Syan Swanger
Staff Writer
On Nov.12, the Millersville Borough Council held its first meeting of November. The meeting began with a presentation from Blue Rock Regional Fire District’s representative, Phil Lastowski, regarding the fire district budget for 2025. Lastowski promptly stated that in the 13 years the Blue Rock Fire Company has been in business, they have never once asked for an increase to their budget. Blue Rock Fire Company was founded in 2012 when four local fire stations combined. During that merger, the company inherited eight million dollars of debt. The fire company employees have worked tirelessly over the last 13 years to bring that debt down to zero. Lastowski explains that there are a couple of reasons the fire district is finally asking for an increase in its budget. Primarily, the cost to actually run the company has risen significantly over the past several years. The cost of radios, gear, and worker’s insurance is much more than it was in 2012. Another reason the company is asking for more money is because 45% of calls Blue Rock firefighters have responded to in the last year have been false alarms. That is a lot of wasted time and materials for the fire district. The council unanimously agreed to move forward with Blue Rock’s request for $8,000.
The Borough Council also heard two land petitions from Student Lodging Inc. and Loft Company partnership. Isaac Wakefield, representative for Student Lodging Inc., negotiated with the council to allow Student Lodging Inc. specific building rights for a plot of land on East College Avenue. The 25 acres owned by Student Lodging Inc. has been devoted for residential use by the Borough. However, Student Lodging Inc. has found this land to be unsuitable for building and wants to take it in another direction. They proposed the construction of a solar energy facility for the three acres that could be built on. Currently, under the Borough’s zoning ordinance, this type of development is not allowed. The solar energy facility would benefit the University, sending electricity to Shenks and Reighard Hall. After hearing Wakefield’s proposition, the council agreed to pass the petition onto the Borough solicitor for review after certain changes were made.
The council was also approached by representatives from the Loft Company. The Loft is a nonprofit community resource center. They hand out food, clothes, household supplies, and hygiene products to the Penn Manor community. They also partner with local businesses to offer counseling, mental health and addiction resources, family services, and health clinics. They help 1,000 people weekly through their services. The Loft wants to build its main office on an abandoned lot on Charlotte Street, but like for Student Lodging Inc. this development is not allowed under current zoning codes. One member of the Borough council previously worked very closely with the Loft Company and heavily pushed for the petition to go through. The petition passed and the Loft Company was given the green light to build their community resource facility.