Residents raise concerns about ATV activity increasing in North Lebanon Township roads

North Lebanon Township resident Bruce Sattazahn told Police Chief Tim Knight, during the board of supervisors meeting, he has observed an increasing number of all-terrain vehicles, or ATVs, traveling on township roads recently, rather than in fields. He said two of them passed him recently, exceeding the speed limit, when he was driving on Weavertown Road.

Knight said he has received other complaints and his department has been watching for the off-road vehicles traveling on roads. The township police recently confiscated two of the ATVs.

Other municipalities are also having issues with ATVs, according to officials. Lebanon city police have been dealing with complaints about reckless driving by motor bikes on city streets.

Knight said he predicts the ATV activity may increase during the upcoming summer months so he has been working on a plan to combat the problem. It will likely not be as extreme as that used by the Reading Police Department. He said he was told that city confiscated various types of vehicles illegally traveling on city streets, placed them in a pile, and crushed them.

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Residents on Prescott Road are dealing with a different issue. They told the board that a business located on the west side of the road is working outdoors, dawn to dusk, seven days a week, doing some type of work on semi-trailers. They said in addition to the loud pounding sound of sledge hammers, the workers play loud music with a pounding bass beat all day.

The residents said that the business has leased many acres of land but they have chosen to do the work at a location close to the road across from two well-maintained residential properties, rather than across from a stretch of farm fields to the north of the homes.

Hundreds of empty used trailers are tightly parked on the industrial lot, end to end, side by side, with only a few feet separating. The residents believe the trailers were moved from the former Alcoa property in South Lebanon Township, when that property was sold for warehouse development.

Supervisor Gary Heisey asked solicitor Amy Leonard if any of the disturbances mentioned violate township ordinances. Leonard said she would research the matter and report her findings to township administrators.

Also at the meeting, the board gave approval to the Ebeneezer Beautification Committee to close Old Ebeneezer Road on Saturday, May 21, to conduct the dedication of its Memorial Garden. The landscaped corner near the intersection of Jay Street and Route 72 has an area of 124 memorial bricks and benches surrounded by a low stone wall.

Speakers at the 10 a.m. event will include Pennsylvania State Representative Russ Diamond, Lee F. Spencer Sr., President of the Ebenezer Fire Company, Bonnie L. Loy, Regent of the Lebanon Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and Gwen Yordy, president of the Beautification Committee.

Memorial bricks can be ordered by May 31 by calling Yordy at 717-272-4191. The cost ranges from $50 to $60.

The board reviewed a revised land development plan for Town's Edge, the townhouse and garden apartment community being constructed on the west side of North Eighth Avenue. The new plan includes 7 garage buildings with 40 units, rather than parking lots. The supervisors approved the new version with the restriction that the garages can not be sub-let or used just for storage.

There was further discussion about the Future Stars baseball tournament organized by the In the Net sports complex each summer that uses the fields at Long Lane as satellite fields. At last month's meeting Heisey said most of the players typically travel from New Jersey, New York, and Maryland to play in these games.

He said that although the township receives a $50 fee per game to cover field maintenance, the tournament play makes the fields unavailable to township residents. The board decided not to make any changes this year but will later decide whether to decline use of fields for the tournament in 2023, or raise the fees.

In other baseball field news, the board gave approval to a plan of the local Little League organization to renovate a field at the Lion's Lake Park to use for a new league for 13-year-old players. The Seedway Company will help with the cost of the project and will use the finished field to promote its sports turf products. League members will provide labor. The township will provide a rototiller, if needed.

The board accepted the resignation of Steve Beard, township Emergency Management Agency coordinator. Chief Knight will inform the county's Department of Emergency Services and Governor Wolf's office of the resignation and the supervisors will begin a search for a new coordinator.

The Lebanon County Commissioners approved a Marcellus Shale Grant award of $25,000 to be used toward the cost of materials needed to extend the walking path at Lenni Lenape Park. The work will be done by the township highway department.

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Residents raise concerns about ATV activity on North Lebanon Twp roads