Lebanon City Council OKs 12th & Maple traffic light improvements

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

Lebanon City Council took the first step toward modernizing traffic signals at 12th and Maple streets during its March 23 meeting, when it authorized Mayor Sherry Capello to sign a grant agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Maple Street at 12th is Route 72, a state highway.

Under the agreement, PennDOT will contribute roughly $368,000 from its Green Light Go Program toward the estimated $463,000 cost of upgrades, and the city will contribute roughly $95,000 from its liquid fuel tax funds.

Public works director Chad Yeagley said that demands on the busy north side intersection have “changed drastically” over the years, largely from new commercial construction, including a nearby supermarket.

In addition to new signal lights with arrows, Yeagley said pedestrian crosswalks will be redesigned.

Capello said the project will now enter the design phase, and that the state grant requires the upgrades to be completed by May 2028.

Council briefed on city bilingual school

Council received a community update from Sheena Stoner, principal of the Paloma School, a private, bilingual school located in the former St. James Lutheran Church at 2nd and Chestnut streets.

Stoner said the “Christ-centered” school has 86 students in pre-school through 12th grade, with an average class size of 12. The majority of Paloma’s students, 47% of whom are of Spanish heritage, are from the city.

“Our mission is to provide a quality bilingual education rooted in the Charlotte Mason philosophy,” she said. “All of our students are language learners. We use language to serve others.”

Outdoor activities are an integral part of the school’s mission, and Paloma students participate in summer Spanish and STEM camps, Stoner said.

Other business

• Capello told council that through Feb. 28, with the year 17% complete, year-to-date revenue and expenses were at 15% and 12%, respectively, of 2026 budget projections. She pointed out that property tax bills just went out earlier in the month, meaning the revenue lag is expected to disappear as receipts flow in.
• Capello said that Barbacane, Thornton & Co. had completed its audit of city financial statements through the end of 2024, with no adverse findings.
• Council approved a resolution allowing city administrators to discard various old paper records as authorized by state law.
• Council gave final approval to an ordinance authorizing the codifying of a number of recently-passed ordinances. Codification, done every few years, blends new ordinances with already existing ones into single online and print locations, numbering and arranging them in a consistent, searchable order.
• In response to questions from West Lebanon Township resident Lisa Shucker, Capello said the severe winter has led to concerns about the durability of the newly installed turf at the long-awaited city dog park at Coleman Memorial Park, making the projected spring opening date uncertain at present.

Next Lebanon City Council meetings

City Council’s next pre-council planning meeting will be on Thursday, April 23, at 4:45 p.m. The next regular monthly council meeting will be on Monday, April 27, at 6:30 p.m.

All meetings are open to the public and will be held in the City Hall multi-purpose room, 735 Cumberland St., first floor, Lebanon. Meetings are streamed live on YouTube here.