At the Tuesday, September 15, School District of Lancaster Board Meeting, Lancaster Township Manager Bill Laudien presented the Board with the Township’s plan to construct an “emergency services facility” immediately behind Planet Fitness on Millersville Pike. Plans for the facility, which would be funded and run by the Township itself, were well received by the Board, which has previously rejected similar proposals presented by the Township’s volunteer fire department.

School District approval is necessary because the parcel of land in question is officially owned by the District and leased to Lancaster Township.

In his presentation, Laudien sought to make a strong distinction between the current proposal and those rejected in the past. Laudien noted that, in the last year and a half, the Township began fully funding the fire department. This arrangement, he asserted, ensures a permanence and reliability not offered in previous proposals.

Laudien also stressed that the planned facility will not serve merely as a “fire house.” The new plan calls for a comprehensive emergency services facility, which would house firefighting equipment, ambulances, and an “emergency services coordinator.” Laudien also predicted that the facility could one day be used as a substation for a regional police force.

The plan would require the installation of a private-acess drive connecting the facility to Atkins Avenue to the north and Millersville Pike to the south.

Robert Field addressed the Board as part owner and representative of Manor House Apartments, which is located across from Atkins Avenue. Field said that Manor House poses no objection to the Township’s plan: “Are we thrilled that it’s going to be built there? No. But do we approve of the plan? Yes.” He added that, since  the apartment community benefits from a close proximity to the park,  he would be an ingrate to  complain about the addition of such a facility.

Laudien also said that the facility will be built and operated with the desire to avoid disturbing nearby residents. The Township promises to implement whatever technology is available to avoid using sirens, as long as emergency vehicles can move quickly and efficiently. Physical buffers will be constructed to screen out noise and lighting, Laudien said.

Addressing School District concerns, Laudien said that the facility will be situated as far as possible from the neighboring Wheatland Middle School. School athletic fields that adjoin the proposed construction site will be moved to locations much closer to the actual school facility.

Superintendent Pedro Rivera expressed his support for the proposal, praising, in particular, its plan to move school athletic facilities to a more convenient location. Board member Marta Howell told Laudien that she was “very impressed with the work that [the Township has] done.”

Rivera said that the School District administration will now review the lease and present the plan to the Facilities Committee. The proposal will then be brought, once again, to the School Board for its official approval.

Also at the meeting, Pedro Rivera, on behalf of Facilities Committee Chair Michael Rowen, announced the school buildings to be improved through Phase II of the District’s Capital Improvement Program. Martin Elementary School, Hand Middle School, Fulton Elementary School, Pheonix Academy, and Carter & MacRae Elementary School were among those that will receive renovations and utilities upgrades. Students at Lincoln Middle School will be provided with new classrooms within renovated portions of the Sheffy administrative building, Rivera said.