North Lebanon Township approves $395K in road paving, oil and chip bids for 2026

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

The North Lebanon Township Board of Supervisors unanimously approved bids for the township’s 2026 paving and oil and chip projects at its monthly meeting Monday.

Supervisors accepted a bid from Pennsy Supply totaling $250,348.27 for the paving project, which includes Heffelfinger Road from Morrissey Drive to Route 343 and Morrissey Drive from Mount Zion Road to the township line.

Pennsy Supply was the lowest of five bids received for the project, coming around $50,000 under budget, said public works director Jared Balsbaugh.

The board also accepted the low bid of $144,320.91 from Russel Standard Corp. for double oil and chip treatment of Halfway Drive from U.S. Route 422 to the township line and Emma Road from Elias Avenue to the township line. The project came in around $20,000 under budget, Balsbaugh said. Oil and chip treatment is not a substitute for paving, but extends a road’s life cycle by filling cracks and protecting against water damage.

The bid includes an add-alternate item for $3,883 to apply treatment on Emma Road in North Annville Township, for which supervisors also unanimously approved an intermunicipal agreement. North Annville will be responsible for that extra cost.

North Lebanon received $408,027 in liquid fuels funding from the state to go toward road repairs this year, a decrease from the $415,332 awarded in 2025. Balsbaugh said after the meeting that while liquid fuel funding has decreased, prices are increasing and the township may eventually need to dip into savings to pay part of road projects.

Next year, the township plans to pave Long Lane and Russel Road, followed by Hanford Drive and North 25th Street in 2028. East Kercher Avenue, Justa Lane, St. Jacobs Drive, and Kenbrook Road are also slated for maintenance in 2028, with Ashton Drive, Martin Drive, Creston Drive, Janet Avenue, Mae Avenue, and Lake Drive planned for 2029 and 2030.

Supervisors unanimously approved a fuel bid of $50,684.70 from Rhoads Energy Corp. for 11,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 2,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline. The price includes delivery.

Also at the meeting, resident Sara Fuller questioned the Lebanon County Regional Police Department’s recent decision to sign a Section 287(g) agreement to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Fuller said she was glad to see increased police presence and response times since the department’s formation at the start of last year, but she is concerned the agreement could divert the department’s resources.

The agreement was officially entered at the governing commission’s March 10 meeting, though verbal approval was granted for Chief Tim Knight to advance it prior.

Knight said that the department and its predecessors have been assisting ICE for years and the nature of that assistance will not change. He said assistance is offered in cases undocumented immigrants are arrested for committing crimes within the township. The document, he said, establishes reimbursement for services already rendered by the department.

Fuller questioned the department’s adoption of the task force model, which includes “the power and authority to arrest without a warrant … any alien in the United States, if the officer has reason to believe the alien to be arrested is in the United States in violation of law and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.”

“We’re not doing that, we’re not going around searching for people, going to places of business searching people out,” said Knight.” What we are doing is, when we do encounter criminals, those are the people we’re addressing who aren’t supposed to be here in our country, that came over here illegally.

“We don’t want people committing crimes in our communities, and if they’re here illegally, it’s a little bit easier for us to address, and it kind of streamlines the process for us. Before, we’d have to wait a couple hours, potentially, for an ICE agent to come from wherever he was at at the time to come in and address the person and take the person into custody. Now, we can make arrangements and address it and take care of the person right away, so it saves us time.”

Fuller said she was glad the department is not aggressively seeking out undocumented immigrants, though she said she is worried the agreement could deteriorate trust with some residents, who may hesitate to report crimes or work with police.

Knight asked Fuller to come to the commission’s meeting on April 14 to voice her concerns and ask questions of commission members, which she said she would do.

Supervisors also heard the department’s report for February. Knight described two incidents where officers administered life-saving care.

In an incident in North Cornwall Township, Knight said, officers responded to a person in cardiac arrest with no pulse and revived her. In an incident in North Lebanon, he said, officers responded to the scene of a carbon monoxide leak and pulled two people out safely, though a third person died.

Supervisor Ardy Snook said he was proud of the changes undergone in North Lebanon’s policing since the merger at the start of 2025, including significantly reduced response times. In January, Knight reported that response time in 2025 decreased to under four minutes, down from around 12 minutes in 2024.

“When you hear stories like Tim just told, and how this whole police force has changed in the last year, it’s just incredible,” said Snook. “It’s an honor to be a part of it.”

In other news, supervisors:

• Unanimously approved a subdivision and land development plan for phase two of Estates at Hearthside and an associated waiver for minimum number of lots per phase at the recommendation of the planning commission. The plan includes 23 of the development’s planned 120 lots, as well as associated stormwater management facilities.

• Unanimously agreed to accept engagement letter terms to utilize Cohen Law Group’s services to renegotiate a franchise agreement with Comcast.
• Unanimously approved a $500 donation to the America250 PA Lebanon County Committee for the July 4 celebration at the Expo Center, and approved a resolution in support of the Pennsylvania commission.
• Unanimously approved plan review extensions for the R&L Carriers, Whispering Pines, Stanley Martin, and Berks Construction developments.
• Unanimously approved the placement of temporary wooden posts in Lenni Lenape Park and the township community park for the GO Lebanon Program, hosted by WellSpan and Lebanon county’s library system.
• Unanimously approved the sale of several items on MuniciBid.
• Unanimously signed a letter of support for April as PA 811 Safe Digging Month.
• Unanimously approved a resolution concerning routine destruction of municipal records.
• Unanimously approved a renewal application for Lakeside Mobile Home Park.
• Heard reports and unanimously approved minutes.

North Lebanon Township Board of Supervisors meets the third Monday of each month at 7 p.m. These meetings are open to the public and do not require prior registration.