Sinking Spring OKs $1,800-a-Month Verizon Tower Lease

Sinking Spring Borough Council approved an amended Verizon cell tower lease on Sept. 10, at $1,800 a month with a 2% increase each year and the option of six five-year extensions, per the meeting minutes. The same night, council set the borough's required 2027 pension payments at $90,142 for non-uniformed employees and $33,129 for police, and heard that a revised design for the Krick Avenue extension has gone to PennDOT.

The minutes, posted this week, are a five-page scanned image signed by Borough Secretary Elizabeth A. Eagelman, with no "approved" or "draft" stamp. Their approval was on the Oct. 8 agenda, but those minutes are not yet posted, so whether council accepted them as written is unconfirmed.

Every recorded vote was unanimous, with council member Lisa Gantner absent and the other six members and Mayor Gary Cirulli present.

The Verizon lease

Borough Solicitor Charles Haws of Barley Snyder noted that under Pennsylvania law, leases longer than 29 years may be subject to real estate transfer tax, which council accepted. The six five-year extensions alone would run 30 years. The minutes do not state the remaining term of the current lease, where the tower stands, or what the borough collected before the amendment.

Pension payments and four other items in one vote

Council approved New Business items A through E as a single block. The two largest were the 2027 Minimum Municipal Obligations, or MMOs: the least the borough must pay into each of its pension plans next year under state law. The Sept. 10 agenda lists the non-uniform plan at $90,142 and the police plan at $33,129.

The same motion sponsored a Western Berks Fire Department request for a Local Share Account grant, a state program funded by casino gaming revenue, which returned on the Oct. 8 agenda as Resolution 2026-08 for a fire engine; approved "Option 1" for a new server, with no price given; and authorized signing the 2026 audit engagement letter.

Krick Avenue and Village Green

Borough Engineer Lowell Leaman of ARRO Consulting reported that Bowman, the traffic engineer, sent PennDOT a revised intersection design and scoping application for the Krick Avenue extension. Of six alternatives, the preferred is a T-intersection bringing the new extension into Columbia Avenue, with the stop sign on the new leg so Columbia Avenue traffic is not interrupted. The connection would shift closer to the VFW parking area through previously acquired properties, and a meeting with PennDOT is anticipated. The minutes give no cost or schedule. In neighboring South Heidelberg Township, supervisors were scheduled Sept. 22 to award a $2.37 million contract to extend Krick Lane; that township has not posted minutes confirming the vote, and Sinking Spring's minutes do not say whether the two projects are connected.

At the Village Green subdivision, construction is mostly done with punch-list items left. A drainage problem was found at the far end of the walking trail; council had accepted the trail in place of a sidewalk and expects the developer to fix it if it does not hold up as one. The Oct. 8 agenda listed a fourth escrow release for the project of $570,540.54.

The bill list and other business

Council member Denise Stine asked about a $7,000 check to Gantner on the bill list. Council President Tracy Peterson said Gantner pays for Summer Playground supplies and field trips on her own card and is reimbursed at season's end. Council member John Eagelman asked why $200,000 budgeted for paving sat unspent while $105,000 had been charged against a $6,000 budget for signs and markings; the codes may have been transposed, and staff will verify. Council approved the bills.

Mayor Cirulli reported that on a recent Sunday, the business 7 Brew had employees, including minors, stand in the roadway on Route 724 to direct customers during a promotion, with no notice to the borough or PennDOT. The on-duty officer spent about two hours on it. Borough Manager Michael Hart is to write to the owners that such promotions need advance permission and employees may not direct traffic.

Peterson said passport services, covered in our passport guide, are sustaining the library's revenue. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.

What happens next

Council met Oct. 8 at the Freight House, 900 Clematis St., under a venue change. That agenda carried Ordinance 672-2026 vacating part of Broad Street, a PMRS amendment cutting police officers' pension contribution to 0.5% for 2027, 2027 budget drafts, and acceptance of Hart's resignation effective Dec. 31, 2026. With those minutes unposted, no outcomes are known.

The next regular meeting is Nov. 12, per the borough homepage, at 7 p.m. at Borough Hall, 3940 Penn Ave. Council meets the second Thursday monthly, with a fourth-Wednesday workshop as needed, per the meeting dates page. Our guide explains how to find any Berks municipality's meeting schedule.