Bethel Twp. supervisors agree to pipeline project terms for poultry producer

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Bethel Township supervisors took unanimous action on four separate Bell & Evans projects at their Aug. 14 monthly meeting.

The actions concerned the poultry producer’s Cook Facility, Plant 2, Transportation Center, and pipeline project. In a separate item, township engineer Matthew Mack of Mack Engineering announced that company officials had taken steps to correct sight lines at the two intersections comprising Blue Mountain and Chestnut Hill roads.

“I understand that they actually cut the bank back out there,” Mack said to the supervisors and about 15 attendees at the meeting. “So I’ll be up here tomorrow (Friday) for a pre-con meeting where I’ll take a look at it, give a little report to the planning commission, and maybe ask them to stop out before the meeting and give their report to them.”

Pipeline project

Concerning the pipeline project, supervisors voted to approve the township road occupancy private utility agreement between the township and Bell & Evans. 

The company had previously proposed to construct water, sewer, fiber optic, and electric lines to connect plants at 520 Chestnut Hill Road and the former Farmer’s Pride property at 154 W. Main St., Fredericksburg.

“They are going to be owning, operating, maintaining these utility lines and certain of those lines will be located underneath the township right-of-ways.

Bethel Township solicitor Andrew Morrow listed key portions of the agreement for supervisors prior to their vote of approval.

“Bell & Evans must apply for township road occupancy permits for each of the affected township roads and all utility lines within the township roads. Right-of-ways must be located underground, they’re required to make a video of the township streets and adjoining alleyways, and provide a copy to the township prior to performing work on those roads,” Morrow said.

The agreement also states:

• All installation of the utility line should be executed for horizontal directional boring rather than open trench installation.
• All bore pits and staging areas for such boring activity are located outside of the township road pathway except on within Church Street or there will be a parade to go on Church Street.
• Immediately upon completion of the installation of each bore receiving pit on Church Street, they have to fill, compact, and patch it.
• Any residents who use Church Street to access their homes shall be able to reach their homes from at least one direction on Church Street at all times. 
• Construction on Church Street must occur between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and Bell & Evans has to provide notice to all impacted property owners along Church Street at least two days in advance.
• At all times during construction, Bell & Evans is required to ensure that emergency vehicles may use Church Street for emergency purposes.

Other requirements include access at all times for the township engineer, who also has the right to stop construction if unforeseen hazards are seen or if the project is not being completed pursuant to design.

There are other requirements post-construction, too, according to Morrow. 

“Bell & Evans is solely responsible for operation maintenance and repair of the utility lines, any future repair maintenance work that requires any kind of excavation will require a street permit, the township has the right to be on site,” he said.  “By June 15, 2026, and this is definitely one of the areas I’ve spoken to Matt about to get an idea based on where the project is, how long it’s anticipated, what we thought would be reasonable, especially with winter coming, for them to basically mill and overlay the entire existing width of Church Street.”

Morrow said company officials also agreed to “perform no current or future open trench work on South Center Street, and future installation of any new utility line within South Center Street shall require a new boring.” They also agreed and complied with providing $30,000 in escrow for 18 months during pipeline construction.

Plant 2

Morrow also handled several requests concerning Plant 2. 

Morrow said there was a request concerning a neighboring tract of land that’s also owned by 2869 Route 22 LLC, which is affiliated with Bell & Evans.

“Basically, what this is about is that the owner of 2869 Group 22 LLC tract intends to transfer 1.24 acres of the Bell Nevins Realty Track LLC. Track 2 is a lot addition that would be going on to the Plant 2 property,” Morrow said.  The land development is proposed mostly on the Plant 2 tract.”

Morrow listed for the supervisors several proposed improvements at Plant 2, including: 

• Adding 32,500 square feet for truck parking and access to a neighboring site to the west.
• Adding 36,500-square-foot parking expansion for team members.
• Construction of the previously approved 48,310-square-foot building.
• Construction of 5,615 square feet of further building additions.
• Building an infiltration basin and the associated stormwater management facilities.

“So this is almost exclusive with Plan 2, very, very minor, the other property. So Bell & Evans did provide the letter of credit, and it  is in order. It was received by the township a few weeks ago in deposits, so that’s good at this point,” added Morrow.

Morrow made three separate motions to supervisors to approve the subdivision and land development improvements agreement, stormwater management agreement, and declaration of easement, and approve and sign the preliminary final subdivision of the land development plan for Bell & Evans Realty LLC, Plant 2. The first two motions were dated Aug. 5, while the third agreement was backdated to Feb. 11.

Supervisors unanimously agreed to grant a waiver request for a monument requirement for Plant 2, which is located near Esther’s Restaurant and U.S. Route 22.

Cook Facility

Mack said that Alex Kinzey from Steckbeck Engineering had previously presented an alternate sidewalk layout plan for the Cook Facility, adding that he believed that it was still being determined whether it was needed.

“So we’re just going to table the way we request that this would happen. It may not be needed depending on what you’re doing,” said Mack. The waiver request was tabled per Mack’s advice.

Transportation Center

Supervisors voted to grant a time extension request to Oct. 10 for a planned Transportation Center. Company officials plan to build a garage along U.S. Route 22 near Fredericksburg Road to perform maintenance on their vehicles. Mack said the time extension is to give company representatives more time to get their permits together.

Other township business

In other business, supervisors unanimously agreed to:

• Change the name of the communication tower project on a parcel of land donated by Bell & Evans near their company headquarters to Lebanon County DES and waive the new street requirement within township ordinances for the tower project. 
• Ratify spending $5,791.70 for a complete pump replacement for the community pool.
• Allow a request from Lynford Steiner to install an 18-inch pipe under Golf Road as part of his prior request concerning his poultry operation. The motion included the agreement that the township would repave Golf Road once the pipe is installed. 
• Refund $200 to Kelly Beidler for an event canceled due to inclement weather. 
• Return $120.65 in unspent grant funding to America250PA.
• Approve a $50 deposit requirement to rent the Small Pavilion at the community park.
• Set pool hours from noon to 5 p.m. from Aug. 18-22, weather permitting. (It was also announced that the pool would close for the season on Aug. 22 at 5 p.m.)
• Acknowledge a referral letter to Jackson Township for plan approval for Paul and Janice Lehman, 61 Rosebud Road, since most of the project is located in the neighboring municipality.
• Pay $20,397.60 for 2025 line striping.
• Grant a Fredericksburg Fire Company fire police special duty request for Hinkelfest, which runs Sept. 12-14.
• Provide Zion Gosherts UCC, 1579 Mount Zion Road, a minimum use driveaway awareness letter for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
• Not penalize the contractor for the Camp Strause Road bridge project, which was due to be completed by Aug. 15. It was announced the road will not reopen, weather permitting, until Sept. 5. Prior inclement weather during the project has delayed the bridge replacement project from being completed on time.  
• Approve the financial report and agree to pay monthly invoices.

After the meeting was adjourned, supervisors held an executive session to consider the Dale Weiler time extension request and discuss personnel matters.

Bethel Township supervisors meet the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the municipal building at 3015 S. Pine Grove St., Fredericksburg. The next session is on Thursday, Sept. 11.