Borough cops name Shane Deardorff 2011 Officer of the Year

Police officers in the Elizabethtown Police Department selected Shane M. Deardorff as the 2011 Officer of the Year. He was honored at the Jan. 19 Borough Council meeting.

Dearforff is the first officer to have received the honor twice. He also was named the 2006 Officer of the Year.

In 2011, Officer Deardorff oversaw the police department's Field Training Officer program after the borough hired two new officers. He also completed the training of a third officer who was hired in 2010.

The FTO program is designed to mold fresh-out-of-the-academy police officers through an intense 8- to 16-week program, teaching them everything that is expected of them. This includes the most routine tasks to the most dangerous situations. Deardorff has expanded the program and developed into a model.

"The administration of the FTO program is very demanding," said police Chief Jack Mentzer. "It requires daily documentation, patience and one-on-one evaluation and feedback. Those tasks are in addition to his normal duties as a police officer. He is very conscientious and thorough in every facet of the job."

Deardorff's work in the FTO program was underscored at the Borough Council meeting when three of the four new officers attended to show their support.

In addition to his achievements in 2011, Deardorff has received numerous honors and recognition from the police department. They include letters of commendation, congratulatory letters, Distinguished Unit Citaitons and a marksmanship award. He was hired as a part-time police officer in 1998 and brought on full time in May 1999.

E-town's population drops 2.8%

Did you know Elizabethtown's population dropped 2.8 percent, according to the last U.S. Census? In 1990, the Census counted 11,879 residents in the borough, but two years ago it counted 11,545. It was the first drop in the borough's population since 1960, when Elizabethtown had 6,780 residents.

I have to thank a neighbor, Mike Schwartz, with compiling these numbers and putting them into a nice readable format online. If you're interested, I also created a Google Documents spreadsheet. In both cases, you can see how Elizabethtown compares with the state, Lancaster County and the rest of the country.

I could spend time speculating and surmising what the numbers mean. But I'm not sure that would be very enlightening, meaningful or helpful. If you have any thoughts, please share them in the comments.

Borough Council reorganizes; 3 incumbents sworn in for another term

Councilman Phil Clark takes the oath of office.

Mayor Chuck Mummert swears in Jeff McCloud.

Tom Shaud is sworn into his second term.

Elizabethtown Borough Council elected Councilman J. Neil Ketchum as its president for the next two years at council's reorganization meeting last night. Ketchum, a native of Elizabethtown, just started the third year of his first term in office. Former Council President Phil Clark was elected vice president.

State law requires that municipalities reorganize every two years. The reorganization is to be held the first Monday in January. Because this past Monday was recognized as the New Year's Day holiday, reorganization meetings were held Tuesday. The Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs has some good background information on the reorganization meeting.

At Elizabethtown's meeting, Clark and two of his fellow councilmen, Tom Shaud and I, were sworn into office for our second terms.

As one member of council, I can say it's been a privilege and an honor to serve the community, and I look forward to another productive and fruitful four years helping to move Elizabethtown forward.

Why is the Chestnut Street bridge still closed?

This has become a familiar sight for motorists and nearby residents: The bridge on South Chestnut Street has been closed to traffic since the flooding in September.

So why hasn't it been repaired? And what is taking so long? Chalk it up to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The borough needs a permit to do the work because the bridge crosses a stream. The borough administration took care of the design and applied to DEP. In October, Borough Council voted to approve a contractor to do the work on the bridge for $70,728 (along with the South Poplar and West Bainbridge street bridges -- total work for all three, a little more than $110,000).

Despite the borough's having declared an emergency during the flood, and despite the state's being at the highest level of disaster response during the flooding, DEP only notified the borough last week that the design for the Chestnut Street bridge is inadequate.

Nice.

When the borough's administration reported this to members of Borough Council after a meeting last week, my colleagues were incredulous. One of the reasons municipalities and states declare emergencies and disasters is to expedite repairs.

But that doesn't seem to have filtered down to the bureaucrats at DEP.

Yes, we recognize that the flooding was epic not just here in Elizabethtown. Our neighbors in Manheim, Hershey, Hummelstown, Middletown and elsewhere had significant and serious problems. But to take more than 3 months to tell us the design is inadequate is irresponsible. Our engineers could have been working on this redesign and perhaps even submitted it for approval.

This means taking even more time to go back to the drawing board and design according to DEP's comments. Let's fix the target and keep it there and keep in mind that your decisions continue to impact and inconvenience residents in our fair town.

No tax increase for 2012

Earlier this month, Elizabethtown Borough Council approved a $5.37 million budget for 2012 that contains no tax increase. This will keep the millage rate at 5.0.

 

A windfall of unexpected revenues this fall, about $240,000 worth plus deferring $172,000 in expenses in the police department, helped to balance the budget.

The windfall came in the form of a about $130,000 in a one-time payment from the Commonwealth to assist with the borough's pension payment requirements, about $102,000 in unanticipated earned income tax revenues. Likewise, the borough was expecting an additional $9,000 in real estate tax revenues.

In a letter the borough received from state Auditor General Jack Wagner, he was explicit that the borough "should view this increased state aid award for 2011 as nothing more than an isolated or limited event that will serve to help to secure your pension plans."

For 2012, the borough was required to budget $285,832 to cover the police pension fund and $77,441 for the non-uniformed pension fund.

The budget will continue to fund services at the levels borough residents have been accustomed to. While residents will see the completion of the bridge and intersection at Market Street and West College Avenue, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is reimbursing the cost of that project.

Other major capital expenditures planned for in 2012 include the following:

• $21,000 for a new phone system for borough offices and police department. The current system is 18 years old and frequently cuts out on employees. Its voice mail feature also does not answer calls at times.
   
• $10,000 for a new HVAC unit at Borough Hall. This is part of a schedule to replace the units that have exceeded their life span; the new unit will be energy efficient. Another unit is scheduled for replacement in 2013.
   
• $86,900 to replace police radios when Lancaster County upgrades to a modern emergency radio system.
   
• $299,711 to pave certain streets. This is funded through the Liquid Fuels Tax revenue the borough receives from the state.
   
• $71,000 for a new backhoe to replace one that is showing its age and has hydraulic issues and repair costs.
   
• $42,000 to repair and rehab the bridge on West Bainbridge Street. PennDOT has identified this as needing repairs.