Several Manheim Township residents vowed to fight, or at least refuse to hook into, a public sewer project in the Pleasant Valley area. "This is the God's honest truth — I will not connect," Mark Selvaggio, of Long Farm Lane, said. He echoed the sentiments of many of some 40......

Adamstown council on Tuesday discussed a number of borough projects, including the construction of a building and replacement of outdated water meters and fire hydrants. Public works superintendent Mike Palm got council's go-ahead to complete construction of a salt and cinder building at a c......

Strasburg Township supervisors Monday appointed Mark Deimler  as their representative to discuss the possibility of building a joint sewer plant north of town with the Strasburg Borough Authority.  Borough officials have approached the supervisors with the idea a number of times o......

What a public sewer system costs the average Pennsylvania household: one-half to four-fifths of a penny per gallon of water used. What it costs G. Edward LeFevre at his Conestoga Township residence: $1.28 per gallon. That's what he's been asked to pay, at least, after Conestoga supervis......

West Donegal Township supervisors agreed Monday to enforce mandatory water hook up by about a dozen property owners in the area of West Ridge Road and Valerie Drive. Mike Skelly, manager of Elizabethtown Area Water Authority, said the township has the authority and responsibility for prop......

With the exception of one planning commission appointment, Conestoga Township's leadership remains the same in 2012. Supervisors Tuesday reappointed Craig Eshleman chairman and Robert Funk vice chairman. Steven Charles is the remaining member of the board. All are Republican, and Eshleman wa......

Brecknock Township's newest supervisor Melvin Boyd hit the ground running Tuesday at the first meeting of his six-year term. It could be argued that Boyd, who replaced the retiring Art Zerbe, has perhaps become the busiest official in the township. Boyd is the only person who holds pos......

Upper Leacock Township held its reorganization meeting Tuesday with one change in the lineup of supervisors.  Ron Simmons, whose term expires Dec. 31, 2013, remains chairman of the board.  Rick Heilig, whose term expires Dec. 31, 2015, will continue to serve on the board but will ......

A seat on the board of supervisors in West Donegal Township has passed from a leader who completed two terms to a successor with experience on the township planning commission. Charles Tupper served 12 years, including the past six as secretary-treasure of the supervisors. He recalled mis......

West Donegal Township acted Monday to approve a $3 million 2012 budget with no tax increase and showing a balance at the end of the budget year of $312,000. The 1.6 mill millage rate continues for the second year without an increase. In other business, the Rutt Road bridge is now ......

West Donegal Township supervisors voted 3-2 Monday to accept the resignation of township manager Nick Viscome. At an executive session, supervisors received a one-sentence letter from Viscome stating he resigned "effective Dec. 31." The issue was taken up by supervisors in an exec......

The Manheim Borough Authority approved a 2012 budget on Thursday that includes a 20 percent water rate increase and billing changes. The new rate will increase the fee from $4.43 to $5.35 per 1,000 gallons.  Borough authority administrator and operations manager Dave Fenicle said......

Brecknock Township's sewer authority on Monday voted to increase sewer rates by 22.5 percent. In an expected move, Northern Lancaster County Authority approved a sewer rate increase to $147 per quarter, up from $120 per quarter, to offset the cost of a $6 million upgrade of the township's ag......

A tenfold increase in sewer rates might make anyone squirm. For one little neighborhood in Conestoga Township, the possibility of bills jumping from $300 to $1,000 a year is especially troubling. Its residents say two of the eight Pequea Boulevard homes connected to the Colemanville Sew......

A resident of West Donegal Township castigated supervisors Monday for the way a 3-2 vote led to the immediate elimination of the position of assistant township manager on Nov. 23. Michael Worman, 41 Hunter Drive, faulted supervisors for taking the action to dismiss Sarah Yarger, who was d......

Manheim Township police are confronting a very weighty problem. A thief — or, more likely, two or more thieves — recently stole 11 manhole covers, each tipping the scale at 75 to 100 pounds. The covers, owned by Lancaster Area Sewer Authority, were taken in the 800 blo......

A Manheim Township organization has a special use in mind for a 260-year-old house in the suburb. The township's Historical Society wants to use the 1750s-era Stoner House on the edge of the Overlook Community Campus property as a "community center" and site for both its offices and publi......

Tax bills will remain the same for Brecknock Township residents. Supervisors Tuesday discussed the proposed 2012 preliminary budget, that will keep real estate taxes at .0269 mills. The $949,191 budget is nearly $30,000 less or 3 percent lower than the 2011 budget. To keep expenses dow......

  Too many bells and whistles.
That's how Brecknock Sewer Authority member Melvin Boyd has described a $6 million upgrade of Brecknock Township's sewer plant that was approved by the authority last month.
But Boyd, who is running to assume Art Zerbe's supe......

An increasing amount of grease is turning up in the Lititz sewer system, according to a report issued at the Oct. 25 meeting of Lititz Borough Council. The report was issued by Severn Trent, an independent operator of the wastewater treatment plant, which serves Lititz Borough and Warwick To......

In a split vote, the Brecknock Township Sewer Authority has elected to move forward on a $6 million project to modify the township's aging sewer treatment plant. The Northern Lancaster County Sewer Authority board had worked for about six years with Arro Consulting Inc. of Lititz to develop ......

Many of the residents at a crowded West Hempfield Township Supervisors meeting Tuesday requested help alleviating flooding issues that plague their communities. According to residents, rain has caused lakes to overflow, grates to clog and roads to break apart. Residents complained that the t......

The plan to modify Brecknock Township's aging sewer treatment plant took about six years to complete and is ready to go — but the project's start has been delayed.
The Northern Lancaster County Sewer Authority last month opened bids for contracts — general construction, ......

The Brecknock Township Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to have an outside consultant seek alternatives to the municipal sewer authority's proposal to construct a new sewage plant that is expected to cost about $6 million. Northern Lancaster County Authority has received nine bids sub......

At long last, the Porta-Potties might be on their way out. For the past four years, hundreds of spectators at Manheim Township High School football games have had to use portable toilets because the stadium lacks a functioning restroom on the "home" side. The sewer line on that si......

Sewer rates may increase for the eight Conestoga Township homeowners who receive water from the Colemanville Sewer Facility. Customers hooked into the Colemanville system received letters from township supervisors informing them that their rates could rise by $750 to $1,000 a year if they do......

Mount Joy Township supervisors took another step Monday toward making the Elizabethtown Regional Sewer Authority a reality. They appointed Richard Erb, David Sweigart and Alan Sollenberger to represent the township on the proposed authority, which also will serve West Donegal Township....

West Donegal Township named representatives Monday to the proposed Elizabethtown Regional Sewer Authority that will serve the township and Mount Joy Township. Supervisors appointed three members who currently serve on the West Donegal Township Sewer Authority. They are: Dan Brill, one-yea......

The Conestoga Township supervisors are still grappling with what to do about the high cost of operating the Colemanville Sewer Plant. At their July 5 meeting, supervisors discussed the possibility of shutting down the facility. That would have meant that the eight homeowners who pay to use t......

After nine months of meetings, the launch of a joint sewer authority in northwestern Lancaster County could clear a financial hurdle next month and begin operating in January. The combined boards of supervisors and sewer authorities of West Donegal and Mount Joy townships agreed Tuesday t......

Ephrata Township is willing to extend an agreement that dedicates a police officer to the school district, but the program's fate lies in the hands of other municipalities. At a meeting June 21, Ephrata Police Chief William Harvey presented the township's board of supervisors with a stopgap ......

  Lancaster's sewage sludge gives off a pungent odor. It looks like lumpy, grayish mud. But it's taken on a new luster for Public Works Director Charlotte Katzenmoyer. That's because the city now has a cheaper outlet for it. Sludge will no longer be transported to the ......

Brandon Park had the look of benign neglect Thursday evening. The grass was cut, but the pavement was badly broken. The light poles were heavily rusted, and bushes grew over the walking paths in places. There has been no significant investment in the park, along Wabank Road in the......

Lancaster city's sewer managers can breathe a sigh of relief. On Wednesday, the county commissioners awarded a contract to install a screen in Lancaster County Prison's sewer main; the screen will keep out of the city's sewer system junk flushed by inmates. Abel Construction Co. o......

A wise man once said, "Life has its ups and downs, but what you really have to watch out for is the dips." Which brings us to Willow Street Pike just south of the Lancaster city line. In an email, a reader noted that after the southbound lanes cross over the Conestoga River and merge in......

West Earl Township police Chief Brian Brandt told township supervisors recently that various problems are occurring at the entrance gate to the township compost facility. The problems involve vehicles with trailers, horse-drawn rigs and "tailgating," Brandt told the board on April 25. I......

The Strasburg Township supervisors have created a committee of five local volunteers to address the issue of sewer failures in the municipality. The purpose of the Refton Sewer Committee is to create an Act 537 plan that would bring the township into compliance with the Pennsylvania Sewage F......

The bad news is that Lancaster County is home to 700 miles of polluted, silt-choked streams, making it a major contributor to the Chesapeake Bay's decline. The good news is that people here are concerned and doing neat things to improve water quality. How to tell that story to fed......

A Boy Scout's plans to build a recycling facility in Conestoga Township for his Eagle Scout project are on hold until the supervisors get more information about what he would like to do. Eric Peiffer of Troop 146 told the supervisors at their April 5 meeting that he would like to build a rec......

Results of a PA Youth Survey filled out last year by Lampeter-Strasburg students in grades eight, 10 and 12 shows drug use down in nearly all categories across the board. The sole exception was inhalant use, according to a snapshot of the results distributed by the Lampeter-Strasburg scho......

Sewer service rates are jumping 16 percent in Elizabethtown Borough, effective Jan. 1. Borough council on Oct. 21 approved the rate hike — and noted another increase is possible as soon as 2014, although that was not part of the new ordinance. Council members heard from a co......

Lancaster city might have found a small answer — or many small answers — to a very large problem. Whenever the city experiences a heavy rain, stormwater runs into the sewer systems and overwhelms the capacity of its wastewater treatment plant, causing raw sewage to overflow in......

Lancaster County commissioners on Wednesday unanimously voted to authorize a $34 million bond issue to provide funds for a variety of projects. And, thanks to historic low interest rates and two federal government incentive programs aimed at municipal borrowing, the county got a sweet dea......

City sewage treatment plant workers for years have been hauling out junk flushed by inmates at the Lancaster County Prison. Junk such as sheets, towels, clothing and shoes, to name a few items, which can clog motors, pumps and sewer lines. And for years, that junk has put the coun......

A Manheim Borough water authority member and Penn Township supervisors squared-off during a public hearing held on the Manheim Central Regional Comprehensive Plan Monday. Doug Snavely, authority vice chairman, asked the township to enter into talks on merging the water and sewer a......

A plan to house state convicts in Manheim Borough has been put on hold.But John Roads, the Manheim businessman behind the plan, said his application to establish a 100-bed facility for prisoners in a former Raymark office building soon will be back in front of borough officials.&quo......

Inmates at Lancaster County Prison apparently have been causing problems for operators of the city's sewage treatment plant.And now county taxpayers will pay up to $225,000 to provide a remedy.The county commissioners on Wednesday authorized the facilities management department ......

A bull attacked and killed a Reinholds man at a Berks County farm, police reported on Monday.Ricky D. Weinhold, 53, died of multiple injuries Saturday at the farm at 370 Mill Road, Reinholds, near the Lancaster County line, South Heidelberg Township police said.Weinhold kept about 1......

They met once a month — at 7 in the morning, no less — for a year and a half, hearing and suggesting ideas for their township's future.The early risers included Manheim Township staff, elected and appointed officials and residents — and the job of this steering commit......

Repairs to a broken sewer line may affect traffic on New Holland Pike for the next few days.The break occurred at about 10:30 p.m. Friday at Route 23 and Eden Road.A contractor is repairing the problem in the 14-inch line, which goes under Route 23, for the Lancaster Area Sewer......

Manor Township supervisors Monday denied the wishes of nearly 200 residents who petitioned to have the township assume the financial burden of the public sewer project thrust upon them earlier this year.Lancaster Area Sewer Authority prevailed in its bid to bring public sewer to two commun......

Summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New Era appear in this space each Monday. They are researched and compiled by staff member Tim Buckwalter. Full versions are available on microfilm at the Lancaster County Library, 125 N. Duke St....

Plans to extend sewers into two Manor Township neighborhoods, Letort Manor and Perth Hills, are moving toward the starting line.The Lancaster Area Sewer Authority awarded a pair of construction contracts at its last meeting and said it intends to meet with residents within the next several......

Preserving farmland is important to West Earl Township's leaders. Nearly 80 percent of the township's 11,000 acres is agricultural, much of it farmed by Old Order Mennonites who have worked the fields for generations. "We probably, for our size, have secured more ag than any other towns......

Summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New Era appear in this space each Monday. They are researched and compiled by staff member Tim Buckwalter. Full versions are available on microfilm at the Lancaster County Library, 125 N. Duke St....

Every day, Kline's Services removes thousands of gallons of watery, greasy goo from dozens of businesses then hauls the foul mix back to Salunga.There, at the firm's complex, its shiny trucks pull into a small but tall building then empty their loads of waste grease into a 10,000-g......

Manheim Borough Authority invites the public to hear about expenses relating to the sewer plant at 7 p.m. Monday in Manheim Central Middle School auditorium, 261 White Oak Road.Matt Parido, authority administrator and borough manager, said Thursday the discussion will review the Chesapeake......

Last week, workers finished installing tubes of membrane filters — strands smaller than dental floss — that will extract impurities from river water at Lancaster City's Conestoga Water Plant. The membrane filtration is the same process used for bottled water and it will soon be avai......

With a backlog of local public works projects, county officials didn't have to look far to find a place to spend $903,494 in federal stimulus money. But picking projects that were ready to go right away was a little harder. This morning, Lancaster County Commissioners signed off on plans t......

The attorney for residents who oppose construction of a new Norfolk Southern freight rail yard on top of a restored dump site in Manheim Township is concerned and angry. Bill Cluck claims to have found  multiple "misstatements'' and other irregularities associated with the ent......

Manor Township has granted Lancaster Area Sewer Authority permission to move forward with the Perth Hills/Letort Manor sewer extension project — reversing its previous position to suspend construction. Monday's 3-2 decision followed LASA's announcement last week that it had receiv......

Tired of all the bad economic news? Well, there's actually some good — or at least encouraging — news for the residents in two Manor Township communities who are facing large bills for hooking up to public sewers. The Lancaster Area Sewer Authority has announced that "......

Brett Miller and Doug Brubaker are East Hempfield Township supervisors, while Brenda Becker is the superintendent of Hempfield School District. Mike Fitzgibbons is a veteran emergency responder in the community, while John Chesters and Art Ezard are community residents. These are some of t......

It's not a million-dollar question. But to the hundreds of residents in two older Manor Township neighborhoods, it is possibly a multi-thousand-dollar question. And an answer to the question — whether the Letort Manor and Perth Hills neighborhoods will be hooking up to public sew......

A proposed West Lampeter Township development may hit neighboring homeowners' pockets hard. Developer George Desmond wants to build 88 homes on nearly 25 acres behind existing homes in the 1800 block of Rockvale Road. Joellyn Warren, West Lampeter's director of community developmen......

The former operator of Penn Township's wastewater treatment plant was fined $1,000 Wednesday for falsifying reports by using paper towels to filter water samples from April 2005 to October 2007.J. Scott Shank was ordered to pay the fine to the state Solid Waste Abatement Fund, which fi......

Will Manor Township's supervisors eventually support or oppose the plan to extend public sewers into the Letort Manor and Perth Hills neighborhoods? That's a question that several hundred homeowners in the two communities would like to know. This morning, the Lancaster Area Sewer Authority......

In case anyone missed the point, it was clear again Monday night that residents in two Manor Township neighborhoods want answers to an ongoing problem. The problem is a financial one in Letort Manor and Perth Hills, where residents face the prospect of an expensive switch from on-lot systems to......

Angry at high cost assessments sprung on them to make sewer pipe repairs extending beyond their properties, about 20 Denver Borough residents spent an hour voicing opinions to officials Monday night.Originally, residents were not responsible for the cost of maintenance or repair of sewer p......

The knock on Hilda Garrett's door came July 2. In the doorway stood Michael Hession, Denver borough manager, with a letter. Mrs. Garrett, an 86-year-old widow who lives alone in a small but stately home along South Fifth Avenue, opened the letter. To this day, she's bothered by what it ......

Two large groups of folks, both looking for answers from Manor Township officials, made for a full house at Thursday night's township supervisors meeting. One group was a contingent of residents from Letort Manor and Perth Hills, two township neighborhoods where residents are angry over wha......

The $400 million Clean Water Referendum soundly passed by Lancaster County and Pennsylvania voters this week should help ease the sticker shock of higher sewer bills facing many local residents. "It will be a help and it will keep rates down," said Lester Houck, a Salisbury Township supervisor ......

You're excited about getting out and supporting your choice for president.Even made up your mind on whether to vote for or against home rule, haven't you? And that statewide referendum on sewer projects? You definitely know where you stand on that.Oh.You don't?No-no-no......

Lancaster City has lost a bid to raise its suburban sewer rates above the level approved by the state Public Utility Commission three years ago. The PUC last week upheld its August 2005 decision to allow the city to raise rates on its 3,350 customers outside the city by 7.64 percent, or about $......

A former supervisor of Penn Township's sewage treatment plant is accused of falsifying data and altering wastewater samples submitted to state environmental officials.J. Scott Shank, former superintendent of Northwestern Lancaster County Water and Sewer Authority, was arraigned Thursda......

A problem familiar to Lancaster County — how to find the sewer capacity for new homes — could soon be back at the forefront in the Elizabethtown area. West Donegal Township officials, considering plans for a 470-home development and with no less than 1,100 homes either proposed or a......

The improper discharge of wastewater into Chiques Creek triggered a fine of $22,135 against Penn Township and an ongoing criminal probe, township officials have confirmed.The uncontested fine imposed by the state Department of Environmental Protection resulted from problems in 2007 with op......

After more than a decade of waiting, about 100 Marietta residents got a peek at plans Wednesday to construct a two-mile, $3 million to $6 million levee system that would protect their town from Susquehanna River flooding.Now, the decision about whether to construct the levee rests in the h......

If you pay a sewage bill, Pennsylvania's new budget may spell relief from big rates hikes that have been anticipated. Many customers served by 17 regional sewage plants in Lancaster County have been told to expect steep increases in their bills because of state and federal clean-water manda......

West Earl Township supervisors on Monday gave the go-ahead for an important engineering study concerning a medical facility that has been proposed for the area.Lancaster General Hospital and Ephrata Community Hospital are working toward construction of a facility at Routes 322 and 222 on a......

The first issue is a big one to the two older neighorhoods' 200 homeowners — people who say they won't be able to pay to hook up to public sewers, as they might have to. The second is one of the longer-running disputes ever in Manor Township, over plans to build a Wal-Mart superce......

A debate over how much one public entity can charge another to use existing infrastructure played out Tuesday in Warwick School District.Lititz Borough is looking to charge Warwick School District a tap-in fee of $140,000 for the water and sewer infrastructure for the proposed middle schoo......

This time, there were plenty of seats to go around. And the discussion was all civil ... even light-hearted. Two-plus weeks after a mini-army of Manor Township homeowners stormed a township supervisors' meeting to angrily complain about expensive, state-mandated sewer upgrades, the ......

For many older residents of northeastern Lancaster County, having an inpatient medical center in their area would be a relief. With one available, they wouldn't have to trek to other county hospitals, which may be running short on beds. But would such a medical facility, if built, attract u......

A new sewer project in Manor Township is causing a major stink. Residents of the Letort Manor and Perth Hills neighborhoods are up in arms over what they'll have to pay for the Lancaster Area Sewer Authority expansion: a bill estimated at almost $16,000 per household. State law require......

Supervisors in West Earl Township are proceeding with caution.At a township meeting Monday, residents Bruce and Joyce Heckman said there was a sizable sinkhole on their property at 62 Millstone Drive, Brownstown. The breach, estimated to spread over an area of 48 square feet, threatens a t......

Sewer infrastructure failed and polluted the public water supply, officials say.•••Lititz Borough residents will pay at least a portion of what it costs to fix a problem with a leak from a mouthwash-bottling facility. The leak polluted ......

A portion of Eden Road in Manheim Township will remain closed at least into today as work continues on a large sinkhole that appeared Monday afternoon.Workers were hoping to have the road reopened Tuesday, but the sinkhole is requiring more repair work than first anticipated.Accordi......

Lawmakers in Harrisburg will try to figure out this week how to keep municipalities from being bankrupted by the cost of cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.Under a federal mandate, municipalities in the bay's watershed, which includes the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, have just tw......

A broken sewer line and a sinkhole closed one block of Eden Road in Manheim Township Monday afternoon.The hole, about 7 feet deep, 7 feet long and 5 feet wide, was reported about 2:15 p.m. Monday.The road was closed between Oak and Linden avenues, and heavy equipment was brought in ......

Wastewater leaking from a pharmaceutical firm that manufactures mouthwash in Lititz caused the "minty" taste or odor in the borough's water during the week of Jan. 7, forcing the shutdown of four borough wells, a state official said Monday.Water samples identified the presenc......

Leaks have been found in two sewer lines serving a pharmaceutical firm that manufactures mouthwash in Lititz, where reports of a "minty" taste or odor in the borough's water surfaced Jan. 7, forcing the shutdown of four borough wells.The leaking sewer lines on company propert......

A mysterious appearance of rust-colored water in Lititz Run was investigated by state and industry officials late Friday afternoon.The discovery was made barely a week after Lititz Borough tap water was tested for an unexplained minty odor and taste and officials took four wells out of ser......

The "minty-fresh taste" in the Lititz water has gone away, but the state Department of Environmental Protection is continuing an investigation into the source of last week's flavor.A DEP inspection report issued Thursday calls the episode "reminiscent" of a 1997 leak from the Johnson &......

Lancaster-based National Novelty Brush Co. announced Friday it will close Hocker Manufacturing, a sister company in Lewes, Del., which it purchased last January.Richard Seavy, Novelty Brush president and CEO, said the company will merge operations from Lewes into its Lancaster plant....

West Earl Township's new budget for 2008 contains no tax hike — almost.Adopted at the West Earl supervisors meeting on Dec. 17, the new plan calls for total general fund expenditures of $1,757,533 against projected revenues of $1,759,183. There will be no increase in the township's r......

Like it or not, Lancaster County residents will be digging deeper into their pocketbooks to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, a body of water that doesn't even touch Pennsylvania. Some local municipalities are looking at rate hikes up to 40 percent to cover sewage-treatment upgrades over the nex......

The battle for the East Hempfield Township supervisor race came down to the wire, with the two Republican candidates on the ballot likely winning the contested seats, pending a final count of write-in votes.Incumbent Brett Miller easily won re-election to a six-year position, beating fello......

In Manheim Township, Tuesday's township commissioner race seems to be largely about money.Nelson Rohrer, 56, who sat on the township's board of commissioners from 1990 to 1998, is running as an independent against incumbents Carol S. Simpson and Larry Downing, both of whom are Repu......

A new budget and a new public library dominated conversation at Monday's meeting of the Manheim Township board of commissioners.Valerie Calhoun, the township's financial officer, introduced a "very preliminary" 2008 budget that totals $15.8 million in expenses; a $614,153 increase over 200......

The coming of the railroads, the heyday of the 19th century iron industry and the devastating damage Hurricane Agnes caused in June 1972 mark Marietta Borough's history. Determined not to let storm history repeat itself, the state is proposing to build a protective levee along the town's Susque......

Following more than three years of work, Paradise Township officials announced Tuesday that Phase 1 of the sewage system project in Kinzers has been connected."The sewage is flowing in Kinzers," Paradise Township supervisor Dennis Groff said."This is just such an important issue whe......

A Lititz Borough resident who practices water conservation questioned water and sewer rate increases at the borough council meeting Sept. 25.Larry Balmer, a retiree, said he and his wife use very little water and were surprised to find out their quarterly water and sewer rates increased by......

Immo Sulyok is known in local political circles as a guy who makes sure every "i" is dotted, every "t" crossed. Most recently, the chairman of the Lampeter-Strasburg Republican Committee successfully challenged the signatures of county Coroner G. Gary Kirchner's petition to run as an independen......

The state Department of Environmental Protection has completed preliminary designs for a 2-mile levee project along the Susquehanna River in Marietta Borough, giving residents some idea of what to expect when the project is completed sometime in the middle of the next decade.And once the p......

Bart Township supervisors at their Aug. 1 meeting said they are trying to set up a meeting of township solicitor Ken Shirk and local bank officials to discuss the township's microflush-toilet ordinance.A time and date for the meeting was not announced.When a parcel has high nitrate ......

Members of Lititz Borough Council announced at Tuesday night's meeting they were ending an investigation into the construction of a hog-farm operation west of town in Penn Township and into allegations a borough employee made false statements about it.Council looked at several issues s......

Millersville Borough Council voted July 24 to refinance debt associated with its borough building and sewer projects.The move will make debt payments more "stable and consistent," business manager Ed Arnold said. Also, it may have an unexpected bonus for residents, at least in the short te......

For more than a hundred years, the borough of Lititz has been known for its abundance of water, with visitors coming to admire the springs bubbling in the middle of town.But Lititz also has struggled to maintain the safety of its water supply, which has high nitrate levels, and borough cou......

Several Manheim Township residents brought their grievances against a development plan to the township commissioners Monday night. Artz Development Co. is proposing a 33-home project on 16 acres of farmland off Fruitville Pike and Buch Avenue. The plan is under review by the township, and ......

Because of a number of failing on-lot septic systems, area officials want to extend sewer lines into Manor Township's Letort Manor and Perth Hills developments. But the officials want to make something else clear. Paving the way for expanded development in that part of Manor "is the furthest th......

After testing several Refton area sites, Strasburg Township may have found a tract suitable to serve Refton's future sewage needs. Consultant Tom Whitehill, during Monday's supervisors meeting, said soil on one of the sites has tested as being suitable for a community system. If......

Lititz borough residents may soon be facing a rate increase for sewer and water usage. Borough council discussed the increase Tuesday during a regular business meeting and estimated the increase for an average user at $27 per quarter, or 37 percent. "The average bill would go up a little o......

A malfunctioning valve sent thousands of gallons of untreated sewage flowing onto six homeowners' lawns Tuesday night along Route 999 in Manor Township. Sewage from a Lancaster Area Sewer Authority manhole escaped to the surface for about 4 ½ hours, LASA said. Escaping sewage f......

It’s enough to make you grin right back. Go ahead, because the sock monkeys have arrived at the Lancaster Museum of Art for a month-long visit during the museum’s annual Trees Galore! exhibit. “The reaction we seem to get from the sock monkeys is sheer delight,” says Cindi Morrison, museum dir......

The “delivery” was the recent completion of a new regional sewage facilities plan for several of Lancaster’s suburbs, which means a few changes in coming years for those with on-lot septic systems. Kyle, the Lancaster Area Sewer Authority’s executive director, calls the new plan “the result of fi......

My apologies to Arkansas. And Illinois.

When Indiana was nicknamed the "Hoosier State," it sent folks scrambling for dictionaries to see just what the heck a "Hoosier" was. Most recently, Indiana is known as "The State That Almost Killed Cary Grant With a Crop Duster Plane."

Iowa i...

That was certainly the case Wednesday in Marietta, where the too-close-for-comfort Susquehanna River is expected to crest this evening at 53.8 feet. The flood stage at Marietta is 49 feet.

That daunting fact, however, certainly didn't bother the crowd gathered Wednesday at Marietta Boat C...

“Hopefully, and I say ‘hopefully,’ in two weeks we’ll be moving off State Street,” said Stephen Bonner, engineering project manager. “We will have to come back to do some road repair which will take a few days, but weather permitting&tstr;and that’s a huge factor&tstr;we’re looking at two weeks.”...

Lancaster will receive a low-interest $1.5 million-plus loan from Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority to help fund excavation and infrastructure work on a 47-acre section of the former Armstrong World Industries complex in the northwest section of the city.

The project is a partn...

Lancaster city's street-cleaning signs specify no parking during a 31-w-hour time period on specific days, regardless of when the street sweeper actually arrives.

The city, however, has a longstanding but informal policy that residents are allowed to move their cars back onto the cleaned ...

The final minutes of 2005 tick away tonight, and as we prepare to ring in 2006, a few Lancastrians took some moments this week to recall some of their most memorable New Year’s eves. Some of those memories are happy, festive ones. Some are funny. Others are bittersweet. Barry Kornhauser, playw......

The city had originally sought a $91,000 fine for gumming up the city’s sewage treatment plant and costing taxpayers. However, Kemps, which ceased production at its Lancaster plant at 1901 Hempstead Road on July 21, showed the city records that the amount of waste was less than what the city had ......

Lancaster City officials say they are wrapping up an investigation that may result in charging the departing dairy company “tens of thousands” of dollars for dumping too much dairy waste into city sewers, clogging its sewage treatment plant. Paul Nightingale, a corporate attorney for Kemps’ paren......

I haven’t seen Buddy this spring. Has something happened to him? Mel Shell Ronks

Dear Mr. Shell: Buddy has gone to that great Nut House in the sky. Carol Petersen, the resident who fed peanuts to Buddy almost daily during his six years on Earth, says she tried to capture and reha......

I haven’t seen Buddy this spring. Has something happened to him? Mel Shell Ronks

Dear Mr. Shell: Buddy has gone to that great Nut House in the sky. Carol Petersen, the resident who fed peanuts to Buddy almost daily during his six years on Earth, says she tried to capture and reha......

Thanks to heavy rains and leaking storm sewers, a number of sinkholes have developed on Lancaster City streets over the past month. City maintenance workers have been scurrying around to plug them. On the surface, a sinkhole might only be a small hole in the macadam, a foot or less in diameter......

Arnold is a lieutenant with the Lancaster City Fire Bureau, so he knows what he's talking about when he says how important it is for firefighters to have quick, easy access to the city's several thousand hydrants.

Instead, too many are "locked,'' or hidden by all the snow and ice, Arnold ...

Rain, heavy at times, fell Wednesday, backing up at storm-sewer grates blocked by plowed snow and ice, which could cause localized flooding. The rain and melting snow also could make creeks and streams overflow their banks, causing problems for residents in low-lying areas.

"Our crews were....

Phil Colvin, deputy director of Lancaster County Emergency

Management Agency, said state officials wanted preliminary storm

impact data and costs Wednesday morning, "but that just wasn't

practical."



"We had municipalities still sending us information at 3 p.....

"LASA owns all the systems around us, and sewage is their business," Bledsoe said. "To me, there's no question LASA can run it more cost effectively than the township can."

Commissioner Dennis Reinaker cast the lone dissenting vote.

"It disappoints me that my colleagues are going.....

Now I’m going to bore you to tears by addressing something no self-respecting columnist would ever write about:

Sewers.

(See, I’ve lost respect for myself already.)

But this is a special case. This is about sewers in Manheim Township, a community where, as we have seen time and ...

An incoming Manheim Township commissioner is making a last-ditch appeal to delay the sale of the township's sewer system, arguing that an independent consultant should review the proposal first.

In a statement, Republican nominee Larry Downing is asking the current commissioners for a two-mon...

In interviews, Larry Downing and Carol Simpson say they support Commissioner Dennis Reinaker's pleas for independent analyses of the deal's impact on customers and for more time for residents to respond.

"The bosses -- the taxpayers -- haven't had a fair chance to have input on this,'' sa...

"We've met with (the commissioners), and we have an interest in buying their system," Michael Kyle, LASA's executive director, said.

Before a decision is made, however, both sides want to hear what the public thinks.

The commissioners will host an informational meeting in......

The rate hikes are expected to be widespread and will vary in size.

For example, more than 20,000 households served by the Lancaster Area Sewer Authority in Lancaster's western suburbs will pay an estimated $17.40, or 6.5 percent, more per year.

LASA serves residential customers i...

DENNIS FISHER By Sports Editor    I'm ready to put the Jeff Smoker dilemma behind me.
I've learned all I need to know about it.
I've seen Smoker's parents' statement that their son is being treated for substance abuse.
I've heard the chairman of Michigan State......