At their regular monthly meeting yesterday, the Cumberland Township Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $25,000 Medical Marijuana Grant for the Cumberland Township Police Department. The grant had been awarded in December 2022 by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crimes and Delinquency (PCCD) as part of opening funding opportunities to all Pennsylvania municipal police departments to support “emerging issues that law enforcement faces or will face related to the enforcement of the Medical Marijuana Act.”
Police Chief Matthew Trostel and Officer Ryan Eiker, the designated certified Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) for the department, provided an official release with details and outlined the background and plans for use of the grant money which includes:
Purchase of 10 Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) Devices: One to be assigned to the department’s DRE, Officer Eiker, and the other devices to replace the department’s current PBTs that had been in service for about 8 years and “are at the end of their service life”. The devices will be purchased through the Pennsylvania DUI Association, which will also provide the plastic straws and servicing of the devices.
Medical Marijuana Workshop: Officers will attend training to learn about the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Law and related issues that law enforcement faces daily. Funding will also pay for overtime to backfill shifts and keep sufficient manpower to cover the department’s schedule.
Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) Training: One officer will be sent to this training which is “designed to give a better understanding of different types of impairment, including marijuana impairment”. Training will include a review of Standardized Field Sobriety Testing and “instruction on different drug categories, signs and symptoms that could be seen from the drug categories ingested”, as well as additional roadside tests.
Attendance at the Pennsylvania DUI Association Conference: Funding was further secured to send one DRE officer to the PA DUI Association Conferences in 2023 and 2023 to receive continuing education hours for DRE Recertification. The conference is held in the Fall; locations vary from year to year. Funds will also cover salary, lodging, and mileage expenses related to the officer’s attendance.
The Board congratulated the presenters and unanimously authorized signing on the grant award notification.
Other Business:
Oak Lawn Cemetery/County of Adams Rezoning Request: Following a public hearing that had immediately preceded the BOS meeting, the Board approved a proposed zoning map amendment requested by Adams County, to rezone the property located at 1380 Chambersburg Road (approx. 9.6 acres of a 25.4-acre tract) from Institutional (INS) to Mixed Use (MX) zoning.
Township Manager, David Blocher, reported that the township had passed its 2022 audit with no issues. He thanked the previous township manager for assisting in the audit process. Board member Chris Biggins also expressed her thanks for the excellent work performed by the management office.
A hearing date was set for April 5, at 5:00 pm, to review the BR Smith Properties Conditional Use Request for a campground in the Mixed Use zoning district.
Motions proposed by the Finance Committee regarding a donation of ARPA funds to the local SPCA as well as various bank transactions were approved by the Board.
The Board reviewed and approved the previously proposed Police Department Promotion Policy for final signature.
A Gettysburg citizen addressed the board, voicing concerns regarding the Browns Ranch on Redding Lane. Certain activities on and around the property, including a great deal of nightly movement, made him wonder if there were Black Ops activities or “other shady stuff” going on at the property and if he needed to be worried. Chief Trostel assured him that, from a law enforcement perspective, there was no need for safety concerns.
Further details on each of the Engineering Projects, Bills/Budget approvals, and Committee Reports presented at the meeting can be found in the Regular Meeting Agenda: February 28, 2023 CT Meeting Agenda, and will be available on the Cumberland Township website, once the minutes of this meeting have been posted: Cumberland Township BOS Meetings 2023.
Donate Gardner is a freelance journalist who came to Gettysburg in 2021 from Montgomery County, Maryland.
A former linguist-turned-legal professional, Donate recently retired from the corporate world and is eager to support her new community in a variety of ways. She currently serves as the news communicator for the Adams County migrant outreach program, Pasa La Voz.
As an immigrant born, raised, and educated in Germany, Donate still maintains a strong connection to the German language as a writer and translator. Donate is an active musician and has made her new home in Gettysburg available to host house concerts for traveling musicians and local artists in need of support. Donate and her husband have two daughters and three grandchildren.