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Myerstown Borough Council warned Roy Herr, who oversees a short-term rental property at 11 N. College St., to better address neighbor concerns at a council meeting Tuesday.
Neighbors of the property have complained to council about excessive sound and even safety concerns when police were called to the site. Neighbors have alleged that Herr does not quickly resolve problems when contacted.
Read More: Myerstown council hears rental concerns, advances plans for 2025 carnival
Ordinance #872, which sets rules for short-term rentals in Myerstown, requires that a rental provide a 24-hour contact who lives within 15 miles for neighbors in the event of issues. The property is overseen by a management company based in North Carolina, Herr explained Tuesday, so he is listed as the contact.
He said that when he receives a complaint, he contacts his management agency, which then contacts renters. When asked by council president Park Haverstick II whether the management agency is staffed 24-7, Herr said that it is and he usually can get in contact with them within 20 minutes of receiving a complaint.
Herr said he had believed the problems cited by neighbors were adequately addressed by the management agency, adding that due to AirBNB policies he does not receive contact information for renters.
Haverstick warned Herr that continued complaints could lead to the location’s short-term rental license being revoked.
“I’ll be completely frank; I don’t care if your AirBnb fails or if it doesn’t,” said Haverstick. “I need my citizens to be happy — they’re going to be on the ball here and they’re going to be keeping record of every violation, and they’ll be giving those records to us.
“As the ordinance states, if you get so many violations, you lose your license here.”
Herr said that in addition to working with the agency to better communicate a noise policy to guests (including no outdoor noise at night) and tightening screening policies, he has installed a sound-monitoring device outside. He said it will be programmed to alert Herr and his agency when there is excessive sound so they can deal with it before neighbors are disrupted.
Solicitor Amy Leonard emphasized that since Herr is the contact, he is responsible for coming to the property in-person if his management company’s attempts to stop noise fail. She said that is the reason the ordinance requires a nearby contact.
Leonard also advised Herr to follow through on communications with residents, with Haverstick noting that from what he saw of text messages with a neighbor, Herr’s responses were inadequate.
Before leaving the meeting, Herr apologized to council for the issues reaching them.
“I want to apologize for you needing to put up with that, and if I have my way it won’t happen again,” he said.
Council also discussed the recreation board.
The borough manager provided the board with a memo explaining the procedure for the recreation board’s planning of events.
Things got heated as councilwoman and recreation board member Kathy Yang said she felt she was being punished for how she ran the rec board, in particular objecting to a requirement that the board receive council’s approval to ask specific businesses for donations.
Haverstick said he appreciated Yang’s efforts, noting that she was doing more with the recreation board than had ever been done before, but said he wanted it to be more organized, particularly with events planned earlier and with the knowledge of council.
He said Yang could provide a generic list of all businesses in the borough each time. However, he noted that the recreation board is an advisory committee and should not be soliciting funds without consulting the governing body first.
Yang asked why she was not provided this memo sooner, noting that she’d previously requested more information on procedures, but Haverstick said they were getting it to her now, with borough manager Michael McKenna stating that the memo took him four hours of information-gathering.
Council unanimously agreed to two recreation board requests, including to host activities including hayrides at the Isaac Meier Homestead’s Haunted Walk. Yang presented the following events the board has planned for the rest of the year:
- Isaac Meier Country Faire, Oct. 5, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Isaac Meier Haunted Walking Tour, 6 p.m. to finish
- Cornhole Tournament, 12 p.m. to finish
- Myerstown Parade, Nov. 30
- Holiday Home Decorating Contest, Dec. 1-16
- Isaac Meier Historic Lantern Walk, 6 p.m. to finish
In other news, council unanimously:
- Authorized the township manager to advertise bid specifications for the 2025 project resurfacing alleyways, which will use ARPA funds.
- Agreed to enter a lease agreement with the Lebanon County Area Agency on Aging for the use of several rooms in the community center.
- Approved a resolution allowing the recreation board chair to make small purchases for budgeted items without requiring approval from council.
- Approved a resolution allowing the borough manager to approve minor modifications to approved facility use requests.
- Approved Ordinance #879, which repealed and replaced the sidewalk and street ordinance with significant changes including new specifications and listed maintenance responsibilities.
- Approved Oct. 31 as trick-or-treat night.
- Agreed to allow Mission Church to use the borough’s parking lot and facility for the 2025 food pantry, each Saturday from 6 to 10 a.m.
Myerstown Borough Council meets the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. These meetings are open to the public and do not require prior registration.
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