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Cornwall Borough Council on Monday unanimously accepted Pennsy’s bid of $258,436.47 for paving projects planned for this summer.
The projects planned for Ash Lane from Beech to Hemlock, Holly Lane from Aspen to Aspen, and Beech Drive from Ash to Holly are expected to be completed by Sept. 2.
The projects’ estimated cost was $220,000, but the council expected higher bids. Other townships, such as North Lebanon Township, have found that paving bids have increased significantly due to rising oil prices.
Read More: N. Lebanon Twp. supervisors push back paving projects due to high fuel prices
The council also received a bid from the H&K Group totaling $277,483.34, but chose the less expensive bid.
After some discussion, the council also unanimously chose to begin the process to switch from Lebanon County Planning for zoning permit and enforcement issues.
The council plans to appoint borough engineer Jeffrey Steckbeck as zoning officer for the municipality.
Steckbeck will issue design permits for planned construction, perform inspections during and after construction to ensure it matches what was described on permits, investigate reports of violations and, if necessary, write a letter to the property owner detailing violations and next steps.
Steckbeck, who was present at Monday’s meeting, noted that he would be able to attend Zoning Hearing Board meetings and could even issue permits at these meetings, expediting the process from how it currently runs.
As zoning officer, Steckbeck will be paid $50 an hour. The base permit fee for property owners is $20, plus $1 for every thousand in value of the property being constructed.
Steckbeck noted that in West Cornwall Township, where he also serves as zoning officer, last year he collected around $4,700 in fees for the county and was paid around $2,300.
Because Steckbeck is not certified to issue uniform construction code permits, these will likely continue to be handled by the county.
Council unanimously approved a motion to refer a correspondence with solicitor Josele Cleary regarding possible changes to zoning ordinances to the PNZ.
Cleary detailed sample ordinances and definitions from four other municipalities for the PNZ to take into account.
PNZ will likely take a few months to take public input before making a recommendation to the council about what changes to make to zoning ordinances.
This comes after controversial zoning issues in Spring Hills Acres led to a private executive session held March 14.
“I did see that our solicitor is telling us that we really should do something, because of the way our ordinance is worded,” said council president Bruce Harris.
Council also unanimously chose to approve Resolution 2022-6, adopting the Lebanon County Department of Emergency Management Emergency Operations Plan.
Political subdivisions in Pennsylvania are required to maintain a disaster emergency management plan.
Council also authorized a memorandum of understanding to appoint an Emergency Management Coordinator, and subsequently unanimously adopted Resolution 2022-7 to appoint Lebanon County Department of Emergency Services emergency staffer Jason Weikel to this role.
In other business, the council:
- Unanimously agreed to adopt a five-year agreement with the Lebanon County Department of Emergency Services for $5 per capita.
- Unanimously agreed to end Officer Itzen’s probationary period early (after six months instead of 12) and promote him to Patrolman Grade 2 at Chief Brett Hopkins’ request due to exceptional performance and empathy.
- Unanimously agreed to increase the pay rate for the township’s summer help from $12 to $16.
- Discussed modifying the borough’s office hours, which are currently 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., but decided against it.
- Unanimously approved reports (PDF) including the secretary’s report, treasurer’s report, Finance Committee’s report, and more.
- Heard the budget report, noting that as of April 30, the borough’s revenue’s totaled $837,368.91, or 34.43% of the budgeted $2,432,226, and that expenditures totaled $697,031.05, or 25.17% of the budgeted $2,769,684.14.
Cornwall Borough Council meets at the borough building the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. The next meeting will be held June 13 at the Cornwall United Methodist Church, 50 Freeman Drive, as the borough building will be undergoing repairs.
These meetings are open to the public and do not require prior registration.
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Full Disclosure: Steckbeck Engineering & Surveying, Inc., is an advertiser on LebTown. LebTown does not make editorial decisions based on advertising relationships and advertisers do not receive special editorial treatment. Learn more about advertising with LebTown here.
