New Enterprise Stone & Lime wins Dierwechter Road paving contract

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

New Enterprise Stone & Lime Company Inc. won a contract to pave about 0.78 miles of Dierwechter Road when the Millcreek Township Board of Supervisors unanimously accepted its $155,021.94 bid Wednesday evening. 

Ephrata-based New Enterprise outbid Pennsy Supply’s next-lowest bid of $155,392.68. Other bids were H&K Group Inc. at $176,969.47 and Ronnie C. Folk Paving Inc. at $197,839.75. 

The Millcreek board opened bids on May 13 in a make-up after discovering a mistake in its request for bids opened April 8. 

At that earlier meeting, the township’s road foreman, Ryan Risser, recommended the board reject bids received for double-oil and chip treatment on West Texter Mission Road and focus on completing the Dierwechter Road paving instead. Risser suggested the board hold off on the double-oil and chip treatment until next year. He had estimated that job will cost up to $100,000.

Also at the May 13 meeting, chairman Eric Weidmen raised the issue of funding the township’s volunteer fire department by adding a property tax millage. Millcreek cannot impose a flat tax of, say, $50 per home, he said, and should have millage in place before the township’s budget for the next fiscal year comes up. 

From the audience, Newmanstown Volunteer Fire Company president Amos Hoover described needs of the department, which serves Millcreek and surrounding communities, including the replacement of a fire engine nearing the end of its useful life. A new fire engine would cost the Newmanstown company well over $1 million, Hoover said.

“We can’t afford a used one,” he said.

Two zoning issues also came up during the meeting. For several years, the township planning commission has considered amendments to its solar energy system zoning requirements. Solicitor Andrew Morrow outlined the result of the commission’s work that he will forward to the Lebanon County Planning Department for review. 

The second zoning issue involves changes Morrow recommends in the definition of dog kennels.

For solar energy, the Millcreek planning commission recommends setbacks required for ground-mounted systems be increased from the current 5 feet from the lot line to 10 feet from the side lot line and 15 feet from the rear lot line, with prohibition of any ground-mounted system in a front yard.

Current township zoning limits a roof-mounted solar energy system to 25% of the area of a principal structure’s ground floor, which the solicitor described as the most restrictive requirement in the county. Millcreek’s planning commission recommends that requirement be replaced with Lebanon County’s building regulation for maximum lot coverage. 

“If you wanted to put something on your roof, it made it prohibitive,” Morrow said.

Regarding dog kennels, Morrow said he suggested in April that the definition of a kennel should be changed. Dog kennels are currently described as having three or more dogs, aged 10 weeks or older. Any premises where dogs are “accessories” to agriculture are excepted in the zoning. 

Morrow suggested that lot size and setback requirements be changed. A potential zoning change would have “at least a few acres and setbacks more than your normal 10- to 15-foot” requirement for an agricultural zone, he said. Morrow emphasized that a potential zoning change must include an exemption for state-licensed veterinarians.

Other items:

• Millcreek Township donates every year to community entities. Supervisors voted 3-0 to donate $10,000 to Newmanstown Volunteer Fire Company, $1,250 to the Millcreek Rod & Gun Club, $1,000 to the Richland Library and $2,000 to the Millcreek Recreation Board.
• The board voted 3-0 to pay $100 to the speaker of the township’s Memorial Day Service, plus $60 for the event’s sound system, $60 for clergy, and $200 for the Heart of Lebanon chorus (also known as the Lebanon Singing Cedars, according to Lauren Ritchie, township secretary/treasurer).
• The board approved 3-0 the Millcreek Community Center’s request to use Memorial Park for its music in the park series, to be held each Sunday in August from 3:30 to 8:15 p.m.
• The ELCO school district bookmobile will be in the White Swan Park lot from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 24, thanks to a 3-0 vote approval by the board.
• The board approved a thank-you letter to Blue Triton, owner of Deer Park water, for its $5,000 donation to the township.
• The board amended the effective date of the appointment of Terry Katzaman as the township’s new police chief to May 22.