Elected officials, municipal managers, and other government employees walked away from Thursday’s 109th convention of the Lebanon County Association of Municipal Officials with fresh ideas to bring into their work.
Read More: Municipal officials across Lebanon County hold 109th annual convention
Outgoing association president Mike Wahmann, who passed the title onto South Lebanon supervisor Steve Krause Thursday, said the event went “excellently.” He described it as a great opportunity for officials to receive education on common issues for municipal governments and network with peers.
He said that local governments often run into similar problems, so the convention gives officials a chance to see possible solutions.
“We all have the same types of issues, and we try to address them at the conference,” said Wahmann. “We try and provide suggestions and answers to issues; some that have been thought about, some that municipalities have already seen, some that they haven’t seen but they can expect to see.”
One such issue is short-term rentals, which land-use attorney Peter Wertz discussed during the convention. With the rise of short-term rental sites like AirBNB and Verbo comes uncharted waters for some municipalities that do not have any short-term rental guidelines on the books.
These rentals can pose a challenge as the rotation of new guests can leave neighbors frustrated at noise disruption, trespassing, and more.
Some municipalities, such as Myerstown Borough, have already placed restrictions on short-term rentals, such as what districts they can operate in and requiring that an overseer of the property reside within a certain distance.
Read More: Myerstown council hears rental concerns, advances plans for 2025 carnival
Following Wertz’s presentation, City of Lebanon director of public works Chad Yeagley said he plans to talk to the city’s zoning officer on the topic to get the ball rolling on updating city code and ordinances regarding short-term rentals.
“We are dealing with some of those issues in the city and some of our codes and ordinances don’t necessarily address that topic appropriately yet,” he explained.
Yeagley said he also appreciated the opportunity to network with several vendors set up Thursday and get more information about their services.
“The asphalt company that was there had some paving options and some other options that I didn’t know existed to date,” he said. “It was nice to be exposed to that.”
Cornwall Borough manager Cody Rhoads attended alongside Cornwall council members Bruce Harris, Bruce Conrad, Beth Yocum, Thomas Burton and John Karinch.
He said the event was a “good opportunity” to meet and hear from other local lawmakers, such as the County Commissioners, state Reps. Russ Diamond and John Schlegel, and state Senator Chris Gebhard.
North Lebanon Township manager Lori Books called the convention a good “learning opportunity” for elected officials, saying that it gives them more of the behind-the-scenes to what employees are doing every day.
She said the event was well-attended, which was backed up by treasurer of the association Kris Troup. He said there were 105 attendees, 80 being municipal officials and staff.
“In Lebanon County the local municipal leaders are engaged in current issues and are planning for the future,” said Troup. “They take their roles seriously and strive to provide efficient, responsive local government for their communities.”
Other presenters Thursday included Brianna Laliberty of the Lebanon County Department of Emergency Services (LCDES), Karen Groh of the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce, PSATs director Dave Sanko, and District Attorney Pier Hess.
Several attendees voiced their appreciation for the tour of the new LCDES facility that followed the meeting.
Wahmann called the tour “rather enlightening,” estimating that 35 to 40 attendees of the convention toured the facility.
When asked the importance of the convention, Wahmann said that it is ultimately about collaboration and communication between municipal governments.
“None of these governing positions are an island that operate in and of themselves,” he explained. “We’re always learning from other municipal officials’ issues and problems and situations that we’ve perhaps not seen before.
“This conference gives us the opportunity to have those types of discussions.”
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