Lansford Borough Council on Wednesday made some changes in its monthly bill paying that will save the borough money in late fees and penalties.

Council approved a resolution allowing the borough secretaries to pay reoccurring monthly bills such as electric and water when they come due, rather than waiting until after they are approved at a meeting.

Borough Secretary Maria Ahner explained that she asked some vendors to allow the borough to pay within 45 days due to the meeting schedule, but not all approved.

The resolution will allow her to pay bills that come in before or after the meeting automatically, avoiding any additional charges and also eliminating paper checks, she said.

Council will still see the bills and expenses paid out and the payments will remain within budget, Ahner said.

Council also opted to pay its liability insurance payments to IPFS Corporation in advance for the year to avoid costly monthly penalties.

The borough was paying $379.75 a month in penalties for the insurance, which costs $60,759.44 a year, Council President Bruce Markovich said. The change to yearly payments was requested by the secretaries.

Other matters

In other business, council:

• Approved special event forms from K&D Investment Properties for a charity event, Zoostock, on Sept. 2, and from Carbon County Children and Youth for a community outreach with lunch and use of the concession stand at Ashton Park on Aug. 23.

• Tabled a special event form from Sync Recovery for an event Sept. 26 in Kennedy Park for more information.

• Approved handicapped parking requests from Tina Ludwig for Jeffrey Ludwig at 332 W. Bertsch St. and for John Tucker at 145 W. Abbott St. Council tabled another request from Annette White at 627 E. Patterson ST.

• Approved opening a nine-month CD at 5% interest at Jim Thorpe Neighborhood Bank for these accounts: Sewer 12-month; Lansford Pool, M&T Bank 5402, MCT Bank, 7360 and MCT Bank 7373. The funds in these accounts total more than $250,000. Funds invested in CDs will be returned with interest to their respective borough accounts, Markovich said.

• Upgrade and change to contract with Verizon Wireless for cellular phones and service for police, office staff and code, and borough workers for a total of $529.87.

• Approved continuing to seek a firm or company for yard work and cleanup at abandoned properties in town. The borough has had trouble finding companies that insure their workers under workers’ compensation, Markovich said.

• Tabled amending the moving permit ordinance to include documentation showing a rental unit is licensed and passed inspection. To date, only 118 rental licenses have been issued and four inspections done, according the August report from ARRO Consulting. The borough has 700 properties listed for potential action for non-registration of rentals.

• Approved obtaining bids to tear down the former Koch building at 118 W. Ridge St. The roof and side wall of the building collapsed in late May. The owner has refused to take action, Markovich said.

• Approved a cooperative agreement with Carbon County for Community Development Block Grant funding for 2024. The borough anticipates about $78,000 in funding.