Myerstown Borough explores coverage from Lebanon County Regional Police

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

During Tuesday’s monthly meeting, Myerstown Borough Council chairman Park Haverstick II announced that the borough is looking into receiving police coverage from the Lebanon County Regional Police Department.

In response to a resident question about policing options, Haverstick said the borough has been looking for a sustainable plan for policing for years.

Since the dissolution of the borough’s police department, Myerstown has received coverage through the state police, which residents complain can be slow to respond to calls and cannot handle after-hours ordinance violations.

“I hold no ill will towards them, they do what they can,” Haverstick said. “We’re not the only small town without a police force; they’re stretched thin and they do whatever they can. And I understand, and I feel that sometimes it’s not sufficient.”

Haverstick said, though the borough has been taxing residents to save up for police coverage for several years, they want to be able to provide coverage long-term without needing to heavily increase taxes. Reinstituting a department, he said, would not be financially feasible, so the borough has reached out to multiple police departments over the years about coverage with little success.

“Every person that we’ve spoken to over the years has really tried to steer us away from reforming our own department, because that’s one thing that a lot of places are actually getting away from,” said Haverstick, adding that small departments tend to have trouble with staffing police officers.

Recently, however, the borough has begun talks with Lebanon County Regional Police Department (which formed in a merger between the police departments of North Lebanon and North Cornwall townships at the start of this year) about possible coverage.

Haverstick said the department was initially only open to full-time coverage of the borough, which he said would cost around $600,000 (around half of the borough’s current total budget). However, the department has since asked that Myerstown provide an estimate to how much they are able to pay, and may be willing to provide part-time coverage.

Haverstick said council will consider the matter during the formation of this year’s budget, but even if a deal is struck with the Lebanon County Regional Police Department, coverage would only begin in 2027.

In other news, council:

• Unanimously apporved an ordinance amending the codified ordinances to include the ordinances already passed by council since the last incorporation.
• Tabled decision on whether to amend the language of Section 27-401 of the Zoning Ordinance to clarify the meaning of “principal commercial use” in response to request from a developer. The ordinance requires that City Center district buildings contain a principal commercial use on the first floor.
• Unanimously acknowledged 2026 MMO calculations of $76,543 in non-uniform and around $14,000 in uniform (though the borough no longer has a police force, it still pays pension for former police officers).
• Unanimously approved an Oct. 31 Trick or Treat date.
• Heard a presentation from the Myerstown Area Heritage Center and Museum on recently acquired items. The museum plans to open to the public next July 4.
• Unanimously approved a request from Modern Gent Customs to install two electrical breakers, and a request from Mission Church to remove cabinets, in Community Center tenant requests.
• Unanimously approved minutes, bills to be paid, and reports.

Myerstown Borough Council meets the second Tuesday of each month for its regular meeting and a work session the fourth Wednesday of the month. These meetings are open to the public and do not require prior registration.