The Straban Township Board of Supervisors passed its 2026 budget and discussed land development business at its final meeting of 2025.
They voted unanimously to pass the budget for 2026.
Supervisor Fred Kammerer summarized the budget as “No new taxes. It’s available if anybody wants to look at it any time.”
During the public comment period, one resident asked if a copy of the budget had been available online prior to the meeting. Township Secretary/Treasurer Robin Crushong confirmed that it had not been uploaded, but it can be if the Board so chooses. It was available at the township office for the public to review, but no one requested to view it before the meeting, she said.
Supervisors also voted unanimously to approve the update to the Township’s Ag Security Area listing of properties, which is revised every seven years. Two properties were added, two removed, and 21 listings modified. In total, the Ag Security Area parcels make up 6,479 acres. A list of the included properties is available at the Straban Township Office.
Kammerer, who served as the chair of the Ag Security Board this year, explained that a property must be included in the area if the owner wishes to apply for ag preservation funding. It also provides some protection for farmers from complaints about the “noise and dust” created by farming practices.
No public comments were made during a brief public hearing on the Ag Security Area, held before the regular meeting.
Supervisors voted on several minor items related to the Granite Hill Solar Project which is located on and near Red Bridge Rd., although the land development plan remains under review. That process received a one month extension into January. The land development plan application was introduced on June 9, 2023.
Supervisors voted to allow a waiver of a regulation in the subdivision and land development ordinance (SALDO) regarding the street frontage. In exchange for waiving the requirement to widen the road on the property’s frontage to meet the current standards of a 22-foot roadway with 8-foot shoulders, the developer offered a one-time $250,000 contribution toward the improvement of parts of nearby Beaver Run Road, to cover any anticipated damage from construction and repair existing damage. See: https://ecode360.com/11625539#11625539
At their previous meeting, the Planning Commission asked that the contribution be paid at the time of issuance of the land use permit, rather than at the start of commercial operation, and a representative for the developer agreed.
An audience member asked if the Township believed the funding would be enough to repair the road, and Township Engineer Erik Vranich said the road crew believes it would be sufficient.
“What we’re discussing now is almost more of a road rebuild project than it is necessarily a repair project. The road already has some issues with it that need to be worked out and certainly the additional traffic for construction will make that even worse,” he said.
A representative for the developer said they aim to submit revised plans in time for the Planning Commission to review them before their next meeting.
At the end of the meeting, the supervisors recognized departing member Alan Zepp, who has served on township boards starting in 1998 when he was elected to the Planning Commission. He chaired the Commission from 2002-2019 before his election to the Board of Supervisors.
“He served here for 28 years giving his time and knowledge as a longtime Straban resident and farmer,” Chair Tony Sanders said.
Zepp said, “I will simply ask that you support these guys as much as you can. We try and do the right thing, we don’t make everybody happy. . . I hope we can all keep working together.”
He joked that his wife would be happy that he doesn’t have to plan his life around Monday night meetings anymore.
The Planning Commission will next meet on December 17 at 7:00 p.m. and the Board of Supervisors will meet in the new year on January 5, 2026 at 7:00 p.m.
