Longswamp Enacts Data Center Rules, Eyes $283,940 Radios

Longswamp Township has joined the list of Berks County municipalities with data center zoning on the books. The Board of Supervisors enacted Ordinance No. 309, an amendment to the township zoning ordinance covering data centers and solar energy systems, on Aug. 25, 2026, according to minutes the township posted this month. The vote followed a public hearing held the same evening.

The minutes for that meeting and the two around it, posted together on Oct. 8, also show what is coming next for the eastern Berks township: bids on a new municipal maintenance building were due Oct. 12, the township chairman has been shopping for a loan to pay for it, and the fire company has asked the township to fund $283,940 in new radios. Supervisors meet again Tuesday, Oct. 13, with a 2027 budget session at 6 p.m. and the regular meeting at 7 p.m. at the township building, 1112 State St., Mertztown, per the Sept. 22 agenda.

What the data center ordinance does

A data center is a building full of computer servers that run online services. The buildings draw large amounts of electricity and, depending on how they are cooled, large amounts of water, which is why more than a dozen Berks municipalities are writing or have adopted rules for them this year. Our data center tracker lists where each one stands.

Longswamp's minutes describe the ordinance in summary rather than reprinting it. According to the hearing record, the amendment:

• Defines data centers and regulates them in the township's Industrial zoning district. The minutes place that district "along the north side of the railroad tracks from the Valley Road area toward Taunton General."
• Requires hydrogeological studies, which measure how much groundwater a site can supply, once a project's water draw passes certain thresholds. The minutes do not state the thresholds.
• Encourages closed-loop cooling systems, which recirculate coolant instead of drawing fresh water, and requires an energy plan.
• Updates the township's existing water-draw restrictions.
• Adds noise provisions aimed at equipment such as chillers.

The minutes state the ordinance is "proactive, as there are no active proposals," without attributing the statement to anyone. The township reviewed how other municipalities handled the issue and sent the draft to Berks County for review. Public comment at the hearing suggested coordinating with neighboring municipalities, and someone raised the prospect of small modular nuclear reactors being built to power data centers, which the minutes call "an emerging trend."

The ordinance passed on a motion by Supervisor Mark Hilbert, seconded by Vice Chairman Mike Sacks, with both in favor. Chairman Don Hickman was absent, so the two-member vote was unanimous.

The solar portion of the amendment took effect right away in one visible way: the minutes state that "solar panels facing the road would no longer require waivers." Before the change, homeowners who wanted panels on a street-facing roof had to ask the supervisors for a waiver; the board's July 14 agenda alone listed three such requests.

The full text of Ordinance 309 is not online. The township's ordinances page lists "Ordinance 2026-309," but the entry has no document attached as of Oct. 12. Residents who want to read it can ask the township office at 1112 State St. (610-682-7388). The ordinance was on the board's July 14 agenda for "revisions and/or advertisement," as we reported in July, and the July 28 minutes listed it with "no new updates."

A new maintenance building and a loan to pay for it

The township is replacing its municipal maintenance building, and the project moved to bidding in September. At the Sept. 8 meeting, township engineer Jill Smith said the project was ready to go out for bid and the board voted to advertise it for two consecutive weeks, with bids due Oct. 12, 2026. Construction is tentatively set to start April 1, 2027, and finish by the end of August 2027.

To hold the price down, the township's own public works crew will do a large share of the site work: relocating a storm sewer, final grading, installing a stone parking area, and stripping out the old building's fixtures, heating units, gas lines, metal roofing and chimney, with the garage doors removed and stored for reuse. The township will install a new security system after the project is complete.

Chairman Hickman told the board he had spoken with Key Bank, Fulton Bank and Fleetwood about financing and expected an interest rate of about 4.75 percent. The minutes record his estimate that "a seven-year loan would result in monthly payments of approximately $35,000." The minutes do not state the building's expected cost or the loan amount. At the Aug. 25 meeting, the solicitor noted that the bid award needs to line up with adopting an ordinance that approves borrowing up to a set amount. The July 28 minutes had the bid award tentatively set for Oct. 13, but the Aug. 25 minutes say the project schedule was pushed back, so the award date may have moved.

Fire radios, a pension bill of zero and a speeding complaint

Other items from the newly posted minutes:

• Fire company radios. On Sept. 8 the board heard a request from the fire company to fund new radios at a cost of $283,940, which the minutes describe as "an estimated 70% discount." The current radios are becoming obsolete and parts are unavailable, making the purchase urgent, per the minutes. Hickman said he would look into financing options and interest rates and raise it at the joint public safety team meeting. The item returned on the Sept. 22 agenda as "Topton Fire Company Radios" under old business.
• No pension bill for 2027. PSATS Trustees Insurance and Retirement Services told the township it owes nothing toward its non-uniform employee pension plan for 2027. The board acknowledged the letter on Sept. 8.
• Township finances. The treasurer's report on Sept. 8 put the general fund at $3,241,112.88 and all funds at $4,029,510.68.
• Timber Drive speeding. Two residents of Timber Drive told the board Aug. 25 that cars have hit one resident's mailbox and trash cans five or six times in six years, and asked for speed bumps or a 15 mph limit on the downhill cul-de-sac. A prior traffic study produced no action. Hilbert said any speed-limit change would have to go through the township engineer, who was not at that meeting; the sight-distance review the board did order on Sept. 8 concerns a different spot, the corner of Longswamp Road and Schlossburg Street (the minutes spell it Schlossberg Road), where corn was blocking the view.
• Extra Storage plan withdrawn. A storage-facility plan that had been pending since December 2023 was formally withdrawn by the applicant in a letter dated Sept. 4, and the board accepted the withdrawal Sept. 8.
• Septic pumping. The township's sewage management program is in its third cycle, with a pumping deadline of June 30, 2027. As of August, 80 percent of properties in the current cycle had complied, and 27 properties from the prior cycle were still out of compliance after 51 notice letters went out.
• Trick-or-treat is set for Oct. 30, 6 to 8 p.m., with no rain date.

What happens next

The Oct. 13 budget meeting continues a series of 6 p.m. budget workshops that began Sept. 8 and Sept. 22; the township's meeting schedule lists more on Oct. 28 (a date that falls on a Wednesday, so it may be a typo for Oct. 27), Nov. 10, Nov. 24, Dec. 8 and Dec. 22. The maintenance-building bids and the fire radios are the two biggest open money questions. Longswamp's ordinance follows similar enactments this year in Windsor Township and Perry Township, both of which posted their full ordinance text online. We will add Longswamp's details once the township posts the document.

Corrections: corrections@berksbeat.com.