Heidelberg Township supervisors obtain deed to parcel, prepare for building reno

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

The Heidelberg Township Board of Supervisors has obtained all of the official documents, including the deed, for a .4-acre triangular parcel of land purchased for $13,120 from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Township engineer Bob Lynn, of Hanover Engineering, said they used the deed to apply for a Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant. If obtained, the grant will partially apply to the use of the parcel as a trailhead.

“I will say that at the end, when we were getting close to the grant submission deadline, in all fairness, Dan Bost (from state Sen. Chris Gebhard’s office) really stepped in for us and helped to move things along,” township solicitor Amy Leonard, of Henry & Beaver, told supervisors. “There was some discrepancy between PennDOT’s timeline and DCNR’s timeline, and I think he called it out as bureaucratic red tape and made it happen.”

As for the current status of the township building’s renovation project, supervisors unanimously voted to approve advertising of the interior projects. Lynn said all the plans are in place and ready to go out to bid.

Lynn is awaiting an estimate from Brecknock Builders regarding the exterior projects and will report back once he receives the estimate.

The conversation surrounding the township’s open burning ordinance continued with a review of Larry Taylor’s comments. Supervisors agreed to add “agricultural grubbing,” specifically green waste, and integrate the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s definition of “domestic refuse” into the revised version of the ordinance, which will be posted to the township website. Residents will have one last chance to make comments before the open burning ordinance is finalized.

Also to be posted to Heidelberg Township’s website are the dates in June that they will be flushing hydrants.

The solicitor’s report also included an update on the on-lot sewage program, with 10 residences still needing to become compliant. One of the residences is in limbo from being recently sold, and one or two are in the process of becoming compliant.

In addition, supervisors unanimously approved a time extension to July 22 for the Spohn/Martin lot add-on plan, which extends the original June 15 deadline to the supervisors’ July meeting.

The two neighbors have been attempting to resolve an almost-decade-long dispute in court, in which Heidelberg Township is not a party.

Steven Spohn, who was in attendance at the May 27 meeting, has an easement across his neighbor’s property that serves as his secondary access to his property, with his primary access being Frederick Lane, a private street. The township’s private street ordinance requires a secondary access if the private street serves more than three residences.

The court reached out to the township to inform them that both neighbors think they could settle their differences if the township agrees to waive the requirement so they can extinguish the easement.

“I’m not looking to make things difficult for anyone. I just am concerned that it seems like there’s been some requests that I come up with language that allows this to proceed, but I’m telling you, I don’t have magic words that would allow it here and then not allow it somewhere else,” Leonard said.

Leonard reported that Spohn’s attorney shared the same concerns. She and the board also discussed their concerns about waiving the requirement for the safety-based ordinance and setting precedent for past and future requests to waive the requirement.

The discussion resulted in supervisors suggesting Leonard write a letter to the court stating that the township is not inclined to grant this request and itemizing their concerns. Supervisors plan to proceed based on the court’s response.

Spohn’s allegations that Martin is continuing to run a short-term rental facility against supervisor’s orders are a separate issue to be discussed, according to the board.

In other news, supervisors unanimously moved to:

• Approve the April 22 meeting minutes.
• Approve the payment of township bills in the amount of $114,744.24.
• Approve the payment of sewer system bills in the amount of $70,335.13.
• Approve the payment of water system bills in the amount of $23,318.51.
• Approve a planning module exemption for Titus and Sandra Martin for their lot on Horse Happy Road to connect it to the existing public sewer system there. Supervisor Ted Cromleigh excused himself from the vote.
• Approved the Hurst land development plan for 120 Canaan Grove Road, a number of modifications and deferrals, a stormwater O&M agreement, an improvements guarantee agreement, and a letter of credit in the amount of $106,362.35. The overall intent of the land development plan for the 4.9-acre lot is to propose a new shop for a tractor repair business, which currently employs one in the shop and two on the road full-time, and, come fall, will employ two in the shop and two on the road full-time. “It’s nice to see small businesses expanding and growing,” Cromleigh commented.
• Approved denying the Zimmerman land development plan for 760 N. Market St. if a time extension is not received by June 17. Supervisors do not want to deny the plan and instructed Lynn to reach out again.
• Approve denying the stormwater management plan for 238 S. Lancaster Ave. if a time extension is not received by June 15. Supervisors do not want to deny the plan and hope the vote will get the consultant’s attention.
• Approve the termination of a Heidelberg Avenue resident’s payment plan agreement, which has been paid in full.
• Approve resolution 977, which increases the meter installation for residential customers from $400 to $450, as $400 was deemed insufficient to cover the cost of equipment and installation. The meter installation for nonresidential customers is the actual cost of the equipment and installation time. The resolution will also make owners responsible for the actual cost of a component and the installation fee if a component needs to be replaced due to negligence.
• Approve the search for a new service provider for the township’s HP printer, since their current service provider will lose the HP contract in July.
• Approve waiving the zoning permit fee for the construction of the county’s emergency services tower.
• Approve providing an estimate for writing an agreement between the township and two men to release their letters of credit. Their father owned two vacant lots on Michters Road, wanted to develop them, gained approval from the county, and received letters of credit about 20 years ago. Since then, their father passed away and passed a letter of credit to each of his two sons. It is renewal time, and neither wants to develop the lots.
• Approve closing out the township’s ARPA Fund bank account and moving the interest to the township’s Capital Improvements Fund bank account, potentially for use in the township building’s renovation project.

Supervisors also reviewed the treasurer’s report, public works report, zoning officer’s report, state police report, which featured a total of 20 calls for the month, five of which were for accidents and the rest of which were for singular types of incidents, planning commission meeting minutes, and park and recreation report.

During the meeting, supervisors were going to vote on purchasing a skid of paver blocks for use in the park and the township when they were informed that Zimmerman’s Landscape donated it to the township.

As part of public comment, Myerstown Community Library director Sarah Bair promoted the library’s summer programming for infants through adults that starts on Monday, June 2.

Later this summer, on Thursday, Aug. 14, the Heidelberg Township Park & Recreation Board will host a Community Movie Night at the township building. They are working to select a movie to screen and reserving a pretzel trailer for that evening.

Heidelberg Township Board of Supervisors meets at 7 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Meetings are held in the township building at 111 Mill Road, Schaefferstown, and are open to the public. Next month’s meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 24.