Road closure, fire company needs highlight N. Londonderry Twp. actions

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

A temporary highway closure for a county-based emergency training event in May was approved at the March 16 meeting of North Londonderry Township supervisors.

The board unanimously agreed to a road closure, with two conditions, on Saturday, May 9, for a Lebanon County Department of Emergency Services (DES) training event in the township. Park Drive, between Ash Street and Lynnwood Drive, will be closed except to local traffic from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a simulated shooting scenario training exercise at Palmyra Area High School. 

“The only thing that I had a concern with is the road closure,” said North Londonderry Township Police Chief Tom Hentz. “I thought it was a bit much to ask residents within that affected area that if they are going to go to and fro during the day, that they must park outside (the closed area).”

Hentz said he aired his concerns to county officials on behalf of a handful of residents who live within the requested closed area. 

“So you may have people that aren’t mobile. So my suggestion was that they would have fire police or somebody within the exercise (area) to help those residents come and go if needed. That was my only ask,” he added.

One approved condition was giving residents who reside within the closed area access during the day. The township also said they would be willing to provide barricades if the county wants to place them on nearby roads while still permitting locals who live on that portion of Park Drive to have access that day.

The second condition was to clearly communicate with residents leading up to and on the day of the event. 

DES has agreed to have a spokesperson available that day to address resident concerns so they understand what’s happening, emphasizing that this is not an actual emergency and explaining why the roadway is closed to traffic.

“The concern was just about the community and making sure people knew what was going on when they see a full road closure off and what is going on, but I think the communication plan is really good,” said supervisor Michael Salvo. 

Sixty first-responders will take part in the training scenario, and it was noted Monday that three participants are from the township.

Numerous departments, including several local emergency-based task forces, the school district, and the DES staff, will participate, with the county taking the lead on the training. As part of the exercise, there will be emergency vehicles in the area. 

Hentz said last month his department will be involved along with South Londonderry, and he believes Western Lebanon County Regional Police and University EMS will be among other first-responders.

All three supervisors support the exercise, noting that while it’s sad it has to happen, it’s better to have first-responders fully prepared than not be trained for this type of emergency situation. 

Citizens Fire Company No. 1

Supervisors took two actions concerning Citizens Fire Company No. 1, specifically the mortgage on the firehouse and an ongoing funding support agreement for a new fire engine estimated to cost between $1.2 million and $1.4 million.

The board voted unanimously to pay the mortgage for Citizens Fire Company’s firehouse off early, contingent upon approval by Palmyra Borough Council at its next meeting. The fire company serves the borough, township and surrounding communities, according to its website.

Board chairman William Buckfelder said a study showed there would be cost savings to do so. However, borough council must approve it, too, since the municipalities are in a joint agreement.

“The reason we’re doing this is we did a net present value analysis on this, so it makes financial sense to do,” Buckfelder said prior to the vote. “We’re going to save about $123,000 a year on the mortgage payments by paying this off. And we’d have to make more than 4.5% of our investments to break even on this. So I think it makes financial sense for us to do it.” 

In the other matter, fire company officials were granted an agreement concerning the purchase of new apparatus, according to township manager Mike Booth. 

“This basically commits North Londonderry and the borough for future obligations for currently to fund the apparatus fund (at) $75,000 on an annual basis. Fire company personnel need to commit to a new fire engine, which is about a four- or five-year process,” Booth said.

“So in order to get the process started, the design phase needs to occur this year sometime. And they want to make sure that the township and the borough are committed to funding this new engine. And in order to do so, they asked if we would consider signing an agreement, which obligates us to that funding throughout the year 2031. We currently do this as a budgetary item,” he added. 

Booth said the agreement comes with one provision.

“I just want to share with the board that if Citizens is no longer appointed as a fire service company for North Londonderry Township, we are no longer obligated for this funding,” he said. 

Fire Chief Dave Dugan noted the engine being replaced is from 2006. If the engine is approved to be purchased this year, it won’t be delivered until the end of 2030, he added, given the current lengthy build times. 

“The build times used to be one year and then they hit two, three, four and now they’re solidly four years. So what we’re looking for is not for more money, just for what we’ve been receiving and very gratefully, $75,000 from each municipality just throughout this build,” Dugan said. “Because for the fire department, we’re the one signing the contract. We can’t afford it ourselves. So we just wanna make sure the funding stream remains as it is throughout the build with no major changes.” 

On the advice of township solicitor Andrew Morrow, who noted it would be good for the psyche of fire company members, supervisors unanimously agreed to sign the agreement.

Other township business

In other business, supervisors unanimously voted to: 

• Approve phases 3 and 4 for Summer Layne’s final land subdivision plans for construction of an additional 82 homes within the development. 
• Award the 2026 highway paving contract totaling $496,329.90 to low bidder New Enterprise Stone and Lime Co. It was noted a provision allows a maximum of a 10% increase if costs go up. Paving is $5 less per ton than the 2025 contract.  
• Award the 2026 sanitary sewage line cleaning contract totaling $39,585.30 to Ditch Creek Landscape and Excavating LLC.   
• Sign a traffic maintenance agreement with PennDOT for a new signal on the east side of Walmart along U.S. Route 422. 
• Approve modification to Lebanon County’s subdivision and land development ordinance for plan scale for the Wexley Hill project.
• Sign a letter of engagement with Cohen Law Group for an inter-municipal franchise negotiations for cable TV services.
• Pay February 2026 invoices.  
• Accept the police report for February. On Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., residents can drop off unused medications at Penn State Medical Group, 941 Park Drive, Palmyra. 
• Provide a letter of support to proclaim April as Safe Digging Month. 
• Accept the treasurer’s report for February.
• Approve the minutes of their Feb. 17 meeting.
• Announce a road inspection meeting will be conducted on April 1 at 3 p.m. 

Next meeting

North Londonderry Township supervisors meet the third Monday of the month. The next meeting of the board will be held on Monday, April 20, at 7 p.m. in the municipal building, 655 E. Ridge Road, Palmyra.