At last night’s Cumberland Township Supervisors Meeting, the Board unanimously approved the promotion of Officer Joshua Goodling to Sergeant. Goodling joins Sergeant Joshua Rosenberger and Detective/Sergeant Stephen Higgs as the third member of the CT Police Department to hold this rank.
Earlier this month, eligible CTPD officers engaged in a competitive examination for promotion to Sergeant. The examination covered scenario, leadership, and policy questions which were fielded by an Oral Board staffed by experienced police commanders from the Pennsylvania State Police, West Manchester Township PD and Chambersburg Borough PD. The Oral Board presentations followed a graded written examination that had been hosted last fall by the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association.
Police Chief Matthew Trostel had compiled all of the grading criteria and made the formal recommendation to the Board’s Personnel Committee to promote Officer Goodling. Goodling’s promotion will be effective May 6, 2024.
With visible pride, Chief Trostel introduced Goodling to the Board and recited his career and education timeline, his training records, as well as awards and commendations he had received over the past seven years, including DUI Top Gun award; PennDOT aggressive driving honoree; Stinger Spike award; and CTPD Expert Pistol Qualifier award. Trostel mentioned that Goodling had come highly recommended by other police officials, including PA State Police, West Manchester Township PD, and other PDs, whose praise “carries great weight”.
Consent Agenda: Besides Engineering, Finance Committee and Public Safety Committee items, as well as various other resolutions, the Consent Agenda included accepting the resignation of Keith Ulrich from the Gettysburg Area Recreation Authority Board and appointing Warren Sheppard to the vacancy.
Police Report:
- In addition to delivering his regular monthly report of police involved incidents, miles logged, as well as officer training and commendations received from the public, Trostel further reported that the PD received 13 applications for a police cadet position. Interviews will start April 10th, with a second round scheduled for April 24th.
- Evaluations of site reports and data collected during the past months since deploying the TRAFCON Radar Speed Trailer are ongoing. Once all evaluations have been completed, another cycle of deployment to the same target areas will begin, so as to determine if improvements in traffic patterns have occurred.
Maintenance Department:
- Township Superintendent of Roads, Chris Walter, reported that the department has been busy with street sweeping; tree trimming and cleanup from various rain and wind events during the past month; as well as various other upcoming activities, including an effort to map out the township infrastructure.
- 2024 projects include rebuilding and paving roads in the Twin Lakes developments; as well as bridge repairs, and cracked surface sealing on various roads. The Board thanked Walter for his consistently detailed reporting to the Supervisors. Several members also praised him for timely updates to CT residents via the Savvy Citizens application.
Reports from the Board Supervisors and Township Management:
Chairman Shaun Phiel reported on various events Supervisors attended, including the Annual Meeting of Destination Gettysburg and public safety meetings. He also addressed activities coming up, including Bike Week in the Township which will require planning by the EMS.
- Medicine takeback will take place on Saturday, April 27th, 10 am to 2 pm. A list of drop-off boxes can be found here: https://www.cfygettysburg.com/medicationcollectionboxes. There is also a reminder that the Cumberland Township Police Department has 24/7 drop-off opportunities at the 1370 Fairfield Road Police station throughout the year.
- Township Website/Domain: Manager Dave Blocher would like to remind CT residents that Cumberland Township’s website/email platform has completed its transition to a “.gov” domain. All apps/platforms still using the “.com” extension will be turned off as of April 1st.
- Cumberland Township Tax Collector will be at the Municipal Building on Wed, Apr 24, 2024 from 8am to 12pm to collect tax payments.
- Manager Blocher also reiterated the need for Cumberland Township residents to sign up for the Savvy Citizen program, which is a free notification system for Apple and Android users that will enable the township to send information about important township news and events directly to residents’ mobile devices. Residents may also sign up to get notifications via email, by registering at www.savvycitizenapp.com/signup. The notifications have proven to be helpful to residents during weather events, road closures, and other important news.
- The fully refurbished Barn Resort, formerly known as the Boyd’s Bear Country Barn, will open in the Spring of 2024, with the Barn Restaurant opening for Easter on March 31st.
- More information for residents can be found in the quarterly newsletter, the Cumberland Township Dispatch: Cumberland Township Dispatch Volume 3.
All other items addressed at the meeting are outlined in the meeting agenda: Cumberland Township BOS Meeting March 26, 2024 – Agenda.
Picture above depicts (l-r) Chief Matthew Trostel, Sergeant Josh Goodling, and Cumberland Township BOS Chair Shaun Phiel.
Donate Gardner is a freelance writer and journalist who came to Gettysburg from Montgomery County, Maryland. A former linguist-turned-legal professional, Donate recently retired 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 and supports various pro bono legal services to migrants in the area.
An immigrant born, raised, and educated in Western Europe, Donate uses her multi-lingual background to maintain connection to other cultures, both as a writer, historical researcher and advocate.
Donate is also an active musician, multi-instrumentalist and award-winning songwriter, enjoying the rich music and arts community in Gettysburg, and supporting traveling musicians coming through the area. Donate can be reached at: dvbgardner@gmail.com.