After 50 years, the fire hydrant situated on the curb outside the Jim Thorpe home of Frank Hunadi has been removed. And while the borough deemed the alteration necessary, the longtime resident is less than happy with the decision.

"That fire plug has been here for as long as I've been living in this house, and it should still be here," Hunadi, who lives on the 1300 block of Orchard Lane, said. "(Borough Council members) should have some consideration for the people living on this street. It's terrible how they're treating me and my neighbors."Installed in the early 1960s, the fire hydrant in question first came to the borough's attention last winter during a routine water main flushing. Water department workers discovered that the aging apparatus was leaking, but were ultimately unable to repair it at that time. They were resigned to wait until spring, and the warmer weather the season brought with it, to perform a more meticulously evaluation of the hydrant's below-ground conditions.In late March, the workers, led by water department supervisor Vince Yaich, investigated the area further. The crew determined that, since repair parts were unavailable, the hydrant needed to be replaced, and removed it on April 7. Further progress was impeded, however, by the stretch of water main servicing the location."The main line running up to the hydrant is made of cement and is outdated," Justin Yaich, the borough president at the time of the removal, said. "It was too large to accommodate a modern fire hydrant."Installing a new hydrant would first require a major alteration to the standing water main, a service that the borough estimated costing between $3,000 and $4,000. Not wanting to strain Jim Thorpe's budget, borough officials decided to pursue alternate solutions."My main concern was the safety of the people living in the area," Yaich said. "Since there are other working hydrants nearby, no one's home is in jeopardy."The exposed main was capped and a flush valve installed. Because Hunadi lives at the end of the street (and, subsequently, the water main), dirt and other residue from the subterranean pipes often sully his water. This newly-installed valve allows the water department to clean out the street's water system, thereby purifying Hunadi's personal water supply.In theory at least.Hunadi claims that his water has been consistently dirty for years, and that the hydrant's removal has made things worse. He stopped drinking his home's tap water two years ago after he contracted giardiasis, a gastronomical condition spread by water-borne parasites."I pay my bills every month, and I still have to deal with this garbage," Hunadi said. "It's just not right."The elderly resident, who is a wounded veteran of the Korean War, was also greatly inconvenienced by the hydrant's removal. According to Hunadi, the borough's workers cracked a 10 foot-long portion of his curb and dumped a considerable amount of mud onto his property."They left this mess on the street for three days," Hunadi said. "The guys working on it just disappeared, they didn't tell me nothing."He claims that he was responsible for cleaning up the mess himself, after workers declined, saying that the "rain will wash (the mud) away." Among the costs incurred in the clean up was a power washer, which Hunadi purchased for $200."I'm a wounded veteran living on a fixed income," he said. "I can't afford to be spending this kind of money, cleaning up the borough's street for them."When Justin Yaich's explanation for the hydrant's removal was relayed to him, Hunadi became visibly angered."This is just a patch job, and a garbage one at that," he said. "If the pipe is so old, it's bound to start leaking itself. The borough should replace that too."Hunadi also expressed concern over an increase in his insurance payments due to his home's increased distance from a hydrant. However, representatives from Koomar Agency, Inc., Hunadi's insurance agency, claim that his rates will increase only if his home is more than 1,000 feet from a working fire hydrant.According to Greg Strubinger, the chair of the borough council's water committee, there are three fire hydrants located within a 800-foot radius of Hunadi's residence: a 1998 unit 760 feet away, another 1998 unit located at the Jim Thorpe Area High School parking lot on 13th Street (630 feet away), and a 1995 unit located at the intersection of 13th and Center Streets, the closest to Hunadi at 620 feet.Strubinger claims that all of the aforementioned hydrants are vastly superior to the one removed, and that, in the case of a fire at Hunadi's home, would better serve the area."The ladders need to be very close to the home when fighting a fire," he said. "Because of this, we'd have to run the hose from a hydrant that's further away. We couldn't justify spending money to fix a hydrant we wouldn't ever use."Despite Hunadi's claim that he repeatedly contacted members of borough council in complaint about the hydrant's removal, none of its members appeared to be intimately familiar with the situation."I've heard nothing about it, though it certainly is a security issue, especially during the recent drought conditions" Jim Thorpe Borough President John McGuire said. "We had a council meeting last Thursday and Mr. Hunadi was not there to bring the issue up with us."Strubinger echoes McGuire's sentiments, and claims that the water department is willing to assist Hunadi in any capacity."As elected officials, we're willing to help the people in this community, but we need to know what's going on first," Strubinger said. "If Mr. Hunadi has a water problem, he needs to call the borough office. We can't investigate something we haven't heard about."Nevertheless, Hunadi is frustrated over the lack of communication, and has hired a local lawyer to analyze the nuances of this potential case."Politicians all know you when they want you to vote," he said, "but they want nothing to do with you when you ask them for help."