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Palmyra Borough Council Special Meeting
Monday, April 13, 2015
7:00 PM
Borough Council President Jane Quairoli called the meeting to order at 7:10 in the Meeting Room of the
Citizen Fire Company #1, 21 N. College Street, Palmyra, PA 17078. Other Council members in
attendance included Brian Craig, Pat Hennessy, Gary Laudermilch, Beth Shearer, Joe Templin, and Ralph
Watts. Also present were Mayor Fred Carpenter, Police Chief Stan Jasinski, Borough Manager Roger
Powl and Assistant Borough Manager Brenda Pera.
President Quairoli announced that the required public notice for this meeting was published in the
Saturday April 11th edition of the Lebanon Daily News. She also announced that the purpose of the
meeting is to outline the options available to house and sustain a 100% volunteer fire service into the
future, and to provide the residents of the Borough the opportunity to address Borough Council with their
opinion on the subject.
President Quairoli then turned the meeting over to Fire Chief Dave Dugan who made a presentation by
Citizen’s Fire Company #1 on the current state of the Fire Company and the future needs.
Chief Dugan outlined the number of members, the number of hours each member commits to training
before they can actively fight fires, and the current financial condition of the fire company. He
highlighted the current equipment and the replacement schedule for each piece of apparatus.
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Rescue Engine 1-1: scheduled to be replaced in 2021 – estimated to cost $700,000
Tower 1 – scheduled to be replaced in 2019 – estimated to cost $1.3 million
Wagon 1 – scheduled to be replaced in 2024 – estimated to cost $600,000
Utility – scheduled to be replaced in 2027 - estimated to cost $140,000
He explained the number of properties that the Fire Company owns and informed Council that they are
planning to sell the properties and use the proceeds to support the purchase of new apparatus. The Fire
Company still holds mortgages on the properties, so the proceeds will be less than anticipated. Chief
Dugan summarized the options available to provide fire service to the greater Palmyra area. He
commented that studies have been conducted on the existing fire house for renovation. The building will
need to be brought up to current codes which will cost approximately $2.5 million. The Fire Services
Commission decided that this was not a good investment due to the location of the fire house, the
increasing size of the equipment, and the lack of parking available for emergency responders. A Fire
Study was commissioned in 2009 to look at all facets of the fire prevention service in Palmyra and it was
determined that a new fire house was necessary to help the fire company plan for the future of providing
service to the community. The fire study also indicated that the building lot located at the Borough’s
municipal campus is the optimum area to locate the new firehouse, which carries a not to exceed cost
estimate of $3.8-millon. He explained that North Londonderry Township has offered to move the Fire
Company to land the township owns to serve as the fire department serving the Township with service
provided to the Borough via a contract but, the location proposed will significantly increase response
times to emergency calls. Chief Dugan explained that a comparable paid fire department would cost
approximately $3-million per year, and, a paid department would still need a code compliant building to
operate out of. Finally, he explained that the Fire Company could disband and the Borough & Township
would have to find an alternative volunteer fire service provider. He explained that the additional call
volumes placed on another volunteer department would make this option difficult for any other area fire
department to handle. This option would probably cost approximately $300,000 per year based on
current call volumes with a service charge of $1,000 per call. He also indicated that this option would
drastically increase the current 3-5 minute response times which would also lead to an increase in
homeowner’s insurance premiums.
Chief Dugan opened the floor for questions regarding his presentation. He answered questions
concerning what efforts were made to save money on the cost of the new building, and if there was a cost
savings in building the new firehouse as a single-story building also utilizing the lot designated for
construction of a possible new Public Library.
Palmyra Borough Council Workshop Minutes
Tuesday, April 13, 2015
Page 2 of 3
Public Comments
President Quairoli opened the floor to public comments to Borough Council.
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Jay Armold, 468 W Cedar Street, was concerned that Borough residents were paying more
annually than North Londonderry Township residents. He asked Council to consider making the
contribution equal.
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Susan Verhoek-Williams, 170 W Walnut Street, stated that the new building should not be built
where it is proposed, it will be between two schools and will be dangerous, it will decrease
property values, and it will increase noise, and she feels that Council should be focusing on storm
water and sinkholes. She also expressed her disdain that the audience was self selected with too
many spouses of the Fire Company volunteers.
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Ashley Theal, 29 N Locust Street, informed Council that she supports the new fire house and
believes it should be built in the Borough. She explained that as a several year neighbor of the
current firehouse, there is no issue with noise.
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Travis Finkenbinder, 35 W Pine Street, commended the Fire Company for the thousands of hours
that the volunteers dedicate to the community and asked that the community come together for a
capitol campaign to help the Fire Company raise money towards the project. He also opposes a
dedicated fire tax and feels the new building should just be funded through the General Fund.
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John Bruckhart, 220 E Hazel Street, raised a concern regarding sinkholes at the location of the
new fire house. Robert Buchter, P.E., who has been working with the Fire Company on the
building design, indicated that there is no guarantee about sinkholes, but there is no knowledge of
existing holes on the site.
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Jeff Tillett, 310 N Chestnut Street, spoke in support of the new fire house.
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Jeff Chubb, 21 N. Chestnut Street, spoke in support of the new fire house, but asked Council to
consider a geological study to determine if there are any sinkholes in the lot before building.
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Mark Sallada, 232 W Main Street, expressed his desire to see the Citizen’s Fire Company #1
continue and encouraged Council to support the new fire house. He also expressed that the new
building should be built large enough for any future expansion needs because it will be cheaper to
construct now rather than 15-20 years from now.
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Paul Tinsman, 22 Sun High Circle, spoke in favor of the new fire house.
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Tony Pearson, 23 Sycamore Street, spoke in favor of the new fire house.
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Patricia Tinsman, 22 Sun High Circle, asked Council what they needed to move forward with the
new fire house.
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Betsy Cohick, 105 W Main Street, inquired as to the fate of the current fire house. Chief Dugan
responded that it would be sold.
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Scott Buchle, Penn State Hershey Medical Center – Life Lion, informed Council that they would
like to maintain a relationship with the Borough and endorsed the concept of the new fire house.
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Tom Wood, President of Citizen’s Fire Company #1, commented that only one resident stood
before Council at all the meetings he attended and asked them not to raise taxes.
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Chief Dugan indicated that the Fire Company needs a commitment from Borough Council to
move forward with a capitol campaign or speak to financial institutions regarding loans. North
Londonderry Township has approved moving forward with these steps, but the Fire Company
needs the same from the Borough.
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Jan Gerhart, 908 W. Cherry Street, asked Council to approve the financial commitment to the
project so that all the fire volunteers can begin to work on the capitol campaign in the effort to
assist in raising funds for the new building.
Palmyra Borough Council Workshop Minutes
Tuesday, April 13, 2015
Page 3 of 3
President Quairoli expressed her concern that the Borough is facing the cost of fixing current sinkholes
and needs to consider future sinkhole costs. She is concerned that the timing is not right for a new fire
house. Councilor Templin also expressed his concern about the 2016 budget and the need to raise taxes
for Borough services.
Councilor Watts commented that the community needs this new fire house and the Borough is always
going to be facing other issues that will need to be addressed. Councilor Laudermilch agreed and said the
discussion regarding the fire house has continued for years and it is time to move forward.
Assistant Borough Manager, Brenda Pera, confirmed the following motion made by Councilor
Laudermilch.
Motion:
To support the Citizen’s Fire Company to move forward with building a new building
through financial support of the project. Motion by Gary Laudermilch, second by Beth
Shearer.
President Quairoli called for a roll call vote.
Brian Craig
Pat Hennessy
Gary Laudermilch
Beth Shearer
Joe Templin
Ralph Watts
Jane Quairoli
-
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
The motion passed by a 5-2 vote.
Communications
President Quairoli announced that two letters were received from concerned property owners:
1.
Letter from Kenneth B. Light, 101 S. Campbelltown Rd., Palmyra
2.
E-mail from Steven Morris, 32130 Steele Dr., Millsboro, DE 19966, owner of 330 N. Locust St.,
Palmyra,
Other Business
There was no other business.
Announcement
President Quairoli announced that Borough Council will conduct a public workshop meeting on Tuesday,
April 14, 2015 beginning at 6:00 PM and its regular monthly public meeting on Tuesday, April 28, 2015
beginning at 7:00 PM.
Motion to Adjourn
Motion to adjourn by Pat Hennessy, second by Gary Laudermilch. Motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Roger E. Powl
Borough Manager