Commissioners discuss mutual aid agreement with Lancaster County

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

A LebTown article last Wednesday concerning Lebanon County’s hazmat team providing hazmat services to Lancaster County for two months led to a discussion during the Lebanon County Commissioners meeting the next day. 

LebTown had exclusively reported that Lebanon County would honor a decades-old mutual aid agreement between Lancaster and Lebanon counties to provide short-term hazmat services there from July 1 through Aug. 31.

Read More: LebTown exclusive: Lebanon County provides hazmat services to Lancaster

Lebanon and Lancaster counties are members of a larger regional task force providing mutual aid emergency services, according to Bob Dowd, director of the Lebanon County Department of Emergency Services. The counties have had this agreement for over 20 years.

LebTown also reported that conversations with local commissioners and Lancaster County officials would occur in the coming days to explore the possibility of entering into a long-term regional agreement for hazmat services.

During the meeting, Lebanon County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz said she was concerned about public safety locally and ensuring that Lebanon County was covered first.

“I don’t think we should be taking on the responsibility of Lancaster County with the response for hazmat,” Litz said, adding Lancaster County is two-thirds larger in land mass than Lebanon County.

LebTown previously reported that Dowd said not all hazmat personnel would be dispatched to Lancaster County to ensure that Lebanon County had responders available if a local call were to occur simultaneously, meaning the Lebanon Valley would be the department’s first priority. 

Dowd reiterated after Thursday’s meeting that the chances of hazmat calls happening simultaneously in both counties were slim.

When asked for 2024 year-end figures and 2025 hazmat calls through June 30 of this year, Dowd reported that the county’s hazmat team had responded to just under 30 calls in 2024 and was dispatched six times by the end of June throughout the Lebanon Valley.

Litz also highlighted costs that the county would have to bear for providing services to Lancaster County, noting fuel expenses and wear-and-tear on vehicles. She questioned the cost to mount and balance one tire on the county’s hazmat vehicle and noted, among other concerns, stress to local taxpayers and the families of hazmat workers.  

Asked after the meeting about costs, Dowd said hazmat charges are billed to the responsible party who caused the emergency since they are liable for the costs of a hazmat response, meaning those costs are not the responsibility of local taxpayers.

County Commission chairman Mike Kuhn said no negotiations have occurred yet with Lancaster County officials. Litz replied that, according to LebTown, negotiations were already underway.

“We’re not being asked. If and when a proposal comes to us, I think it’s time to review the details of any proposal, and you can restate any point you want to make or any new point about that proposal,” Kuhn told Litz. “There’s no proposal on the table for us to consider at this point.” 

LebTown reported last week that, “while it’s too soon to know what will happen come September, there is a possibility that Lebanon County could enter into a regional agreement for hazmat services with its neighbor to the south, according to Bob Dowd, director of the Lebanon County Department of Emergency Management Services.”

LebTown asked commissioners if the county is in fact providing hazmat services to Lancaster County for the next two months. Kuhn said it is his understanding that the two counties have a mutual aid agreement to provide services, adding that’s also true for fire companies and ambulance services.

Dowd reiterated to LebTown on Thursday that the current mutual aid agreement for July and August is for hazmat services only and not others – even though those agreements do exist. The reason Lebanon is assisting for hazmat is the contract for hazmat services between an independent contractor and Lancaster County expired June 30.

Lebanon County administrator Jamie Wolgemuth confirmed there is a mutual aid agreement between the two counties, adding that much more has to happen before any potential long-term agreement would be reached. 

“If I could just add that there is a lot of discussion to be had before anything is formalized or put into a contract form,” said Wolgemuth. “Things could change in Lancaster between now and then. Currently, they are operating under mutual aid, (and) as was mentioned has been the case for decades.”

He added that, under the current arrangement, Lebanon County would act as “incident command” and work with Lancaster County emergency services personnel if a hazmat call were to be initiated there. Dowd made the same point about Lebanon working with Lancaster officials if an incident occurs.   

Other business

In other business, commissioners voted unanimously to:

• Reappoint Josh Killian to the Governor Dick Board of Directors for a three-year term. 
• Approve various personnel transactions as presented by the Human Resources Department.
• Approve the treasurer’s report. 
• Table a hotel tax grant request from Campbelltown Community Alliance until the next meeting on July 17 to allow the fund to replenish.
• Grant real estate tax exemptions to three fully disabled veterans.
• Approve the minutes of their June 19 meeting. 

Commissioners announced at the start of the meeting that they held an executive session on Wednesday, July 2, to discuss personnel matters. 

Lebanon County Commissioners meet the first and third Thursdays of the month in room 207 of the Lebanon County municipal building, 400 S. 8th St., Lebanon at 9:30 a.m.