Swatara Township supervisors vote to advertise Greble Road bid packet

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The Swatara Township Board of Supervisors voted to advertise a bid packet for the Greble Road base repair project at the July 10 meeting.

This is the first step of the township’s plan to repave the road along with Bethel Township next year. Supervisor Rick Kreitzer said the road needs the attention.

“I went out that way and that road is really rough out there, my God,” he said. “Right there in the wooded area.”

Supervisors said the three areas of roadwork will be about half a mile total. Kreitzer said the areas are too big for the township to do on its own, and it will require flaggers to control traffic while crews work.

Once the base is repaired, Swatara and Bethel townships will both repave the portion of the road within their borders.

Supervisors said they’re expecting bids to come in around $20,000.

Police statistics for the first half of 2025

Supervisors also heard a report from Pennsylvania State Police Sgt. Robert Maher about Swatara Township’s crime statistics for the first half of the year.

He said there were a total of 474 calls for service, which was a 13% increase from the same timeframe last year. He said this increase could have been because Union Township went part-time with the Cleona Borough Police Department, which led to the state police being in the area more often.

Crime was down 22%, he said, with the force seeing 56 crimes compared to last year’s 72. There were 34 arrests, which were mostly due to thefts or domestic violence.

Maher also reported that vehicle accidents increased this year, mainly in January and May, because of heavy precipitation. Most of these crashes occurred on the interstate. He said there were no deaths, but there were 14 injuries reported.

In other business, supervisors:

• Received an appraisal for the .25-acre property at 48 Supervisors Drive, which came in at $45,000. They have spent several months weighing a decision to buy the land next to properties the township already owns because they said they had believed it was included in the original purchase. Supervisors said they’d like to take the next month to consider the possible purchase before determining if they will continue.
• Approved the 2025 PennDOT winter maintenance agreement that will pay the township an estimated $774.54 to take care of Boltz Lane.

The Swatara Township Board of Supervisors will have its next regular meeting at 7 p.m. on Aug. 14 at 68 Supervisors Drive.