Myerstown Borough plans permanent speed humps on S. Locust St. for 2026

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Myerstown Borough Council plans to install four permanent speed humps along South Locust Street in 2026, based on a PennDOT recommendation, as discussed at its monthly meeting Tuesday.

Council has included the humps in a draft of the 2026 budget, though no official construction approval has yet been granted. The borough engineer will develop plans to be advertised and bids awarded by council in the new year.

An unfinalized plan shows speed hump locations along South Locust in between Madison Alley and West Carpenter Avenue, West Carpenter and West Bahney avenues, West Bahney and West Park avenues, and West Park and West Maple avenues.

“Candidate locations may shift in design to address sight distance, driveways, utilities, winter maintenance, and emergency access,” borough manager Michael McKenna said in an email.

Speed humps are wider and more gradual than speed bumps to accommodate slightly faster traffic, such as the 25 mph limit on Locust.

This comes after council installed two temporary speed humps on the road to deal with additional traffic during the Tulpehocken Creek bridge replacement.

Read More: Myerstown Borough Council adds speed humps as 501 bridge work causes traffic

Though the official detour does not travel the street, residents have reported an increase in truck traffic and speeding along the road.

Read More: PennDOT: Detour for replacement of Rt. 501 bridge over Tulpehocken begins 6/23

Residents along Locust have claimed damage to private property, such as mirrors of parked cars, as well as excessive speeding and unreported fender benders along the street.

Though reports to the township of these issues has decreased since the state police were directed to focus on speeding violations and detour compliance, residents have said speeding along the street was a problem even before work on the bridge.

Read More: Myerstown Borough Council discusses Rt. 501 bridge closure, traffic concerns

Council also unanimously agreed to advertise the proposed 2026 wastewater, general fund, and special funds budgets, for adoption in December. McKenna said these budgets will be available for review on the borough’s website Monday.

Though the budget will be up for adoption in December, it may be revisited by the newly elected council. Newcomers Daniel Ebling, Todd Kahl, Matt Mulvaney, and Bradley Kahl, all Republicans who campaigned together, will take office in January.

Read More: Lebanon County 2025 general municipal election results: Complete list

Council also spent roughly an hour in executive session discussing lease agreements, personnel matters, and a zoning hearing board application.

An application for a historic structure at 425 S. Railroad St. was received by the ZHB requesting that the building be used for four efficiency apartments.

In the Old Town Residential District, where the property is located, this use is permitted by special exception, meaning the use is guaranteed by right so long as the applicant can meet certain requirements.

Council is entitled to take an offical stance for or against the applicant in any ZHB proceeding (though governing bodies opt not to in most cases). The executive session, solicitor Amy Leonard explained, gave them time to discuss options.

As of now, council has opted not to take an official stance on the proceeding, though they could still choose to do so in December.

With regards to lease agreements, council unanimously agreed to draft lease renewal agreements with Modern Gent Hat Company and Mission Church for space in Myerstown Community Center. Though the agreements will later need adopted, council confirmed these leases will include a cost increase due to electric costs.

Council also unanimously agreed to issue a $1 hourly increase for David Schmidt upon issuance of his WWE4 operator certification following the executive session.

In other news, council:

• Unanimously agreed to apply to a statewide Local Share Account grant for capital improvements to the community center, contingent on receipt of an estimate for project costs.
• Continued to discuss the curbing project for South Railroad Street, ultimately requesting that the engineer return with another redrawing of the project in December. Issues with the project arise in the road’s official cartway of 32 feet (though this is wider than the road actually is), which would need changed if curbs are established along a smaller cartway.

Read More: Myerstown to undertake wastewater treatment facility feasibility study

• Discussed the Lebanon County Comprehensive Plan update, which is now ongoing, with McKenna asking council members if they had anything they wanted the county to consider as the plan is developed. Councilman Ronald Ream said that, though the planning commission had not met in a while, he felt this would be worth the commission’s consideration in 2026.
• Unanimously approved payments #2 and #3 ($18,182.23 and $15,012.53) to Miller Soil Solutions for the 2025 roadway project on borough alleys, paid for primarily out of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
• Unanimously agreed to apply for a $25,000 Lebanon County LSA grant for plumbing improvements to the pool’s bathhouse.
• Discussed but did not take action on the PSAB NEMO Boot Camp for new councilmembers, noting the new council can make a decision on the topic in January.
• Unanimously approved the use of the borough meeting room from 1 to 8 p.m. the third Friday of each month starting in November at no additional charge, with council president Park Haverstick II noting the organization is a nonprofit that already rents space in the building.
• Unanimously approved a request from Mission Church Myerstown to use the community center parking lot for a biweekly Saturday food pantry from 6 to 10:30 a.m. from Jan. 10 to Dec. 19.
• Unaniously approved Keystone Hook & Ladder Company’s updated box cards.
• Unanimously agreed to renew the borough’s pollution legal liability coverage for 2026 at $2,898. the same cost as this year.
• Unanimously approved a resolution appointing the borough manager as the non-uniform pension plan administrator, and approve the manager and treasurer as authorized signers for ministerial actions.
• Unanimously approved minutes and reports.

Myerstown Borough Council meets the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. These meetings are open to the public and do not require prior registration.