Deep freeze to affect county through weekend

CHAMBERSBURG - The cold is sticking around a bit longer in Franklin County. 

Starting with 1-2 inches of snow over the weekend, the cold snap will continue with high temperatures dipping into the 20s and teens throughout the week, and into the single digits overnight.

According to the National Weather Service, the high on Tuesday was about 22 degrees with temperatures expected to drop to about 7 overnight. The county could see slightly warmer temperatures on Wednesday - with a high of 27 degrees - but this increase won't last long with highs going back down into the low 20s and the teens through Saturday. Lows will range from three to six degrees. 

The colder weather comes at a time when one of Franklin County's homeless shelters announced it would temporarily close.  

The New Hope Shelter on South Potomac Street in Waynesboro posted on Facebook on Dec. 29 that it would be closed after a building-code inspection found "new structural damage."

"Yesterday after an inspection by building code inspector team from the Waynesboro City, they discovered that the facility had some new structural damage, and they determined that the facility was unsafe to occupy until repairs are made," the shelter said in the post. "Therefore unfortunately the shelter's doors are not currently 'open to those in need.'" 

Lynn Graham, president of the shelter's board, said the borough is claiming there is a new break in the structure, but the shelter believes it's actually an old break that the building sustained during a fire in 2008 that has since been fixed. New Hope closed after the incident, and then reopened in 2009 after repairs, according to Graham. 

Graham added the director of the shelter, Bill Butcher, met Tuesday with the same architect who did the repairs after the fire. The architect confirmed that the building is structurally sound. The shelter passed a yearly county inspection in October, Graham said. 

As of Dec. 28, the shelter had 22 residents - 10 of whomwere children from four families. Several were able to find temporary housing with staff members, and eight were sent to the Friendship Baptist Church in Waynesboro, which functioned as a cold weather shelter. 

Graham said he does not know how long the shelter will be closed, but the borough and New Hope's representatives have a meeting scheduled this Thursday to try and resolve the issues. He added that the shelter is hoping to open its doors to residents in the area soon.

New Hope will also start remediation of any minor code violations as soon as it is given permission by local authorities, according to Graham. 

The chilly temperatures are also affecting local schools. 

The Chambersburg Area School District, the Cumberland Valley Christian School and the Central Fulton School District all started Tuesday on a two-hour delay. The Greencastle-Antrim School District started on a two-hour delay, but Kendra Trail, the district's superintendent, said this was for professional development. The Waynesboro Area School District, the Shippensburg School District and the Tuscarora School District were still on winter break Tuesday. 

A spokesperson for Chambersburg, Tammy Stouffer, said the district has about 1,250 students who do not have bus transportation and either walk to school or may be driven by their parents. 

She added that, when it comes to delaying classes, the district tries to err on the side of caution, and considers the temperatures and the wind chill. 

As the temperatures drop, local residents are also rushing out to test and buy new car batteries. 

Dave Tester, general manager for Advance Auto Parts, said the Chambersburg store started seeing an increase in car battery sales last Friday. He added that on Tuesday alone, the store sold about 20 new batteries. 

Alicia Fink, parts manager for Auto Zone in Chambersburg, said she also saw an uptick in car battery sales starting in the middle of last week. The store is selling about 15 batteries a day, versus the five to six it normally sells. 

"Almost every customer that comes in has been (looking for)  a battery," she said. 

Both said the cold weather can cause the batteries to fail more quickly. 

"If they weren't doing too well before the cold hit, once the cold hits they're done," Fink said.

Both stores offer testing, and can replace most batteries. For more information, visit autozone.com and shop.advanceautoparts.com. 

Ashley Books, 717-262-4764