Lease Amendment Passed

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/313543


Shortly after 8 o'clock Tuesday night, Bill Laudien could finally smile.

The Lancaster Township manager had been trying for nearly 18 months to convince School District of Lancaster to lease land for a new township fire station on Millersville Pike.

The proposal, which was first floated nearly a decade ago, was twice before rejected by the school board.

But the third attempt proved to be the charm Tuesday night as the SDL board approved a lease amendment that will provide 2.2 acres of district-owned land in Lancaster Community Park to the township at no cost.

"I'm pretty happy," a beaming Laudien said after the 8-1 vote. "It's been a 10-year effort, especially active in the last year and a half, and it's nice to move past this stage.

"The next step is to go through the subdivision and land-development process — and then build a firehouse."

SDL board member Janelle Simms was the lone vote against the lease amendment. Simms said she objected to the district leasing the land for free during difficult economic times.

Board president Linda Owens supported the lease amendment but was critical of the township, saying it failed to keep the school district abreast of its decision to switch its police coverage from Lancaster city to Manheim Township.

The change, implemented Jan. 1, forced SDL to hire a new school resource officer at Wheatland Middle School at an additional cost of $22,000. The switch also affected the status of crossing guards at Buchanan and Burrowes elementary schools.

The district should have been included in the discussion stage of the police contract because of its impact on SDL students and finances, Owens said.

During an interview after the vote, Laudien said the police contract "is completely unrelated" to the fire station lease. He declined further comment.

He did mention that Lancaster Township has helped the district in several ways in recent months, including donating land and materials for a new student drop-off drive at Buchanan, providing plowing services at the school last winter and donating a piano to Hand Middle School.

The lease agreement "is a good step forward, and I think it's going to lead to more cooperation," Laudien said. "And in this economic climate, it's a necessity for all of us to work together."

The amendment alters a 1991 lease negotiated between the township and district that provided 29 acres of district-owned land at no cost for Lancaster Community Park.

The amendment allows the township to subdivide 2.2 acres of parkland next to Planet Fitness for the station, which will face Millersville Pike. To make up for that land, the district will provide an additional 2.2 acres of undeveloped land to the township — also at no cost.

In an earlier proposal, Lancaster Township had sought 7 acres for the station, which would have required relocating two or three athletic fields. It also would have threatened to disrupt an undeveloped wooded buffer between the park and SDL's Wheatland Middle School.

Township residents, park users and some school board members objected to that plan, which also would have placed the fire station entrance on Atkins Avenue, near athletic fields.

The revised plan moved the station away from the fields and added a main entrance and exit off Millersville Pike. A second, one-way entrance also is planned from Atkins, but it will be away from the fields and will tie into the existing Manor House Drive.

Under the revised proposal, none of the soccer, rugby or baseball fields will be moved.

Lancaster Township expects to spend $2 million to $4 million on the fire station, which will replace its aging firehouses in Bausman and Hamilton Park.

The township plans to retain the Hamilton Park property, located next to its municipal offices. But it might sell the Bausman site, which could be developed into housing.

Construction on the fire station project isn't expected to begin until spring 2012.

bwallace@lnpnews.com



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