Palmyra to consider making corner of Lingle and Main intersection into a park

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

Palmyra Borough Council discussed making the land at the northeast corner of the intersection of North Lingle Avenue and West Main Street into a park at their April 8 meeting.

They said the park could be used to honor former Mayor Fred Carpenter or all past Palmyra mayors.

Read More: Palmyra Borough Council discuss ways to honor late mayor Fred Carpenter

Borough manager Roger Powl said if it is dedicated as an official park, the borough could request grant funding for its development.

“The question is do we want to make it a public park, and two, we’d have to come up with a name for it,” Powl said during the meeting. “I put Carpenter Park there just as a thought, but it could be something like Western Gateway Park [or] Mayor’s Park to honor all the former mayors.”

Council responded positively to the name Mayor’s Park, and assistant borough manager Brenda Pera said they have a record of every mayor since the borough was chartered in 1913, so they could also include the town’s history.

Council did not take any action regarding the park but gave the go-ahead to draft a resolution for a future meeting.

Pera said they’ve been interested in developing this land since they finished the intersection. She said she hasn’t heard much from the public about the corner, but people want to see the area look better.

“I think there’s public interest in improving some of the areas of the community that have been ignored,” she said after the meeting. “That’s just an unsightly little hill. Welcome to Palmyra. It really doesn’t offer any kind of a welcome environment.”

Powl said the space is too small to have recreation like basketball courts or volleyball nets, but it could be a space for some benches and plants.

Utility billing specialist

The borough’s utility billing specialist Stacy Ail gave a presentation to the council clarifying a public comment given at the previous meeting. The individual, who recently moved into the borough, asked if council could prorate her trash bill because she didn’t want to be charged for services she didn’t use before her move.

Read More: Palmyra to consider prorating trash bills, approves alley closures for Seltzer event

Ail said the borough only starts charging residents from their settlement date, and not for the entire quarter.

“They’ll give me all the information for the settlement, the date, and I will work up an escrow amount, then I will call them back with the escrow amount, and then they hold that until the settlement,” Ail said. “Once the property has settled, then I send them the final bill and they pay that final bill out of the escrow amount, and then if they have any escrow amount, the settlement company will send it back to the old owner.”

She said even if someone doesn’t move in right away, they will still be charged from the settlement date.

“We still charge them from the settlement date because we don’t know what they’re doing — if they’re remodeling, if they’re just cleaning out, or what the case may be.”

Palmyra Borough Council will meet next at 325 S. Railroad St. on April 22 at 7 p.m. Meetings are also streamed on the Palmyra Borough, Lebanon County Pennsylvania YouTube page.