Data centers, fire company assets highlight N. Annville Twp. meeting

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North Annville Township supervisors voted Monday, June 8, to have the township’s solicitor send to Lebanon County Planning for review and possible comments a draft ordinance concerning data centers.

Supervisors also discussed possible renovations to an existing piece of fire apparatus and the possible sale of the former Union Water Works Fire Company building in Annville. They also discussed the continuing closure of Clear Spring Road, which recently failed an inspection.

Data center ordinance

The draft ordinance contains a provision that any proposal would be considered as a conditional use, meaning supervisors would conduct hearings concerning a proposal and not the zoning hearing board, according to township solicitor Paul Bametzreider.

“Don’t know if the board is fine with that. If conditional use, the hearing comes before you. Reasonable conditions could be imposed as opposed to relying on the zoning hearing board,” Bametzreider explained.

Secretary Adam Wolfe said supervisors already acted on a conditional use for a solar farm proposal, and he was not opposed to keeping the language as presented in the draft ordinance. Chairman Clyde Meyer and supervisor Aaron Miller agreed. 

Bametzreider noted the draft ordinance needs some standard clauses and other legal language before he forwards it to county planning.

“If you want to authorize me to go ahead and make those cosmetic changes and then send it to the county for comment, you can entertain a motion to that effect,” he said. 

Meyer noted that verbiage within the ordinance was missing language, specifically the word “minimum” for the least amount of coverage (25%) of a data center’s roofing surface that must be covered with solar panels to generate electricity. It was also noted that language pertaining to the municipal code regarding finances would be added before the ordinance was forwarded to county officials.

It was not stated at the meeting how long the review process and final consideration by the supervisors for a vote might take.

Fire apparatus replacement plan revisions

At last month’s meeting, fire company officials requested alterations to North Annville Fire Company’s apparatus replacement plan since an existing tanker is in need of repairs before its scheduled replacement.

The vehicle was being used by the fire company as a second tanker and is stored at the former Union Water Works Fire Company when not in use.

On Monday, Miller led a discussion since supervisors investigated possible repairs to the vehicle, which has issues with its fiberglass lining and a sagging tank. 

However, on Tuesday evening, after a story was filed for publication, secretary Adam Wolfe sent an email saying, “As a follow-up to last night’s discussion about the tanker truck with a defective tank, the company who the Township contacted about potentially repairing the tank indicated this morning that they are unable to repair it due to the design of the tank.”

During the meeting, Miller noted that supervisors had six questions concerning how much this repair might cost (estimate $20,000), how long it would take (five days), how long the warranty would last (12 months), life expectancy of the repair (five years on average), would the tank have to come off or stay on the frame while being repaired, and how soon could the repair be scheduled (first responders are given priority). 

While Mark Sallada, fire company deputy chief, said he’d be willing to meet with the repair representative, he also noted that businesses that specialize in fire truck repairs won’t do it. One man “actually laughed at it over the phone, accidentally out loud. So, he said absolutely not,” he said. 

Sallada also noted getting a warranty is impossible because “the failure rate is so great” on fiberglass-lined tankers.  

He requested swift action whatever is decided since, if the plan is to purchase a new tanker, the time to act is now. 

“I just want to make sure that we don’t take this and another month goes by and another month goes by because before you know it, we just lost a whole six months, seven months, eight months,” Sallada said, adding that the price of aluminum is expected to rise about 15% within the next six months due to higher diesel fuel costs. “So the prices of the trucks that we got quotes for, they will be revised, they will go off. There’s no doubt about it. So there’s just nothing to do about it.”

Sallada also stated rising fuel costs, which have been attributed to the war in Iran, has changed the quote period from six months to 30 days. 

“They’re giving us quotes that are good for 30 days because the stuff is changing that drastically. It’s almost like we’re back to COVID times, honestly. And a lot of that is because of transportation fees that people are getting plugged with,” he added.

A decision was made to meet with a repair rep to give a company official time to inspect the vehicle before deciding to fix it or buy a new vehicle. Supervisors agreed to keep the item on July’s agenda for further discussion and possible action.

Sale of Union Water Works property

Sallada said fire company officials decided to pitch to supervisors a plan to have them purchase the assets of the former Union Water Works at the assessed value. As part of that plan, if they decided to pursue it, Sallada suggested that the township would sell its current property along State Route 934 and move operations there. 

The fire company’s social hall is where supervisors conduct their monthly meetings. Supervisors said they need time to discuss the proposal and will get back to the fire company with a decision.

When asked why the fire department isn’t selling to a non-township entity, especially given the high cost of real estate, Sallada provided an answer based on what he said was the collective decision of fire company officials. 

“We like to be good stewards to our township. Our township has helped us over the years, as far as funding the fire departments, and we think it’s only right that if the township is interested in giving us the appraisal value, that they would take their offer,” Sallada said. “We don’t think it’s right to put a high bid up and then have our own township mad at us.”

Sallada noted a few conditions of a possible sale, including rental terms of a $1 a year for three years, during which time the fire company would add a new building in Bellegrove to house the tanker unit. The fire company also wants to execute a sales agreement on the Union Water Works property by the end of 2026.

He also said they want to get an appraisal in the near future because they don’t want the cost of a new structure at the current site to cost more than what officials would receive when selling the Union Water Work assets.

“If the township says, ‘no, we don’t want to move on the building,’ then we’ll put it out for bid,” added Sallada.

Other township business

In other business, supervisors: 

• Learned that the Emergency Services Advisory Committee is working on a plan for recruitment and retention of first responders. 
• Received the monthly fire company report, including 11 fire incidents, six EMS calls, and a fire police activity for a total of 18 incidents and 105.24 hours. Three trainings, 18 fundraisers, one public relations event, 14 work details, 17 administrative duties, and two vehicle maintenance duties were conducted. With other activities, including the auxiliary, volunteer man hours totaled 564.52. The second and final carnival at North Annville Township Fire Company is scheduled for this Saturday evening. 
• Received the monthly police department report, including 59 numbers pulled, two DUI arrests on State Route 934, and two charges for domestic-related crimes. There were two reports of fraud, and residents were urged to call police if someone tries to extort money from them.  
• Accepted the planning commission report, including an announcement that there will not be a meeting in July. 
• Approved the May 11 meeting minutes.
• Approved the treasurer’s report as of May 11, including a balance in all accounts totaling $1,896,305.44.
• Read and approved paying the monthly bills.
• Agreed to pay $250 towards the parade in Jonestown to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday. The event, on Friday, July 3, includes fireworks after the parade, and the contribution requested is to help defray the $20,000 price tag for the fireworks display. Event organizers have raised about 60% of the necessary funds. 

Next meeting

North Annville Township supervisors meet the second Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the social hall of the former Union Water Works Fire Hall, 2875 Water Works Way, Annville. The next meeting is on July 13.