Myerstown Borough Council hears public input on police coverage options, costs

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Myerstown Borough Council met with residents for a community forum from noon to 2:40 p.m. to discuss options for police coverage Saturday.

No action was taken, as the meeting was intended to gauge public opinion on policing options.

Council president Daniel Ebling presented a slideshow comparing options for policing, covering a newly established one-officer Myerstown Police Department, contract services or charter membership with the Lebanon County Regional Police Department (LCRPD), and part-time or full-time coverage by a newly established Eastern Lebanon County Police Department. Ebling confirmed that his estimated costs do not include start-up costs.

Estimated costs, as detailed in the PowerPoint, are as follows:

• Continued state police coverage: $0 year one.
• Newly established Myerstown Borough Police Department, one officer: $225,000 year one (estimate by Ebling).
• Contract services with LCRPD: $300,000 (proposal).
• Newly established ELCO Regional PD, part-time: $302,326 year one (estimate by Ebling).
• Newly established ELCO Regional PD, full-time: $761,143 year one (estimate by Ebling).
• LCRPD charter membership: $835,460 (proposal).

In response to a resident, Ebling detailed his estimated costs for a one-officer department as follows: $90,000 for officer salary, $10,000 for administration salary, $5,000 for yearly vehicle maintenance, $35,000 for operation costs, $10,000 for training, $22,500 for insurance, $50,000 for an investment fund, $13,500 for pensions, $41,000 for benefits, adding up to $277,000 total.

Ebling clarified via email after the meeting that investment fund allocations were deliberately not included in estimates for a regional department so as to distribute these costs between municipalities, and the one-officer Myerstown department likewise did not include this expense.

“Importantly, these numbers were presented only as preliminary planning illustrations, not as a proposed or adopted budget,” he added. “Any actual department formation would require a full budget development process, refinement of assumptions, and formal council action. The figures were intentionally built using conservative assumptions and included contingency margins within several categories, which is common in preliminary planning models.”

Feasibility studies would be necessary to move forward with any of the newly-formed departments. For an ELCO PD, the borough would need to confirm willingness to participate with other municipalities, which as of now have not formally expressed interest.

Following Ebling’s presentation, councilman Bryan Rittle said, “I want to make it clear, this is not a council-wide decision. We were not aware of this presentation until last night. I don’t know where he got these figures.”

Ebling replied that the presentation was approved by council, and said council members who wanted to see the presentation could have emailed the borough manager to view it. The agenda for council’s Jan. 28 workshop shows that council planned to review details for the special meeting including a mailer, but does not specify whether a presentation was discussed.

Mayor Dane Bicher said he had also not had a chance to review the presentation.

Residents then heard from LCRPD chief Tim Knight, who said he had a presentation prepared, but Ebling said it could not be shown as council had not had time to review it. Later in the meeting, Ebling said he had requested a slideshow from Knight on Friday, the day before the meeting, and not received a response back the same day.

Councilman Mark Kirsch asked residents if they wanted to see the presentation and received a resounding yes. Initially, Ebling suggested council review the presentation at a future meeting, but after some deliberation, he allowed Knight to present.

Knight explained that, under the $300,000 LCRPD proposal, the department would patrol the borough for 20 hours per week, handle calls for service 24/7, and provide monthly reports and attend monthly meetings when possible. The department employs 24 officers including a detective, as well as a chief of police and two lieutenants.

The contract, continuing until 2029, would contain cost increases of 7% each year. After 2029, the contract would be be renegotiated if the borough decides to continue receiving services.

“First of all, if you hire one officer and you tell him he’s working every weekend and every night, I don’t know how many volunteers, or applications you’re going to get for your police department,” said Knight. In a previous interview, Knight explained that one of the driving forces toward North Lebanon and North Cornwall regionalizing was difficulty finding applicants, as there are fewer applicants than there used to be. These applicants, Knight said, gravitate toward larger and regionalized departments both due to guaranteed backup and opportunities for promotion.

Knight’s presentation listed LCRPD specialties as including digital investigation programs, a Voice Stress Analyzer, SWAT, Drug Task Force, Commercial Motor Carrier Enforcement, Accident Reconstruction Team, DARE, and Use of Force Instructors.

“We have detectives with advanced technology,” he said. “Everything today, nowadays that you deal with is technology-based with cellphones, computers and things like that. So we have the equipment; we’re one of the few departments in the county that offer that for our residents.”

The $835,460 proposal would be for Myerstown to join the department as a charter member, which would include representation on the police commission and increased services. Cost in future years, commission member and North Cornwall supervisor Mike Wahmann said, may decrease if the department grows to serve more municipalities. He said first-year costs of the department were lower than expected, and a regionalized department has cut down on overtime costs.

In response to a resident question on whether he felt Ebling’s estimates were realistic, Wahmann said he did not.

“I think that they’re under what the actual cost will be,” said Wahmann, who began as a police officer in 1970, worked at the Lebanon County District Attorney’s Office from 1978 to 1998, served as Lebanon city chief from 1998 to 2002, and served as a North Cornwall supervisor for 12 years, including as an LCRPD commission member and on the committee that wrote the charter. He said he felt an ELCO regional department was unlikely to receive state grant funding and called the estimates “wishful thinking, but not reality.”

Every option, save for continued coverage with the state police, would likely carry with it a millage increase, with each mill representing a dollar per $1,000 of assessed property value.

Ebling estimated first-year increases of .291, .729, 3.424, and 3.858 for a one-officer Myerstown department, LCRPD contract services, part-time ELCO PD, and full-time ELCO PD, respectively. These estimates do not account for start-up costs, and are based on $135,000 in annual contributions from the current millage combined with around $40,000 in interest from reserve funds.

His presentation, embedded below, includes pros and cons for each option, including cost estimates over time.

One problem faced by the borough under state police coverage is difficulty enforcing borough ordinances, which a local or regional department could handle. Knight confirmed the LCRPD would also be able to enforce borough ordinances.

In feedback from residents in attendance Saturday, council heard the following (though this list is not exhaustive):

• Kelly Mohn said she felt interest from reserves was not worth an immediate tax increase, and said that if taxes are not raised, it will be easier for the borough to leave a contract if it does not like services acquired. Kirsch said that the borough could likely pay for three to four years of LCRPD contracted services without raising taxes.
• Elijah Mohn asked about the feasibility of volunteer police services, which Ebling said would likely not be possible. He asked whether part-time options presented would meet the borough’s needs, to which Ebling replied that council wanted to hear from residents to see whether they would meet their needs.
• Kristen Greer said she felt a millage increase would be necessary regardless, and expressed preference for an established department to receive coverage sooner. Kirsch responded that, with services from LCRPD, the earliest the borough could receive services would be 2027.
• Kris Hoffman said she felt, based on numbers presented, all options other than state police were above what the borough could afford. She also questioned whether officers would be well taken care of in estimates for new departments.
• Cobie Arnold questioned whether estimated costs were accurate, and asked about coverage times for a one-officer department. Ebling explained the cost breakdown (as described earlier) and said the officer’s schedule could change depending when the borough most needs services. Arnold expressed a preference for remaining with the state police or negotiating a contract with LCRPD.
• Former council president Park Haverstick II said he felt the numbers have not likely changed significantly since the last feasibility study, and that he distrusted the estimates presented for starting a new department. He said council members should have seen the presentation sooner, and said that as a mayor is the “de facto head of the department,” he felt Bicher should have been consulted. He expressed a preference for LCRPD services, noting that they will include investigative services not included by a one-officer department.
• Adrian Layser, also an administrator of the Lebanon County Office of Aging, said she felt council was behaving unprofessionally and not working together. She later said the agency had trouble investigating reports of elder fraud in Myerstown, as enquiries processed by state police may not be handled by officers with experience in or knowledge of Myerstown. She said it is easier for them in municipalities served by LCRPD.
• Sue Ellen Hentz said she agreed that Myerstown needed a police force even if that requires a tax increase, and said she felt the borough should go with an established department, in particular the contract with LCRPD.
• Former councilwoman Dana Reich asked about drug activity in Myerstown, with Knight responding that there is drug activity everywhere and the LCRPD can respond to reports. She said she felt the $225,000 estimate for a one-officer department was low, emphasized honesty and transparency, and publicly submitted a letter of interest for a vacant council seat. She also thanked Bicher for his work as mayor.
• Bicher discussed millage after a resident noted that Myerstown has the fifth-highest millage in the county. He said that, as Myerstown has fairly little industry and is mostly residential, it receives less in property taxes than a municipality with the same millage rate but more industry.

Ebling also read correspondence the borough has received from residents who were unable to attend, one which was in support of a local or regional full-time department, one which voiced concerns about speeding, and one which expressed a preference for reinstating a Myerstown department.

The matter will be further discussed at future council meetings. Council holds its regular meeting the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. and a workshop the fourth Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. These meetings, held at  101 S. Railroad Street, are open to the public and do not require prior registration.