LANCASTER TWP — While new residential construction took a hit nationwide in the beginning of 2020 as a result of state-mandated shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lancaster Township is seeing ever-increasing numbers.

Between July 20 and Aug. 14, the township issued 15 building permits, of which 14 were for dwelling units. The majority of these permits were issued for construction within the Scenic Ridge residential development, just off Route 19 by the Log Cabin Inn, but other developments, such as Arden Woods, are adding homes as well.

At Monday's supervisors meeting, Benjamin Kramer, township manager, said the township has issued 38 more permits in 2020 than at this time last year, and Secretary-Treasurer Christina Senft said the township has collected around $3,000 more in permit-issue fees than it had in mid-August 2019.

Calling the current phone system “outdated and obsolete,” township supervisors voted to switch to a voice-over Internet protocol system Monday.The switch, which will cost the township roughly $2,400 upfront and around $300 a month, will replace its current landline phone system, which Kramer said poses certain challenges that could be solved with a VoIP system.“It's certainly time,” Kramer said. “We're pushing 16 years of utilizing the same system.”Benefits of the system include being able to use one of the system's user licenses on an employee's smartphone and automatically sending voicemails to the employee's email. It also affects the township's monthly expenses.“We would be eliminating a cost, which would be the two landline services the township pays directly to Armstrong,” Kramer said.Supervisors debated between two systems — a VoIP system from DBS Telecom, which the township would own, and a Prime Communications system, which it would lease. The former has a higher upfront cost, but the latter a higher monthly cost.In the end, supervisors decided on the DBS Telecom system. Senft said the township hadn't budgeted for the expense at the beginning of the year, but plans on using Act 13 funds to offset the cost.