Lebanon County inks hazmat services agreement with Lancaster County

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Lebanon County Commissioners agreed on Thursday, Oct. 16, to enter formally into a minimum three-year agreement with Lancaster County to provide hazmat services.

Lebanon County will receive $20,000 annually from Lancaster County for this service. 

The measure still needs to be signed by Lancaster County officials, although Lebanon County solicitor Matt Bugli said he crafted the agreement in cooperation with his counterpart there.

Commissioners here voted 2-1, with commissioner Jo Ellen Litz voting no, restating a previously held position that the agreement would compromise providing safety first to Lebanon County residents. Commission chairman Mike Kuhn and colleague Bob Phillips reiterated their prior support in deciding to approve the measure.

The new agreement, if signed by Lancaster County representatives, has an initial term that runs through June 30, 2026, with an annual renewal term option for up to three years, beginning July 1, 2026. The agreement also contains the stipulation that either party could walk away from the agreement with 30 days written notice. 

LebTown exclusively reported in early July that the Lebanon County Department of Emergency Services had begun on July 1 to provide hazmat services after contract negotiations between Lancaster County officials and an independent contractor broke down, which led to their service agreement ending on June 30.

At that time, LebTown also reported that Lebanon County was asked to provide hazmat services, in cooperation with hazmat technicians who are Lancaster County employees, through the end of August. 

Lebanon County DES director Bob Dowd told LebTown then that Lebanon and Lancaster counties are two members of a larger regional task force for emergency services.

The agreement made in July was a continuation of the two counties long-standing mutual aid agreement that has existed for two decades. LebTown’s exclusive article led to a public discussion by commissioners at their July 3 meeting the next day, which is when Litz first stated her opposition to Lebanon County providing hazmat services elsewhere.

On Thursday, Dowd addressed Litz’s concern by reiterating that not all hazmat personnel nor all of the county’s equipment 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 continue to be the department’s first priority. 

He had also previously noted that the chances of a hazmat incident occurring simultaneously were slim to none. He confirmed for LebTown after the meeting in a follow-up telephone call that there had been seven team calls – less than two per month – to Lancaster County since July 1 through Oct. 15.

Additionally, there were zero simultaneous calls. He said Lebanon County had 11 hazmat team calls – including those outside of the hazmat spectrum – since entering into an informal agreement on July 1.

“That doesn’t mean that we still can’t handle both of them (counties),” he added after Thursday’s meeting. “The chances for two full teams responding to a call (simultaneously) is very, very low.”

During the meeting, Bugli said the agreement includes a provision that Lancaster County is ultimately responsible for compensating Lebanon County for costs associated with a call if the responsible party fails to pay the tab for a hazmat incident in Lancaster County.

“It’s a good step forward towards sustainability,” said Dowd prior to the vote.

Read More: Lebanon Co.’s hazmat unit receives new service vehicle from Annville company

Housing and Redevelopment Authority

Commissioners made five decisions concerning the Lebanon County Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

Dan Lyons, executive director, presented three Community Development Block Grant program proposals and two modifications to the fiscal year 2021-22 budget.

Lyons presented the CDBG’s fair housing resolution, a resolution to approve the program application and the grant program’s disclosure report. All of these were approved unanimously, and are applicable to fiscal year 2025. The CDBG program is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

Concerning the budget modification for a prior fiscal year, Lyons said the purpose is to reallocate unused funding in the CDBG’s budget to utilize them elsewhere, and to apply them to existing needs.

One project moved county-repaid funds overspent for administrative expenditures to the Myerstown South Railroad Street improvement project, slated to be completed by the end of 2025. The amount moved is $1,906.35.

Another shifted monies from one project to another, both located within South Lebanon Township, according to Lyons. 

The final move takes funding for the uncompleted Market Street Square improvement project in Jonestown and allocates it to the Annville Street Improvement project, which is reportedly a shovel-ready initiative.

Other county business

In other actions, commissioners unanimously voted to: 

• Accept the fiscal year 2024-25 Medical Assistance Transportation (MAT) grantee final cost report. Total spend was $1,407,238 via 42,395 trips provided during the past fiscal year by Lebanon County Community Action Partnership. 
• Allocate an initial $1,564,025 for Community Action Partnership through the MAT grant program for fiscal year 2025-26.
• Hire Gary Garson as a MAT driver for Community Action Partnership from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.
• Provide one 2024-25 fiscal year contract amendment totaling $1,451, and four contract amendments for fiscal year 2025-26 totaling $51,079 for service providers to the county’s Mental Health/Intellectual Disabilities/Early Intervention Department.
• Sign resolutions for two separate Next Generation Farm Loan Program applications. The first application corrected the entity to receive a $649,000 loan. That receipt is Ryan Hair/RKH Holding LLC. The second application totals $634,400 and is for Andrew and Charlene Newswanger and their 30.5-acre operation at 96 Werner Road, Fredericksburg. The Hair property is at 1901 Thompson Ave., Jonestown.
• Make reimbursements to the America250 fund for the purchase of T-shirts at a cost of $1,264.50 to Breckert Illustrated Shirts of Annville.
• Hire Ellen Wargo, Kristin Lee and Rosamond A. Presby as hearing officers in the domestic relations department at a rate of $100 per hour from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2030.
• Hire Corinne Macian and Kathy Sheffy as stenographers at the rate of $50 per hour in domestic relations from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2030. 
• Hire John Gragson as a temporary staff attorney in domestic relations through Dec. 31, with a plan to hire him full-time beginning Jan. 1.
• Sign an intergovernmental agreement for the county sheriff’s department to provide a variety of services at various rates for domestic relations from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2030.
• Provide a letter of support to Annville-Cleona School District for their pedestrian safety improvement project. The project will include improvements to the berm of Route 934 and nearby Reigerts Lane, and on-campus enhancements, including the installation of ADA-compliant sidewalks. 
• Receive an update on Hilltop Playground Association’s use of $13,500 through a Marcellus Shale grant to make numerous improvements to the parking lot pavement project and other park improvements, including the planting of new trees. 
• Accept the treasurer’s report, including a cash balance of $856,886.42.
• Approve various personnel transactions. 
• Grant full real estate exemptions to four fully disabled veterans or their families.
• Approve the minutes of their Oct. 2 meeting and Oct. 8 and 15 executive sessions.

Following the end of the meeting, commissioners convened the Lebanon County Election Board to discuss the upcoming municipal election on Tuesday, Nov. 4. 

Read More: Lebanon County officials provide final update before Nov. 4 municipal election

Lebanon County Commissioners meet the first and third Thursday of each month in Room 207 of the Lebanon County Municipal Building, 400 S. 8th St., Lebanon.