Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — Swatara Township is conducting a thorough legal review of the contracts and financing related to infrastructure projects and other contracts that may have been influenced by a township employee illegally conspiring with other people in Dauphin County.
“The Township takes these allegations seriously. As such, it is prepared to offer its complete transparency and cooperation to accurately determine what transpired.”
According to a press release, statements made by Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas during the December 4th Commissioners’ Meeting, referenced Swatara Township.
“His statements suggested that a Township employee forwarded emails about the funding for an infrastructure project to Mr. Michael Musser, which became part of an email thread between Mr. Musser, Mr. George Connor, Mr. Jeff Haste, and several HRG employees.
Given the recent string of allegations of impropriety surrounding Mr. Musser and Mr. Haste, the Township is deeply concerned about their possible involvement with Township matters.”
According to PennLive, the emails in question start with an exchange between employees of Swatara Township and an engineering firm in July 2023 regarding funding options for a project on Rupp Hill Road. The emails were forwarded by then-Township Manager Jim Fosselman to Fosselman’s personal email, then forwarded to Musser. Musser then copied Haste and George Connor, executive director of the county’s economic development department, as well as three employees of a different engineering firm, Herbert, Rowland & Grubick. Those parties went on to discuss the financing of the project.
It’s unclear why Musser looped HRG employees into the email forwarded by Fosselman.
Fosselman said he likely forwarded the emails to himself for personal record keeping, not to try to hide them or keep them off the township’s books. He contacted Musser about the matter because according to him, Musser was helping facilitate a county loan program they were applying for, he said.
“I had no personal dealings with HRG or Musser, other than making the arrangements for the loan,” Fosselman said. “I was just trying to get the funding that we really needed to build this road.”
Swatara Township is the second local municipality this week to announce plans to examine dealings involving Musser. On Monday, Steelton Borough’s council informally agreed to pursue a forensic audit of the borough’s finances after its mayor raised concerns last week about overspending and irregular contracts — in particular, contracts with HRG, Musser and Musser’s employer, the law firm McNees Wallace & Nurick.
Harrisburg100 