Annville-Cleona Fire Company tells borough council about new position

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At Monday night’s Cleona Borough Council meeting, Annville-Cleona Fire Chief Phil Snavely and board president Ryan Flynn presented their hopeful solution to the station’s growing administrative needs.

The department will seek a full-time, paid fire administrator position – the first of its kind in Lebanon County, they said at the April 6 meeting. Responsibilities will include coordinating training and equipment and handling reports and compliance. The administrator will also need to get certified as a firefighter. 

“Our No. 1 duty is to provide service to the community,” said Snavely. “There’s all these auxiliary things we need to do administratively. I’d rather (a firefighter) be available when there is a structure fire than to use all their volunteer time working on grant applications.” 

A salary range has not yet been released, however the station has budgeted up to $82,000 for the role. To get notified when the position is posted you can sign up at connectwithacfd.org/fireadmin. The targeted position start date is in July. 

Council then heard public comment from Margaret Bowman, who followed up with the board to ask whether there had been any further investigation into what she believes are zoning violations at nearby properties.

Mayor Matt Zechman said he has reached out to a local landowner to see if the vehicles in question could possibly be moved, but he has not yet heard back.

During the 145 Dairy Road agenda item, property owner Rose Kane said she felt insulted after the borough served a complaint to her property on March 30.

Borough officials declined to provide additional details, citing pending litigation. Kane reiterated her frustration, saying she found the situation insulting.

The topic of 145 Dairy Road first appeared on council’s agenda in March 2025, but was not discussed in detail until the April 2025 meeting. The published minutes explain that solicitor Colleen Gallo said the driveway at the southern end of 145 Dairy Road cuts across the borough’s right-of-way, and that the driveway did not receive its permits and the matter should be referred to zoning and code enforcement officers.  

145 Dairy Road has appeared on nearly every agenda for various reasons since March 2025, however borough manager Mike Pieffer confirmed that the current litigation is not in regards to the permit. 

In other news: 

• Council approved the purchase of a new police vehicle for $44,899. This matter was tabled last month until council was able to get more vendors to compare pricing from in addition to an itemized list of what features would be included with the vehicle. 
• The borough’s highway department does not have plans at this time for any paving projects this summer.
• Zechman is continuing to get quotes for rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) lights to install at crosswalks. Council approved a resolution for the submission of signal application for RRFB’s and resolution traffic signal maintenance agreement with PennDOT, agreeing that the borough will maintain the signs they plan to install on the PennDOT road.  
• Tabled zoning ordinance #336, after council discussion on wanting to potentially include provision for data centers. 
• Approved joining the Lebanon County Cable Consortium for Comcast. 

Council then adjourned the meeting and moved into executive session, noting that no action would be taken. The session covered the school resource officer agreement and a personnel matter added to the agenda during the meeting by Gallo.

Cleona Borough Council’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 4, at 7 p.m., at the Cleona Borough Building, 140 W. Walnut St. Meetings are open to the public.