This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.
Annville Free Library’s new director was introduced at the North Annville Township supervisors’ monthly meeting on Monday, Oct. 14.
It was announced by Marty Brandt, president of Annville Free Library, that Dylan Fye has replaced former director Dee Neff, who retired after 26 years.
“Well deserved,” said Brandt about Neff’s retirement. “We hired Dylan with a master of library and information science degree as we operate our new expanded library facility. If you have any questions about what to do, how to do it, when, please contact Dylan at our library.”
“My door’s always open,” added Fye.
Brandt thanked the board for its support in the past, including during the library board’s capital campaign. The library spent $4.4 million for an expansion report, as previously covered by LebTown.
Read More: Take a tour of the Annville Free Library’s ongoing $4.4 million expansion project
“Just like everybody else is, we budgeted for increases in utility costs because we knew our facility was expanding, but it’s very difficult to budget for unexpected increases in the rate for that cost,” said Brandt. “Secondly, the state is after everybody with regulations, and we will have to pay at some point here in the next year or two, $15 an hour for our hourly wage employees. We don’t pay that yet.”
Brandt told the board the library would appreciate any financial support for what he called “this unfunded mandate from the state.”
Fye told the board that the library has entertained 32,000 guests this year, which is 6,000 more than last year at this same time and already more than all of 2022, in total.
“The library is in a very healthy spot right now after all of our renovations have been completed and we’re looking to increase that even more by using our new space,” he added.
Fye was asked how people are tracked to tally the number of visitors. He said the entrance has a tracker, and Brandt said entries and exits are both tracked and the number of visitors calculated by dividing that number by two.
Fye added that regular visitors to the library are not added to that count by staff, and Brandt noted that the state has a tracking sharing formula that the state uses to give funding for distribution via the Lebanon County library system.
“It counts program attendance, activity attendance and that’s how the money gets distributed,” said Brandt.
Another meeting attendee and a township resident said that she brings her granddaughter to Story Time and called that event “beautiful.”
“Why thank you,” Brandt replied. “If you haven’t seen it, you must come see the work. One of the gentlemen (supervisor) up there helped us achieve (it). Thank you, Aaron (Miller).”
In other business, township solicitor Paul Bametzreider provided two updates on proposed solar farm projects for the township.
He told supervisors that he filed a brief on Sept. 25 concerning Lebanon Solar I LLC’s project. He said Lebanon Solar has 30 days to file a reply brief, adding that he’s still waiting to see what response the township gets. No court date has been scheduled and he believes that won’t happen until 2025.
Bametzreider also updated Lebanon Valley College’s proposal for solar arrays on property it owns adjacent to the campus during the report of the township’s Planning Commission.
Read More: LVC explores 10-acre solar project off Kreiderheim Lane in N. Annville Twp.
He added that Tshudy will draft proposed ordinances to address these issues for review by the township supervisors and planning commission members, which will give them an opportunity to comment on the proposals.
In responding to a resident’s question about the need to create an ordinance concerning solar arrays, Bemetzreider said the township already has one, but it only applies to commercial operations.
He said LVC’s solar project is technically private since it would only supply energy to the college, but noted that all private systems have a net metering component. He said he was informed the panels would supply about 50 percent of the electricity needs of the college and any excess energy could be sold back to the grid.
“Does that constitute commercial use? We could argue about that,” said Bametzreider.”So we’re trying to address it and I think LVC is trying to be a good citizen. So I say let’s let the process go through its steps and we’ll be addressing the idea of how to address these private uses – these solar systems or solar panels – that are only supposed to be supplying energy to the use that’s on the property. We’ll be trying to address how to regulate those uses.”
It was stated prior to that comment during the Planning Commission Report that the township’s current ordinance does not apply to the college’s solar project, and there were questions by commission members about a non-ag operation conducting a project on land that’s zoned agriculture.
Bametzreider advised the planning commission to wait until further information is received from LVC’s solicitor concerning this project since their will be time to review and comment on those details.
In other township business, supervisors:
- Agreed to compensate Nolt Paving $5,000 to mill a portion of highway on Clear Spring and Heart Hill roads towards Quittapahilla Creek. It was noted that eight accidents have occurred on this highway due to an uneven surface over the past six months, including three in one day.
- Announced that PennDOT has approved warning signs to be erected on state routes 934 and 422 to announce the township’s truck trailer size limitation ordinance on Clear Spring Road.
- Approved a small sewage planning module for Timothy Gruber property so it can be submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection for review.
- Received an update from Bametzreider that they are eligible to approve raises for township supervisors’ annual salary from $1,800 to $3,200. It may be adopted by an ordinance and the salary increase would begin at the start of a new term.
- Were informed that the zoning board approved two requests during a recent hearing.
- Decided to grant a 30-day extension to a nuisance complaint for a property at 3143 Water Works Way through Nov. 11. They received another update on a separate nuisance complaint at 1693 State Route 934 that’s still within his 30-day notice window. It was stated that this property owner has made progress but still is out of compliance concerning unregistered vehicles on his land.
- Voted to pay all bills as read by treasurer Adam D. Wolfe.
- Approved the minutes of their Sept. 9, 2024 meeting and the treasurer’s report as printed. The township’s balance as of their Sept. 9 meeting as approved by the supervisors was $1,722,603.21.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the township supervisors is on Monday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the social hall of Union Water Works Fire Company.
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