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The Myerstown Borough Council heard from several residents Tuesday voicing concerns about a short-term rental property at 11 N. College St.
This comes after council discussed the rental property, which is now up for a renewed license, at its work session Feb. 26. Residents said they were told the renewal would be acted upon during council’s March 11 meeting, but council chair Park Haverstick II clarified this is not the borough’s procedure.
“This is entirely my fault,” said Haverstick, explaining that he had been under the false impression the renewal was to be granted or denied by supervisors.
He said the renewal application is currently in the hands of code enforcement officer John Neely, who will render a decision to grant or deny it. (Neely did not comment Tuesday, as he did not have the file with him and he was not informed the renewal would be discussed.)
However, Haverstick added, after that decision is made, any aggrieved party can appeal the decision, which will trigger an administrative hearing by council.
“I’m on your side here, and I want to help you, but we have steps we need to take to get this resolved,” he said.
Frustrated neighbors complained that visitors to the short-term rental are often exceedingly loud, consume illegal substances outdoors, and park illegally. They allege that the home’s overseer and 24-hour contact point Roy Herr is unprofessional and slow to resolve complaints.
Neighbors also submitted a petition with 30 signatures opposing the rental’s renewal to council.
Herr was called to a council meeting last year, at which time he explained that he oversees the rental property for a management agency in North Carolina. He said that he does not receive contact information for renters, and needs to call his agency to reach out to renters when he is alerted to an issue.
At that meeting, Haverstick told Herr, “I don’t care if your Airbnb fails or if it doesn’t; I need my citizens to be happy,” a sentiment Haverstick referenced Tuesday.
Read More: Myerstown Borough Council says short-term rental license could be revoked
Ordinance #872, which sets rules for short-term rentals in Myerstown, requires that rentals provide a 24-hour contact living within 15 miles to address neighbor concerns.
Neighbors allege that Herr does not fulfill this requirement.
Neighbors complained that, while multiple have filed complaints against the rental property, only one violation (for housing too many renters) has been issued.
Solicitor Amy Leonard said that some complaints lacked enough information for Neely to be able to follow up. Some early complaints that did contain more information were acted on by calling Herr to attend a meeting, she said.
Without a police department, the borough is often unable to meet the legal burden of proof required to issue a noise complaint, Leonard explained.
Myerstown Borough relies on state police, who are often unable to investigate noise complaints or reports of illicit activity. And Neely, Leonard explained, is unable to investigate reports of this kind, especially ones falling outside of his working hours.
Leonard advised that neighbors filing complaints provide detailed information not just about the infraction but on Herr’s response (or lack thereof), as well as screenshots of text conversation or photos where applicable. She said this information is most relevant to renewal considerations as Neely weighs whether Herr is meeting his duties as a 24-hour contact.
Leonard advised council to communicate with staff about the process for handling and responding to complaints, with several neighbors stating they did not hear back from the borough after filing complaints.
This may have been discussed during a lengthy executive session following Tuesday’s meeting.
While rental renewals are not announced to the public, the borough manager agreed to let a representative of aggrieved neighbors know when the renewal application is either approved or rejected.
Council also approved or denied event requests as follows:
- Approved unanimously: the council-organized annual Easter Egg Hunt April 12 at 10 a.m. at the recreation area.
- Approved unanimously: a Keystone Hook & Ladder Company food truck fundraiser event April 25 from 4 to 9 p.m., and the closure of West Carpenter Avenue from College Street to Railroad Street during the event.
- Approved with all in favor excepting Kathy Yang: a Myerstown Vitality Partnership Farmers Market in the rear parking lot of the community center every Friday starting the last Friday in May.
- Motion failed: a weekly Saturday Myerstown Market to be hosted by the Elmer C. Ebling Charity.
- Unanimously approved: a Food Truck Frenzy event April 26 hosted by the Elmer C. Ebling Charity.
- Unanimously approved: “The Big Toss,” summer (June 14) and fall (Nov. 15) hosted by the Elmer C. Ebling Charity.
- Unanimously approved: three Movie in the Park dates (June 28, July 19, and Aug. 23) hosted by the Elmer C. Ebling Charity.
- Unanimously approved: Oktoberfest Oct. 11-13, with setup/cleanup Oct. 10 and 14, hosted by the Elmer C. Ebling Charity.
- Unanimously approved: Christmas in the Park Nov. 29 to Dec. 21, hosted by the Elmer C. Ebling Charity with plans to place around 12 decorated Christmas trees in the park for the season.
Council also unanimously approved several use of facility request for the borough’s fields and community center.
Council also amended a prior approval of a carnival hosted by the Elmer C. Ebling Charity to specify that no vehicles are permitted placed on borough tennis or basketball courts in the recreation area, though they allowed for placement of pop-up tents and picnic tables.
In other news, council:
- Unanimously approved the budgeted purchase of a new Kubota tractor and zero-turn mower, totalling $27,035 when discounting trade-in credit.
- Unanimously agreed to pass a resolution honoring Terry Tobias of TNT Sanitation, established in Myerstown in 1997, for contributions to the borough, and present Tobias with an honorary resolution.
- Unanimously approved a stormwater management plan for 701 S. Railroad St., which is expanding its parking area, at the recommendation of the borough engineer.
- Unanimously approved a request from Modern Gent Hat Co. to install an additional electrical circuit in one of its rooms of the community center, to reimburse the borough for all costs.
- Unanimously approved an Eagle Scout project constructing wooden kiosks in the recreation area, subject to oversight by the public works supervisor.
- Unanimously agreed to pass a resolution designating April of 2025 “Pennsylvania 811 Safe Digging Month.”
- Unanimously agreed to authorize several borough employees and interested council members to attend the 2025 Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs Annual Conference June 1-4.
- Unanimously approved reports and bills.
- Unanimously approved the minutes of its Feb. 11 meeting.
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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