S. Annville authorizes solicitor to draft zoning ordinance to regulate data centers

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

At the July 8 meeting, South Annville Township supervisors unanimously approved a motion to authorize township solicitor Josele Cleary to start drafting a zoning ordinance to regulate data centers, pending decisions in the state Legislature regarding a pause for data centers.

House Bill 2496, passed 201-1 by the state House and yet to be passed by the state Senate, would allow municipalities to issue an 180-day pause on new data center development proposals. During this window, the municipality could update its zoning ordinance to regulate data centers.

The drafted zoning ordinance will be presented to the Lebanon County Planning Department and the South Annville Township Planning Commission for review and recommendations. Following the review period, supervisors will hold a public hearing before voting on the zoning ordinance.

Residents can give their input by emailing recommendations to township staff that will be forwarded to supervisors for consideration. Residents can also give input at the planning commission meeting and public hearing.

Supervisors unanimously approved a motion to accept a proposal for the C.M. High Traffic Signal Agreement. The agreement costs $820 this year, which is the same as last year, and includes preventative maintenance at the intersections of U.S. Route 322/State Route 934 and U.S. Route 422/Killinger Road.

Supervisors unanimously authorized township manager Jeanette Henning to purchase three new tablets, one for each supervisor, through their IT representative. The new tablets will have increased storage capacity compared to the five-year-old tablets supervisors are currently using.

Henning suggested that two of the old tablets be given to the township police department and one to assistant township manager Heather Mesko.

Supervisors unanimously approved a $50-per-meeting stipend for board members of the South Annville Township Authority, which meets six times per year.

During public comment, township resident Michael Schroeder expressed his gratitude for the upgrade of the township’s website. Schroeder also requested that agendas be posted to the website earlier, and Henning responded that she submits agendas to the webmaster with the request that they be posted to the website by 7 p.m. on the Tuesday before meetings.

Also during public comment, Ryan Flynn, president of the Annville-Cleona Fire Department, shared the fire report. Applications for the fire department administrator position closed in mid-June, and the first round of interviews was completed the week of July 6. After the final round(s) of interviews are completed, the candidate will be selected by September.

Flynn also invited one of the supervisors to serve as a township representative on a new committee at the fire department, which meets once a month.

In other news, supervisors unanimously moved to:

• Approve the secretary’s and treasurer’s reports.
• Approve the engineer’s report, which included the final design of the Louser Road culvert project, ready to be reviewed by another engineer, and determine whether the project would be eligible for Lebanon County’s Community Development Block Grant program, with applications due on Monday, Aug. 17.
• Approve the police report, which included 148 calls for township and noted the hiring of Sgt. Scott Firestone means the township has a certified car seat technician.
• Approve the payment of the township’s bills.

The updates portion of the meeting included a thank-you letter from the Lebanon Valley Conservancy for the township’s donation of $1,050 this year; an increase of turnback fees from $4,000/mile to $6,000/mile, pending approval by the state Senate; Mesko’s appearance in the PSATS Township News Magazine; the comprehensive plan meeting scheduled for Wednesday, July 15; the supervisors convention on Tuesday, Oct. 6; and a thank you to Ed Kreider and the police department for their after-hours storm coverage over the July 4 weekend.

South Annville Township supervisors meet at 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month. Meetings are typically held in the Donald H. Umberger Building, but may be held in the Annville-Cleona Secondary School’s auditorium, depending on anticipated attendance. Next month’s meeting will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 12.