Lansford needs to decide how to spend its remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds this month, its council president said Tuesday.

“We have to allocate the remaining funds in our COVID program,” Bruce Markovich said during council’s committee meetings.

The borough has about $103,000 in COVID relief funds left, which must be allocated or under contract by the end of this year, according to federal spending rules.

“We could pay for a new police car out of that,” Markovich said, as council members reviewed a list of pandemic relief spending to date and possible options moving forward.

The cost of a new police vehicle would be a little more than $61,000, leaving the borough about $42,000 to spend, he said.

Markovich suggested spending some of the money repaving some borough parks, as council has discussed issues with its existing basketball courts previously.

Councilwoman Jennifer Staines suggested giving some additional funding to the American Fire Co. of Lansford. Markovich said they could ask the fire company what they may need again.

Resident Denise Leibensperger asked if they could buy equipment for the police station, such as a bench to secure people they have in custody.

She also questioned what happened to moving the police station to the former Silberline complex. The move and renovation would cost $500,000, Markovich said.

The conversation then turned to a new police station, which Markovich believes could be funded through grants.

“If you want to do a new building now, it’s going to be four years start to finish. That’s just being realistic,’ he said. “We’re going to discuss that.”

Leibensperger suggested taking over the properties where they have to take down crumbling buildings, and build new. One of the main factors the borough has to consider with a new station is location, Markovich said.

The old middle school building would be an excellent location, but it might cost $3 million to tear down the building, he said.

The borough needs to form committees to look at possible locations and design, which will determine how much a new building will cost, Markovich said. A new building isn’t something they “want to jump into overnight,” he said.

Resident Tom Vadyak suggested handicapped accessible doors for the borough building, as the borough got a ramp a few years ago, but the doors are still an issue.

Markovich turned the discussion back to spending the relief funds on a new police car, which takes up more than half of the remaining relief funds.

Councilwoman Gwyneth Collevechio said that she’d like to see a fence put up around the swing set area in Ashton Park, which she believes would make the area safer.

Council will also consider options for the basketball courts, which need paving, and possibly trail cameras for parks.

The borough has already spent relief funds on electrical upgrades at Ashton Park, the difference between grants awards and actual cost to tear down four properties, a splash pad study, a manhole replacement and cameras for the borough office and police station.