Slatington Borough Council received an update Monday evening on the digester project at the sewer treatment plant.

“Our crews have been doing some work on the digester to save the borough money,” said Daniel Stevens, chairman of the council.

The borough received a Pennsylvania Small Water and Sewer grant for $395,000 and must keep the cost of the project under $500,000 to comply with the grant.

In order to do that, borough employees Duane Szczesny, the operator at the sewer plant, and Robert Herzog, a member of the borough road crew, have been preparing the digester to be converted from an anaerobic system to an aerobic system. This requires removing pumps and piping and other parts from the digester.

Stevens said the council appreciates all of their work, so they were given special recognition at the meeting of their work.

The actual conversion work will be done by PSI Pumping Solutions Inc. of York Springs at a cost of $339,500. George Hayden Inc. in Hazleton will do the electrical work for $66,643, and the engineering and design will be completed by ARRO Consulting Inc. for about $84,000. In all, the total for the project will cost a little more than $490,000.

Once the conversion work is done, the borough employees will paint the digester.

In other business

The council plans to apply for a Community Development Block Grant for work for next year. Stevens said there are two projects the borough wants to pursue.

The first project involves painting slanted lines on the road for parking spots on Kuntz Street between Second Street and Chestnut Alley at the Slatington Veterans Memorial. The parking would also include handicap parking, he said. The second project is for curb cutting, sidewalk improvements and drainage on East Franklin Street.

Stevens said the borough plans to use the funds from CDBG this year for curb cutting, sidewalk improvements and drainage on Fourth Street from West Center Avenue to West Church Street.

At the meeting, Slatington Police Chief David Rachman told the council that the borough’s Detective Timothy Wagner and Walnutport patrolman Dean Heffelfinger Jr. were honored by the Allen O. Delke Post 16 American Legion of Slatington with the Outstanding Law Enforcement Award on Feb. 25. Stevens said the council is glad to see the men being recognized for their work.

Speaking of the American Legion, the council approved two parades for this year. The American Legion requested to hold a Memorial Day Parade at 10 a.m. on May 27. The second parade is for Halloween. The Northern Lehigh Events Committee asked to have an annual Halloween Parade at 6 p.m. Oct. 26.

The council also decided to purchase two new computers for two police cars. Stevens said the computers are a special modal designed to be mounted in police cars. It will cost $3,925 for two of them. The computers will be purchased soon.

And the borough will be holding two Electronics Recycling Days. The first is being planned for April 20 at the Borough Maintenance Building. Stevens said it will be free to residents to turn in one television or monitor. Additional items will be charged. More information regarding time and prices will be available at the council’s April meeting. The second electronics recycling event will probably be in October, he said.