Herb Riede's Blog

Most people knew him as the mayor of McSherrystown. To some, he was just plain "Moe."

To his family, he was a dedicated husband, father and grandfather.

But for everyone who came into contact with Cyril T. Noel, he was a trustworthy, generous and dependable man who gave to his family and community without expecting anything in return.

Noel died Saturday at York Hospital at the age of 82.

"We really are going to miss him because he was our rock," said his wife, Frances Noel.

Cyril lived in McSherrystown his whole life and, as a young boy, acquired the "Moe" moniker.

"Everyone has a nickname in McSherrystown," said his son, David Noel. "That's just how they did it."

Frances said Cyril never liked his given name. He even had an uncle who would call him "cereal" when he was young. But Cyril liked "Moe" and always went by it.

Somehow, though, the nickname got passed on to Cyril's four sons.

"When the phone rang and they asked for Moe, we didn't know who to get," said Tom Noel, Cyril's son, said with a laugh Tuesday as he and other family members recalled his father.

But whether he was called Cyril or Moe or even CT, he always felt it was his duty to give back to the community, said David Noel.

"Dad always felt he was pretty successful in life and he wanted to give that back," he said. "He believed, if you give, you get back somewhere along the line."

Cyril spent 15 years - from 1990 to 2005 - as mayor of McSherrystown. From 1989 to 1990, he was a borough council member. In all his years as mayor, Cyril never accepted a paycheck.

"He just did his job," said Councilman Steve Weaver. "He went about it quietly. He was a good mayor and an understanding person."

McSherrystown Mayor Herb Riede said it was Cyril who helped him transition into the position.

"I asked him when his time came up if he was going to run for mayor again," Riede said. "He said he didn't feel up to it, but every time he didn't run the residents kept writing him in. He just wanted to move on. But I asked him what to do a lot of the times and he always talked about things with me."

Cyril had said that he enjoyed every meeting and most of the other borough activities, but his age was catching up with him.

"I get a little forgetful," he said in 2005. "I felt it was becoming more difficult to do a good job."

Besides his position as mayor, he worked for 47 years at Hanover Foods Corp. and served on the board of directors at the company. He was also involved with numerous civic organizations such as the Lions Club.

But he never let his obligations to the community interfere with his family. And it showed when his family talked about the good memories.

"With him there was a right way and a wrong way to do things," said Michael Noel. "If you were doing it wrong, he let you know. He was a taskmaster. You either do it right or don't do it at all."

But, Michael added, it was that philosophy - which his father used not only in his personal life but also in his profession - that probably made him so successful.

"People always trusted him and knew they could depend on him. He just thought it was his job to give back," David said. "He always made something positive out of the negative and always saw the light at the end of the tunnel," David said.

Contact Ashley Adams at aadams@eveningsun.com.

Two state representatives feel it should be up to the state to come up with the money to make the proposed McSherrystown bypass a reality.

"This project needs to be funded by state and federal dollars," said state Rep. Dan Moul, R-Conewago Township. "The residents of Conewago Township shouldn't have to bear the costs. I live in Conewago Township. We have enough taxes to worry about."

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation stopped work on the proposed bypass, also known as the Eisenhower Drive extension west, during the preliminary design phase after receiving a letter from Conewago Township in June announcing the township was pulling its support for the project.

The township supervisors said other roads need improvements before a new one should be built.

But last week, the supervisors said their letter gave PennDOT the wrong impression. They said they support the idea of a proposed bypass, they just don't want to be the only municipality saddled with the expense. Eighty percent of the funding for the bypass would come from federal funds, but 20 percent would need to be paid by a local or state government.

PennDOT planning and program manager Terry Adams has said the project would total into the millions, but an exact cost will not be known until the design phase is completed and property for the bypass is acquired. Conewago Township is being looked at to provide the local matching funds because the bypass would be located in that municipality.

Conewago Township earmarked $25,000 for the project a few years ago because local money was needed in order to launch the project, and Adams said that money will be used in the design phase.

State Rep. Steve Nickol, R-Hanover, said when the idea of a bypass came about, he pledged to do whatever possible to get state funding for the project. And he stills plans to do that.

"The concept always was when the local area had to come up with this funding there would be a best effort made by myself and other local representatives to come up with state funding," said Nickol.

The idea for an alternate road to lighten traffic on state Route 116 through McSherrystown dates back to a 1990 Adams County Comprehensive Plan and a 1996 Hanover Area Transportation Study that called for the extension of Eisenhower Drive to a point near Brushtown. Nickol said it was deemed a top-priority project for the local area.

"We couldn't resolve the traffic problems in Hanover, Penn Township or McSherrystown without considering that bypass," Nickol said. "Eisenhower Drive was the only roadway to expand to accommodate the additional traffic from growth."

Nickol, who has been involved with the project since the traffic study, said Conewago Township was a very active participant with the proposed bypass idea early on.

"Back in the '90s, Conewago Township's big fears were that they didn't want the roadway, if built, to look like Eisenhower Drive, with all the commercial activity," Nickol said. "If they are forced to build it with local funds they couldn't afford a roadway like that."

But, Nickol pointed out, other municipalities such as Penn Township and Hanover Borough were very active in the idea also.

"Looking at the Hanover area as a whole, you can't build new highways in Hanover and McSherrystown, so all the burden is falling on Conewago Township and Penn Township," Nickol said.

He said other municipalities had talked about kicking in funds when the project idea was first discussed.

Hanover Borough Manager Bruce Rebert said the question of helping to fund the project has never come up with the current Borough Council.

"There were some general discussions in the '90s, but we were never asked about cost sharing," Rebert said.

Penn Township recently sent a letter to PennDOT in support of the project, but didn't mention anything about supporting it financially.

But Moul said the first thing that needs to be done is to get the project back into the planning stages.

"(The Adams County Transportation Planning Organization) has to get it back in the works so that it is not considered dropped," Moul said. "Somebody has to do some back-pedaling and get it back on the books, then they need to find the money to do it."

Adams has said PennDOT is leaving it up to ACTPO and the local governments to find funding for the project before the design phase continues.

About $300,000 of the $2.2 million allocated for the project has been spent so far on a preliminary design phase. All the money was from the federal government and authorized only for the McSherrystown bypass.

Adams County Commissioner Lucy Lott, who is also a member of ACTPO, said the county is in the process of contacting local governments.

"It's just a matter of everyone getting the same information and sitting down and discussing it," Lott said. "We are going to be able to get there. Everybody probably wants the same thing, we just have to get there."

Adams County Commissioner Glenn Snyder said they are working on setting up a meeting with Moul, Nickol and the planning department to come up with a plan on what to do.

"It's a communication breakdown," Snyder said. "We are hoping to get this thing back on track."

Both Moul and Nickol agree this project is necessary to relieve traffic in the local areas.

"I don't want to lose the bypass," Nickol said. "To lose it would be a horrendous mistake for the entire community."

And the state representatives also think the funding needs to come from the state.

"Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent in Lancaster on Route 30 and developing that commercial area," Moul said. "We are asking for a fraction of that. I think (the state) can pick up the tab on this one."

Both Moul and Nickol pledged to fight for the project.

"Not one inch of this project is in my legislative district but I will try to help out as much as possible because it is a concern to my constituents," Nickol said.

"I don't want to see anybody's taxes go up," Moul said. "But there are no promises. I will fight and do what I can to protect the people in my district and get this project back on the books."

Contact Ashley Adams at aadams@eveningsun.com.