From Chronicling Elizabethtown The Elizabethtown American Legion Post No. 329 donated nearly $5,000 to the Elizabethtown Police Department to buy a “speed trailer.” The trailer contains radar and a sign that posts a car’s speed as it drives past the trailer. Police Chief Jack Mentzer said officers won’t use the trailer for enforcement but rather to inform and educate drivers “about how easy it is to go above the speed limit and not notice it.” “It’s a fabulous tool to have,” he said. Ken Stark, commander of Post No. 329, said once someone brought up the idea of purchasing the[Read more...]

(published Aug 16, 2010 online at Chronicling Elizabethtown) The Elizabethtown Public Library will close its doors for one week, from Aug. 23 to 30, because of severe cuts in state funding, according to a report in the Aug. 12 edition of the Elizabethtown Advocate (that’s the best link — the paper’s not online yet). The newspaper reported that Pennsylvania state government will cut funding to libraries statewide by 9.1 percent. Last year, the state cut funding by 27 percent. So we’re looking at libraries taking a hit of one-third of their funding, basically because the economy is in the most[Read more...]

Seven Elizabethtown police officers received a Distinguished Unit Citation for their work during a standoff in May in which a man barricaded himself in his Park Street home for four hours. Matthew Shull faces numerous charges in connection with the alleged incident. Those receiving the honor were Lt. Joseph Ditzler, Corporal Gordon Berlin, Detective Clair Martin, Officer Timothy Wheal, Officer Michael Lyons, Officer Matthew Shuey and Officer Luann Pearson. In a brief presentation, Mayor Chuck Mummert called the units efforts “the epitome of teamwork.” He said all of them worked together to secure the area in the 300 block of[Read more...]

A number of residents showed up at tonight’s Borough Council meeting to discuss parking at the Elizabethtown Train Station, especially since the parking lot is torn apart at the moment so it can be paved as part of the $9 million in renovations. Specifically, they wanted to address rumors that Borough Council was going to vote tonight to assess a fee for parking. For the record, the topic was not on the agenda. We have not decided to to assess a fee or not, although we have had informal discussions and are investigating the pros and cons of parking fees[Read more...]

Teams of U.S. Census enumerators are going door to door to interview people who did not return their census forms. Nationwide, the response rate is 72 percent; in the Elizabethtown area, the response rates range between 76 percent and 81 percent, according to the Census’ Take 10 Map that lets you search by ZIP code and displays a Google map. A friend of mine is working as an enumerator, and I thought I would relay what he told me about his experience. He asked me not to identify him because Census workers are sworn to protect the confidentiality of the[Read more...]

Word came last week that the parking lot at the Elizabethtown Train Station will be closed for two months starting May 17. The lot will be closed so curbing and electrical components can be installed. Eventually, the lot will be paved. “It’s something they (the contractor) wanted to do in warm weather months, and the time has come,” Elizabethtown Borough Manager Roni Ryan told Borough Council last week. Amtrak will distribute fliers to train riders and post signs at the train station to notify train riders about the lot closure. Riders also can use the 90 parking spaces at nearby[Read more...]

Let me take a break from the newsy version of Chronicling Elizabethtown and do a little self-promotion, for what’s a politician worth if he doesn’t promote himself a little. Right? First, here’s the backstory: On March 29, Daniel Klotz and David Moulton were interviewing Karlo Gessner on their podcast called The Lancast, when the conversation veered in the direction of Elizabethtown and the great potential of our community. There’s lots happening here in E-town especially with Folklore Coffee, the conversation went, and with lots of open store fronts there’s plenty of possibility for new businesses. Cool, I thought as I[Read more...]

Former Elizabethtown Mayor and Councilman Ken Reighard received the Vincent W. O’Connor Public Service Award at the Elizabethtown Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner Friday, March 26. A lifelong resident of the borough, Ken served Elizabethtown’s municipal government for more than 30 years as mayor and a member of council. (Here’s a bit of trivia: Ken was mayor during the emergency at Three Mile Island in 1979.) During those years, he also was a director with the Elizabethtown Area Water Authority, a member of the Planning Commission, the Parks Commission and the Civil Service Commission. Ken retired from public service about[Read more...]

It’s not often elected officials can save taxpayers more than a quarter-million dollars. But with a unanimous roll call vote, that’s what Elizabethtown Borough Council did earlier this month in voting to refinance the borough’s debt. And just by lucky timing, interest rates were low and investors were hungry — so council refinanced to an interest rate of about 3.3 percent, saving more than $265,000 because of the lower interest rate. As the borough’s financial adviser, Chris Gibbons of Concord Public Finance stated, it’s just like refinancing the mortgage on your house to a lower interest rate. The borough has[Read more...]

During last months snowstorms, Elizabethtown residents received automated phone calls from the Swift911 service to announce a snow emergency and information related to impact the storms had on services such as trash removal. By and large, the system worked very well. Speaking from personal experience, I picked up the phone and heard the first message in its entirety. I was pleased to know that the message looped so that anyone could hear the whole thing. Now, the borough is asking all residents to make sure their phone numbers in the database are accurate. This really is critical, especially in these[Read more...]