The Littlestown Borough voted to award contracts at its June 11 meeting for the Littlestown Community Park renovation scheduled to begin construction in mid-July with a finish date in October. The Borough awarded the contract for the park renovation project to Conewago Enterprises Inc. of Hanover, the low bidder at $1,235,000, and the electrical work contracted with Monocacy Valley Electric of Littlestown for $189,000. Monocacy Valley was the only bidder for that portion of the project.
Borough president Craig Rosendale said he could not give a definitive figure for the entire project’s cost but anticipates a full report on the project’s funding to be available at the Borough’s June 25 meeting.
In 2022 and 2023, the Borough Council designated money from the American Rescue Plan Act funding into the budget to assist in the park project. It also applied for and received a $497,000 state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant toward the renovation. Craig Rosendale, Borough President, said a private citizen contributed an amount matching the grant.
The renovated park will feature new restroom facilities, two age-appropriate playgrounds with new equipment, pavilions, pickleball, tennis, and basketball courts, and a 1.5-mile trail around the area. Initially, the park was to be developed in four phases, but Rosendale said the Council decided to “move ahead with it.” He added it was time since the original playground equipment was from the 1950s.
The 22-acre park was the home of the 56-year-old Littlestown Community Pool. The Council decided to discontinue the pool and, after several months of protests by a community neighborhood group, it was decommissioned and filled in. The new map indicates the pool area will be covered by grass.
Borough Manager Charles Kellar said two full-time surveillance cameras will be installed in the park to discourage the vandalism and graffiti that has been occurring. The cost of the cameras is $6,225.
In other board business, Kellar announced that Borough would soon close on its new building purchased from WellSpan and UMPC Health for $830,000. At a special workshop meeting early in May, the Borough Council discussed purchasing the old dialysis building at 43 South Queen Street. The 10,933 square foot class B office space sits on 2.44 acres and has 29 parking spaces.
The council has been discussing new meeting sites for the past two years. It considered building onto the back of the current office building ($900,000) or remodeling the back of the library ($500,000-$700,000). The council approved the purchase of the building, with funds coming from the general, water and sewer reserve. This includes nearly $200,000 from the sale of 10 South St., an additional $355,758 from the general reserve, $139,500 from the water reserve, and $139,500 from the sewer reserve (sale of 5304 Baltimore Pike).
The borough will use the new property for its offices and council meeting room. It is unclear how the rest of the building might be used, but plans are to use it fully, according to Kellar. One resident suggested incorporating the Senior Center might be a nice idea.
Littlestown residents asked questions about the cost of operating the building and its general condition. Kellar said the building, which has a generator and three-phase electricity, would provide more than enough power for the Borough’s needs. Contractors who evaluated the building’s roof, and electric and mechanical components said they found no issues and the roof would not need to be replaced for at least 10 years.
Council President Rosendale stated that the Council can immediately use the building’s entrance waiting room as a meeting site, while building renovations occur.
The current Borough building would be converted into the entire police department since the current shared space is inefficient for its operations. Kellar is also the Chief of Police for Littlestown.
The federally mandated Lead and Copper Line service inventory is being conducted throughout the Borough to determine which Borough and residential water lines might be made of those materials. The Environmental Protection Agency first proposed this rule in 2021 to reduce lead exposure resulting in increased public health protection from lead poisoning.
Kellar said the deadline for the inventory is October 2024 and requires municipalities to dig up every lateral line going into homes, to see what is there. The PA Department of Environmental Protection is creating data lists to identify which lines might be problematic, but at this time, the next steps are unclear, he said. “We are currently in compliance with everything we need to do,” he said, adding that there may be more problems in the older areas of town.
The next meeting of the Littlestown Borough will take place June 25, 6:30 p.m. at the Alpha Fire Company, 40 East King St.
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Image: Renovation plans for Littlestown Community Park are scheduled from mid-July to October of this year.
Judith Cameron Seniura is a freelance reporter. She began her journalism career in the early ‘70s and has written for newspapers, magazines, and other media in Ontario, Canada, Alaska, Michigan, Nebraska, San Antonio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.