West Cornwall approves agreement for municipal management services

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West Cornwall Township supervisors on Monday approved a proposal from Cornwall Borough to provide an average of 12 hours per week of municipal management support from March 1 through Dec. 31.

Cost of the support is $1,200 per week, to be billed quarterly.

“We aim to provide the Township with high-level administrative oversight and municipal management support on a part-time basis,” the borough wrote in its proposal.

That support will be provided by borough manager Cody Rhoads or designated qualified staff, according to the proposal. Services include assisting in preparation, monitoring and analysis of the township budget; identifying, applying for and administering state and federal grants; ensuring compliance with state codes and environmental regulations; and managing special projects such as planning initiatives or capital improvements.

“We worked with Cody in the past, and we are happy to have him,” said supervisor Dennis Tulli. “He’s going to do a lot of things that we haven’t been able to do.”

Tulli said this intermunicipal agreement is similar to the one that the township has with Cornwall for police services.

Supervisors had considered and budgeted for hiring a full-time manager to provide administrative oversight and municipal management but came to recognize that, as a small municipality, they didn’t need a full-time position, Tulli said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Municipalities sharing services is not an uncommon arrangement, he added.

The nine-month agreement gives both Cornwall and the township the opportunity to assess how the partnership is working for both entities.

In his report, township engineer Jeff Steckbeck told supervisors that construction of Apartments at 419’s five buildings is complete. Two of Iron Mill Townes’ four-unit structures are scheduled to be occupiable by the middle of this month. Sewer and water utility installation at Cavalry at Quentin will begin in March or April after roads are rough graded.

Steckbeck said he continues to work on the design of parking meters and parking lot paving for the township’s property at 67 W. Main St., Quentin.

In his report on the West Cornwall Township Municipal Authority, Steckbeck said that drilling of a test well on the Quentin Mennonite School property is complete. The 300-foot-deep well bore is yielding about 45 gallons per minute or 65,000 gallons per day.

Next is running a pump test and conducting lab tests on the presence of any contaminants including pesticides, herbicides, petroleum and bacteria that would rule out the well as a new source of drinking water for the authority.

Steckbeck also said that bids will be solicited for 440 feet of 8-inch water main replacement on Main Street and below Route 72 in the spring.

In other business, supervisors:

• Adopted a resolution approving the Cornwall/Lebanon Comprehensive Plan.
• Appointed Jim Redinger as elected auditor.
• Appointed Marcie Lloyd as representative to the Lebanon Community Library Board.
• Complimented George Dundore, road foreman, and his crew for a “great job” plowing and clearing snow from recent storms.
• Noted they will sign the Quentin Mennonite School plans at the March meeting. Lebanon County’s planning office and the township’s planning commission both recommended approval.
• Authorized the expenditure of funds totaling $71.946.57.

West Cornwall Township supervisors meet at 73 S. Zinns Mill Road on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. The next meeting will be held Monday, March 9. These meetings are open to the public and do not require registration.