Hanover, Pa. – On April 1, 2024 the Borough of Hanover received approval from the Court of Common Pleas of York County, Pennsylvania Orphans’ Court Division to lease a portion of the Guthrie Memorial Library to the Hanover Area Historic Society (HAHS). The petition was put before the Orphans’ Court by the Borough of Hanover, which owns and operates the library as a department of the municipality, with a commitment from the library’s Board of Governors not to contest the petition, to assure that the lease is in keeping with the original tenets of the deed established in 1911.
Presenting at the Borough Council meeting held on January 29, 2024, Mike McAuliffe Miller, attorney of Eckert Semans Attorneys at Law and special counsel to the Borough, presented financial information on the operating deficit which Borough residents have been solely responsible to fund above their fair share payments stating, “The library runs at a $200,000 to $500,000 average deficit annually.” Mr. Miller explained that the proposed lease of space to the HAHS would help to offset the Borough taxpayer burden.
When speaking at the same Council meeting, Paul W. Minnich, attorney of Barley Snyder LLC and counsel for Library Board of Governors, accompanied by Chrissy Rosensteel, President of Board of Governors, expressed the viewpoint of the Board saying, “We are eminently aware of the difficulties of running a Borough economically in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” and, “It is an unfortunate state of affairs that a Borough is in an economic position where it has had to subsidize [the library] to the extent to which [the Borough] has had to subsize the library operations.” When addressing the efforts of resolving the issue he said, “The Board is open to trying to find ways to mitigate the economic impact on the Borough. We would like to work collaboratively to that end … If the conclusion of the Borough is that you must move forward with the lease to the Historical Society, we did articulate in correspondence issued last Friday [the] circumstances under which the Board of Governors would not oppose that – the most critical or conditional one is court approval,” and that, “There is a risk that if it is not gone through the court process, that there could be a conclusion that this is violative of the restrictive covenants of the original deed.” Rosensteel agreed saying, “I think that the court approval is paramount.”
Manager Lewis stated, “The Borough continues to have meaningful discussions with the Library’s Board of Governors, library staff, the administration at York County Libraries, and other community leaders to develop the best path forward for the library’s future. The goal of both the Borough of Hanover and the Library’s Board of Governors is the sustainability and continuation of the library’s operation in Hanover.” It is our belief that the lease with Hanover Area Historical Society is an opportunity for all the organizations involved to realize our common goals.”
The Borough of Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania, was incorporated in 1815. It is governed by the Borough Council, overseen by the Borough Manager, and staffed by administrative, public service, public works, sewer, water, refuse and engineering professionals. Known as the Snack Food Capital of the World, Hanover is home, not only to numerous food industries, but also to manufacturing, technology, commercial sales, and services. Hanover Borough offices, located at 44 Frederick Street, can be reached at 717-637-3877 or by email at Info@HanoverBoroughPA.gov. More information is available at www.HanoverBoroughPA.gov.
