Print Edition Highlights - March 4, 2021

Peaceful Pet Passage eases pain of losing furry friends

By Mary Lou Bytof

During the COVID-19 pandemic, pet owners have been spending even more time with furry family members as they continue to work from home, which can make losing them especially difficult.

Peaceful Pet Passage at 210 Andersontown Road in Mechanicsburg offers pet owners a variety of services to help them say goodbye to their beloved companions.

The business is the brainchild of owner Rob Lauver, an avid animal lover who first opened a kennel and first local doggy day care facility on his nearly 25-acre property on the wooded, rolling hills at the northern fringe of Northern York County in Monaghan Township. Due to the demanding schedule of running the dog care facility 24/7, Lauver and his family phased out the boarding service from 2012-17 to provide end of life services for his customers’ beloved pets.

“I buried my own pets on the property, and my clients began requesting that I offer this service for their pets,” he said.  “Every animal deserves the respect, dignity and comfort of a peaceful passage.They are, after all, our family. Our goal is to ease the struggle, and comfort both pets and their owners. We are here to honor them.” Services offered to grieving pet owners include cremation, burial, and in-home euthanasia for terminally ill pets.

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Print Edition Highlights - February 25, 2021

It’s all about local at 6ix North

By Peggie Williams

It’s not often that that the opportunity to preserve history, support local artisans, add to a unique and wonderful small town and make a little money all collide, but according to Kris Garvenick, that’s exactly what happened when she and her husband invested in a century-old building in the center of Dillsburg.

The brick building just north of the square has had only two other owners since it was built in 1913 and was used primarily as a residence. Currently, its second floor is home to office space and its downstairs is a gift shop. The buildings postal address, 6 N. Baltimore Street, gave rise to the name shop’s name 6ix North. Garverick said their mission at the shop is to showcase local talent and to give residents and tourists another reason to come town. Since they opened in October of 2019, Garverick has seen both.

“The local support has been amazing,” she said. It is not unusual to have travelers, who found the coffee shop across the street, come in to explore her shop. She was excited about the success of her first Christmas shopping season As it has to so many other things, the COVID-19 crisis brought new challenges. She was able to adapt quickly to strengthen her online presence and inventory, bringing even more opportunity to expose the local talent she carries to a broader audience. They also offer curbside service and porch pick-up.

“Things just exploded this Christmas season as people found us in spite of the virus,” Garverick said.

She said she was not surprised by the quantity and quality of local artisans who have found their way to her. She knew they were always out there; she saw them at the events held in town like Farmers Fair and PickleFest. She knew that if she provided them a consistent presence to market their wares, they would take advantage of the opportunity.

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Print Edition Highlights - February 18, 2021

Zoning changes, resident, developer issues dominate meeting

By Peggie Williams

Carroll Township supervisors changed the hearing dates for the public to comment on changes to the township zoning regulations. During their February 8 meeting, they announced there will now be only be two formal hearings, one at 6:30 p.m. prior to the planning commission meeting on March 25, 2021 and one on April 19, 2021 at 6:30 p.m., as opposed to the several hearings that were scheduled earlier. However, supervisors reminded residents they could make comments in writing or in person during public comment time at any scheduled meeting any time before that date. Both of these hearings will be to discuss the zoning changes and the changes they will make to the Northern York County comprehensive plan if the changes are adopted.

In other business, changes were made to the status of financial securities held on several developments. The developers of Mountain Crest Phase II were released of the maintenance bond the township was holding. MacMor Construction, LLC was given a reduction in the amount of $77,443 for the Chestnut Hollow Phase I stormwater basin improvement project. The township is still holding $1,650.00 to assure the necessary grading and seeding is done in the spring.

New borough office grounds underway

Site preparation has begun for the new Dillsburg Borough and Public Works offices located next Dillsburg Park on Old York Road. Once all permits were in place, crews scraped the existing topsoil off the construction area to allow for fill dirt to be installed to make a level area for the building that will be a home for the borough offices, maintenance garage, the Northern and Dillsburg emergency management agencies. There will also be space for Emergency Medical Services (ambulance station) and a community room.

According to Borough Manager Karen Deibler a formal ground breaking will take place this spring, and it is hoped that construction should be mostly finished in time for the community space to be used as a part of Farmers Fair.

Deibler confirmed that plans are already moving ahead for the 106th Farmers Fair in mid-October.

Print Edition Highlights - February 11, 2021

Residents need more notice before action on crematorium

By Carolyn Hoffman

About 50 people attended the February 8 Monaghan Township meeting, hoping to weigh in on the proposed zoning text amendment that would allow a crematorium and celebration of life facility on property owned by Supervisor Rob Lauver, only to learn that no action would be taken that evening.

The township’s new solicitor, Michael Pykosh, reported that for a zoning amendment, the advertising and public hearing requirements are different than for an ordinary ordinance action. He said the proposed amendment needed to be advertised twice and that a stenographer would be needed for a public hearing.

Supervisors tabled action on the proposed amendment but did not schedule a date for future action. The vote was 2-1 with Chair Vicki Aycock voting against as she wanted a date set for the measure’s future consideration so attending residents would know before leaving this session.

It was also reported at this meeting that York County Planning Commission recommended against approving the measure. The local planning commission previously recommended to take no action for its approval. Residents were alerted to the meeting and possible action on the text amendment by a mailer sent, not by the township, but by an unnamed resident. Many attending said it was the first time they’d heard about the proposal. However, as no action was able to be taken this evening, due to the advertising requirements, those attending the session were not able to go on the record to voice approval or disapproval of the proposal. Supervisor Ron Allen characterized the information in the mailer as “very negative” towards the amendment. Under the current proposal, the proposed text amendment would allow similar facilities anywhere in the rural residential district, which currently exceeds 50% of the township, and not just on Lauver’s Andersontown Road property. The current proposal also specifies a series of required criteria, such as a minimum 20-acre parcel, among others, before any facilities could be allowed.

See more in this week's Banner

Proposal would allow HS students to finish at Dover

By Mary Lou Bytof

Changing schools is never easy, but entering a new high school during the junior or senior year is especially difficult. That is why the transition teams comprised of Dover and Northern York County School District personnel are working to ease the sting of changing schools for elementary and middle school students, and proposing that current Dover High School students may choose to remain at Dover until graduation. On January 20, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision to permit Washington Township to secede to the Northern York County School District this coming fall. The change potentially will affect nearly 200 students from Washington Township in grades K-12.

See more in this week's Banner

Photos by Curt Werner

Young volunteers from Celebration Community Church wash fire trucks at the Northern York County Fire Rescue station.

'Livin it Sunday'

More than 100 volunteers from Celebration Community Church spearheaded over six community projects in Dillsburg on Sunday, Oct. 18.  There was mulching and cleaning up at Logan Park, painting and repairs at Haar's Drive-In, garbage pickup along roads, washing fire trucks at the Northern York County Fire Rescue station and clean-up and repairs at local properties. "We call it 'Livin it Sunday'," pastor Mike Hammer said. "Instead of having a sermon at church, we go out and live the sermon.  This is one of our favorite events of the year.  Our church loves to serve the community," Hammer said.

For more information see the Ocotber 22, 2020 edition.