Albany Township Sets Hearing on Hawk Mountain Rebuild

Albany Township's supervisors voted Oct. 5 to hold a conditional-use hearing on Hawk Mountain Sanctuary's plan to tear down and rebuild its visitor center, and set it for 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2 at the Kempton Fire Company, according to the minutes of the Oct. 5 meeting, which the township posted Nov. 3. The same minutes say the township's Act 537 sewage plan, which would require every septic tank in the township to be pumped on a schedule, "will be adopted at the November 2nd meeting." That meeting has come and gone, but the township posts minutes only, no agendas, so what the board decided Nov. 2 is not yet on record.

This is Berks Beat's first story on Albany Township, which is part of the Kutztown Area School District. The three supervisors meet the first Monday of each month, or the second Monday after a federal holiday, at 7:30 p.m. at the Kempton Fire Company, 2461 Route 143; the township has no office or office hours. The homepage says the next regular meeting is Monday, Dec. 7.

Hawk Mountain's rebuild

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, whose visitor center sits at 1700 Hawk Mountain Road in Kempton, first brought its plans to the supervisors on Sept. 14. President Sean Grace, board member George Cauffman and Director of Stewardship Todd Bauman "presented plans for the proposed reconstruction of the Visitor Center," and the Sept. 14 minutes say that "Per the Zoning Ordinance, this project is permitted as a conditional use." A conditional use is a use the zoning ordinance allows only after the governing body holds a hearing and decides whether the project meets the ordinance's standards; under Section 913.2 of the state Municipalities Planning Code, the supervisors can attach "reasonable conditions and safeguards" to an approval and must issue a written decision within 45 days after the last hearing.

The application, fee and plans arrived Sept. 25, the Oct. 5 minutes say. Grace, Cauffman, Bauman and Nathan Fry of Funk Construction attended Oct. 5, and the board voted 3-0 (Chris Schucker, Josh Rabert and Charles Volk, all yes) to schedule and advertise the hearing. The Planning Commission saw the "development, design and site plan" on Sept. 14, its minutes say, and township engineer Joe Body reported Oct. 5 that the commission "will provide a report for the conditional use hearing." The minutes do not describe the building's size.

Hawk Mountain has said more on its own site. In an Oct. 15 announcement, the sanctuary said it will "move forward with construction of a new Visitor Center and Center for Global Raptor Conservation, with demolition of the existing Visitor Center anticipated in the spring of 2027 with construction to immediately follow." It has raised $10 million toward a $13 million campaign goal, the announcement says, and plans "a soaring timber-frame entrance with vaulted ceilings," covered porches, an education room, new exhibits and bird-friendly glass. Its campaign page says the new building "will overlap with the current footprint of the Visitor Center." The announcement does not mention the township hearing.

Septic pumping for every property

The second item set up for Nov. 2 reaches every home in the township. Act 537 is the state Sewage Facilities Act; the Department of Environmental Protection's program under it exists "to help address existing sewage disposal needs" through planning and permitting of sewage facilities, per DEP's program page. Albany's draft plan update, prepared by Alfred Benesch & Company, looked at the villages of Kempton and Stony Run and the rest of the township and found that public sewer "did not meet the affordability criteria"; its rate analysis put the cost of a village system at $220 to $330 a month per user with no grants. Instead, the plan's recommended alternative "is to implement a Sewage Management Program for the Township," which the Sept. 14 minutes describe as "septic tank pumping management."

The township's Sewage Enforcement page spells out what that would mean: a "township-wide on-lot sewage management program requiring all septic tanks to be pumped at least once every three (3) years," with the township divided into three pumping districts on rotating schedules. If DEP approves the plan, the page says, the township "will be required to adopt and enforce an On-lot Sewage Management Program Ordinance," expected in summer 2027, and owners in the first district would have one year from adoption to have their tank inspected and pumped. The model ordinance in the plan's appendix is worded a little differently: it requires an inspection at least once every three years and pumping when the inspection finds solids or scum above a third of the tank's depth, with receipts sent to the township. The plan says the program's cost to the township "is minimal and can be handled as part of the Township's annual budget"; neither document says what a homeowner would pay a pumper.

The plan went to the Berks County Planning Commission on Aug. 31 for a 60-day review, and public comment ran Sept. 1 to 30; one resident, Elizabeth Mammen, asked clarifying questions at the Sept. 14 meeting, the minutes say. The plan's own schedule calls for the final plan to go to DEP by Nov. 15, with approval expected in May 2027; the minutes say DEP's review runs 180 days.

Ambulance coverage changing Nov. 14

Kempton Fire Company Chief Matt Brett asked to add an "urgent topic" to the Oct. 5 agenda. He "recently learned that Cetronia Ambulance will pull its resources out of the New Tripoli station on November 14th which will require realigning ambulance coverage and updating run cards," the minutes say. In fire-service usage, run cards are the lists that tell dispatchers which units to send to a call. The change means "converting all data into the county's new format," and the board voted 3-0 to buy a Fire CAD Box Apparatus Generator program from Insight Service LLC for $250 so Brett can run time-and-distance studies.

Cetronia's facilities page still listed the New Tripoli station, at the Community Fire Company New Tripoli in Lynn Township, as of Nov. 4, and its news page had no notice of the change. The minutes are the only public record of it we found, and they do not say who would cover Albany calls after Nov. 14.

Data centers: Albany now drafting

Albany has joined the list of Berks municipalities writing data-center rules. At the Sept. 14 Planning Commission meeting, Body "distributed to the Planning Commission members a document for their review entitled, Data Centers, Proposed Ordinance Provisions, Draft 9/14/26," according to the commission's minutes. The Environmental Advisory Council told the supervisors Oct. 5 it is "working with Planning Commission on recommendations for data centers, solar facilities, weed and noise ordinance." No draft text is posted. Neighboring Greenwich Township sent its own draft toward a hearing in September; our data-center tracker tracks Berks municipalities' rules and projects, and now lists Albany as drafting.

Fire company's grant request

The Kempton Fire Company asked the board to apply for a state Local Share Account grant "for the purchase of upgraded fire equipment," the Oct. 5 minutes say. The LSA Statewide program takes applications from counties, municipalities, authorities and certain other public bodies, not from fire companies directly, and projects must be "owned and maintained by an eligible applicant or a Pennsylvania nonprofit entity," per the program guidelines; applications are accepted Sept. 1 to Nov. 30 with a $100 fee. The board "agreed to investigate the requirements and process," with a decision due Nov. 2. The minutes do not say what equipment or how much money; Bernville Borough is weighing a $1 million LSA request of its own.

Also on Oct. 5

• Pension: the board approved the 2027 minimum municipal obligation, the required yearly payment to the township pension plan, at $4,001.
• Salt shed: a $712 Dynamic System Solutions quote for a security camera at the new salt shed was accepted; Roadmaster Ryan Rex reported the shed and paving are finished.
• Comcast broadband: 20 street-opening permits issued and four pending, but "Work has not yet been completed on any of the permits issued" because Comcast reassigned its contractor to other municipalities.
• Zettlemoyer chicken barns, 230 Quaker City Road: a 90-day extension for plan approval was granted 3-0.
• Zoning: a notice of violation went to 74 Turkey Road for "an unpermitted accessory dwelling unit tied into the main dwelling septic system, in violation of both zoning and DEP septic regulations."
• Northeastern Berks Joint Comprehensive Plan: the public survey ran through Oct. 29.
• Treasurer: general fund $615,208.96, state fund $122,339.79.

What's next

Three decisions were queued for Nov. 2: the Hawk Mountain conditional-use ruling after the 5:30 p.m. hearing, adoption of the Act 537 plan, and whether to file the fire company's LSA application before the Nov. 30 deadline. None is on record. The township's minutes page carries no agendas, and both the Sept. 14 and Oct. 5 minutes appeared Nov. 3, the day after the Nov. 2 meeting; on that pattern, the Nov. 2 record is unlikely before the Dec. 7 meeting. Under Section 913.2, a written decision on the Hawk Mountain application is due within 45 days of the last hearing.