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Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.

After questioning variances granted by the township’s zoning hearing board and agreeing to hire a specialist to review a glare study, the Mount Joy Township Board of Supervisors delayed decisions last week on two proposed projects.

The supervisors delayed a vote until their Aug. 18 meeting on a conditional use request to allow construction of a manufacturing facility for wood pallets, roof trusses, and mulch at 3608 Baltimore Pike.

They also voted to spend up to $20,000 to hire a lighting engineer or equivalent professional to review a glare study submitted as part of a land development plan for part of the proposed Brookview Solar project. The supervisors extended a decision-making deadline to allow a vote on the plan during the Aug. 18 meeting at 7 p.m. in the township building, 902 Hoffman Home Road.

Regarding the manufacturing request, Supervisor Chair Bernie Mazer said the board may choose to challenge the variances in court, including one permitting up to 70 decibels of noise at the property line rather than the maximum of 55 in the ordinance.

“Seventy is really high,” Supervisor Christine Demas said.

Potential issues include idling trucks and a change in the proposal that would locate grinding operations outdoors rather than inside a building, Mazer said.

The supervisors conducted non-public discussion regarding potential litigation prior to Thursday’s proceedings, as permitted by state law, Mazer said. The supervisors had yet to receive formal written versions of the variances from the zoning hearing board, he said.

During a continued public hearing last Thursday, petitioner Tom Green said inflation necessitated the elimination of a grinder building.

“Everything has tripled” in recent months, including steel and other structural materials, he said.

Green represented Northeast Pallet LLC, which would operate the site on behalf of Green Pallet LLC. The latter has contracted to purchase the site, which is in the Baltimore Pike Corridor zoning district.

As for the lighting expert, the board acted after the township engineer, Erik Vranich, said neither he nor township staff members have the expertise to review the analysis of potential glare of electricity-generating solar panels on hundreds of acres of farmland. At issue was the portion of the proposal on sites zoned for agricultural use. Another portion in the Baltimore Pike Corridor district is the subject of ongoing litigation.

The township can charge the petitioner for “reasonable” expenses resulting from the hiring of professionals to review materials submitted as required by the ordinance, township attorney Susan Smith said.

In other business, the supervisors took a step toward reviving a proposal to develop a township park. The proposal has lain dormant since 2009, officials said.

The township owns the proposed site in the 400 block of Baltimore Pike, which includes the Pleasant Grove School House, also known as Mud College. Voting unanimously, the supervisors hired the Vortex Environmental firm at a cost of $1,950 to determine which portions of the site are protected wetlands.

Also unanimously, the supervisors voted to replace an aging equipment trailer Road Master Shane Wise said would probably not pass the next safety inspection.

Acting on the recommendation of Wise, who said he obtained a number of quotes, the supervisors approved a purchase from The Hitch Man of Taneytown, Md., for $15,995.

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