with great fondness."

Stevens & Lee is a Mid-Atlantic professional services firm comprised of lawyers and consultants that partner with public and private companies and state and local governments to provide a full range of legal and consulting services and is among the 200 largest law firms in the nation.

By: MICHAEL C. UPTON Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

A summer soccer tournament that attracted thousands of visitors to the community is benefiting the school district as it continues to grow.

Bob Kelly, president of the Lititz Youth Soccer Club, presented a $5,000 check to the Warwick School District during last week’s school board meeting. He thanked the board for its continued support of the Lititz Summer Showcase and presented some facts about the event.

According to Kelly, the tournament consisted of 311 matches with teams or players from eight states. More than 6,000 participants and observers attended the event, and 100 college coaches appeared in order to assess high school talent.

"We would like to thank the Warwick School District for its continued collaboration and support," said Kelly. "Our collective effort not only brought people to the showcase, but to area restaurants, shops (and) hotels."

In what was otherwise a light agenda during the Nov. 20 meeting, a cyber school student and his family did address the board about participation in public school activities. While the board listened to testimony from the family, there was little they could do, as they are bound by state law and district policy.

By: MELISSA HUNNEFIELD Record Express Staff, Staff Writer

Photo by Preston WhitcraftThe first snowfall of the season on Tuesday was an indicator that Christmas is near. Seasonal events are planned for downtown Lititz this Friday and Saturday.

The lamp post stars are hung and twinkling. We’ve had our fill of turkey and Black Friday shopping. We’ve even had the first snowfall of the season. Lititz is officially ready for Christmas.

The downtown retailers have gone all-out this year for the Retailers’ Decorating Contest. Window displays will be judged by a cadre of residents from United Zion Retirement Community sometime this week. Recognition certificates will be awarded in the categories of: Best Use of Product, Most Traditional, Most Original and Best Use of Space. The coveted gold cup goes to the Best in Show winner.

Candy*ology’s fanciful display from last year will be tough to beat. Look for a list of winners and photos in an upcoming edition of the Record Express.

Christmas in the Park

Lititz holds its annual Christmas in the Park on Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m. The Moravian Trombone Choir and Warwick High School Show Choir will help with a community carol sing and the official tree and park lighting for the Christmas season.

By: GARY P. KLINGER Record Express Correspondent, Staff Writer

While things remain uncertain with the U.S. economy, one thing remains certainly clear — tax rates for Lititz residents.

The good news was announced at Tuesday evening’s meeting of Lititz Borough Council as it voted to set the 2013 real estate tax millage rate at 2.1 mills, unchanged from the 2012 budget. This would equate to $210 per $100,000 of assessed real estate value.

The move was made in concert with a resolution to advertise the 2013 municipal budget. With that motion approved, the budget will now be available for the public to review in advance of the December council meeting, when the final budget will be approved.

Council also adopted four other resolutions setting other tax rates for the community.

The Earned Income Tax rate is set at half of a percent. The Per Capita Tax for all residents 18 and older is set at $10, while the Occupation Tax will be $10. The realty transfer tax has been set at half of one percent.

According to chairman of the subcommittee on finances, Kevin Zartman, each of the rates adopted were exactly the same rates for fiscal year 2012.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Messiah College AthleticsWarwick grad Jessica Geib (2), shown here setting a teammate in Messiah College's win over Goucher, recently became just the third player in Lady Falcons' history to record 1,000 assists in a single season.

Each year that Jess Geib has been at Messiah College, her stats have steadily improved for the Lady Falcons’ volleyball team.

That certainly was no different this past fall.

In fact, the 2010 Warwick High School grad became just the third player ever at Messiah to record at least 1,000 assists in a single season. When all was said and done, the junior setter finished with 1,096 assists while helping to lead the Messiah women to the MAC Commonwealth Conference championship game for the second year in a row.

Geib also registered 115 kills, 319 digs and 51 aces on her to receiving First-Team All-Commonwealth accolades. She was one of three Messiah players to earn First-Team honors, joining seniors Lindsay King (Lancaster Mennonite grad) and Lauren Rees on the squad. Plus, head coach Judi Tobias received conference Coach of the Year honors for the second year in a row.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

If the Warwick boys basketball team proved anything last winter, it was that they had a knack for pulling out some thrilling finishes.

Take, for example, the Warriors’ 44-41 win over Solanco when K’shawn Mickens hit a half-court 3-pointer at the horn.

They also earned a last-second triple OT win over Cedar Crest, and buzzer-beating victories against rivals Hempfield and Manheim Twp.

"There’s a lot of confidence because we won a lot of close games last year," said Warriors’ sixth-year boss Jeff Landis (54-65 overall).

By the same token, the 2012-13 Warwick boys’ squad should be well aware that they can take nothing for granted as they prepare for a new season. With seven seniors on the roster who have been battle-tested in Section One dogfights, they have a wealth of experience.

It is Landis’ job to figure out how the pieces will fit together.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

Warwick seventh-grader Peyton Zimmerman guides his ATV over a jump while competing on the National level this year. He won the title in the 90 Automatic Jr. class (8-11).

Peyton Zimmerman is a quick learner.

With only one full year of ATV racing under his belt on the local level, the Warwick Middle School seventh-grader decided to take a shot at Nationals in 2012.

The results were phenomenal.

All Zimmerman did was capture a national crown in the 90 Automatic Jr. class (8-11), while placing second and third, respectively, in the 90 CVT (8-15) and 70 CVT (6-11) classes while competing during a season which ran from March to August. The classes are broken up by engine size and age group.

In 10 races in the 90 Automatic Jr. class, the 12-year-old Zimmerman notched five wins and seven total appearances on the podium.

He nearly took home a second national title, placing second by the slimmest of margins to Trevor Thatcher, of Swanton, Ohio, in the 70 CVT class with three wins and six podiums. Although Zimmerman actually had one more win than Thatcher, he was barely edged out.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor, Staff Writer

Lititz Record file photoManheim Central senior Evan Stauffer (11) is the Barons' leading returning scorer, having averaged 11.1 ppg in the 2011-12 season.

A year ago, the Manheim Central boys basketball team was learning on the job.

This winter, the Barons are hoping to take advantage of that experience.

Having graduated only three seniors from the team that finished 10-12 in the 2011-12 season, Central is looking to make a return to the post-season this coming February. Four starters — seniors Colby Gatchell, Zach Schnitzler and Evan Stauffer and sophomore Matt Walsh (6-foot-4) — and sixth man, senior Jacoby Brumbach, are returning to the floor to help them toward that goal.

"I like (this team) a lot," Barons’ fifth-year boss Chris Sherwood said. "We get hard-working kids at Manheim Central. Everybody’s back and our practices are really, really competitive and we’ve missed that for a long time … Last year, we were young and close games got away from us. And our job this year is to make sure those close games don’t get away from us. Our goals remain the same. Our goals remain to be competitive in every single game. Our Section (Three) is loaded. Donegal can have District champion aspirations. L-S is still very good. Northern Lebanon and Garden Spot are very good opponents. I mean, I think we have as good of a top to bottom as you can ask for in the L-L League."