Lansford Borough Council discussed numerous items during its committee meetings on Wednesday night, including:

Financial matters

• Councilman Joseph Butrie gave an update on the street sweeper, which has been repaired and will be picked up on Monday. Streets department workers will also be trained on the machine that day, he said.

• Councilwoman Michele Bartek mentioned that a property owner on West Abbott Street would like his money back that the borough is holding for street repairs back. The work has been done, she said.

• Council President Bruce Markovich suggested paying for the fire company radios out of pandemic relief funds, because of uncertainty in obtaining a grant for the purchase and that it may increase chances for a future grant for the borough garage.

• Resident Tommy Vadyak offered suggestions on bidding the next garbage contract, adding possible options, or alternatives, on the existing contract to see what the borough can afford.

Markovich wondered if they could see if collection could start earlier and trucks would be off the highway before morning traffic, which is causing issues.

• Bartek also wants to take a class offered by Penn State on writing state and federal grants. She has expressed an interest in learning to take some of the burden off Markovich, who has been doing the borough’s grants.

Councilwoman Jennifer Staines also mentioned that she knows someone interested in writing grants for the borough gratis.

• Council members discussed options for making the borough building doors handicap accessible, including installing a button that would open the door.

• Staines mentioned that Nonsense Neutering is looking for a municipality to register for a $5,000 grant for a trap, neuter and return program, which would help clean up some properties with multiplying feral cats.

However, the borough would have to administer the funding. She was going to see if the Carbon County Foundation would be able to administer the program.

Festival, flags

• Councilwoman Gwyneth Collevechio said the Halloween festival was successful this year with no issues, and Bartek, who organizes the festival each year, said she would like to do something else for children, possibly a spring fling. They also discussed the possibility of doing something with music in the parks geared for young people.

Markovich pointed out the number one request on surveys put out by the Panther Valley Blueprint Community team was for an organized recreation program.

• Butrie would also like to put an American flag up on the borough’s property along Dock Street, where a flagpole already exists and can be lit during the night. Bartek said she’d like a flag on the borough building as well.

• Staines also had language for different ordinances, or possible ordinance changes, including those regarding animals, chickens and exotics. She wanted to have solicitor Bob Yurchak review them.

Properties

• Code Enforcement Officer Shane Monk reported on activity for October, which included some 40 complaints, and 11 property owners are taking action. He also issued tickets for inspections on vehicles.

He also referred council to a program working with young people through Behavior Health Associates, which may be able to work with the borough on different projects, such as cleaning or painting, for free. The organization provides supervision while the young people get work experience.

Markovich mentioned that the borough was approached by the organization in August, but the deadline didn’t give council time. The borough should have the contact information.

Vadyak praised the work that Monk was doing and believed he should be given full-time hours. He also cautioned about Monk doing work that falls into the police department’s jurisdiction. Vadyak has consistently complained to council about police enforcing all laws.

• Staines said that she has been working with the borough secretaries on options on the rental license process. One option would be for the borough to handle applications, and continue with ARRO doing inspections, after which a landlord would get a license.

Markovich asked if the changes meant changing the structure of the fees between the borough and ARRO, and Staines said it would.

• Butrie brought up issues regarding Construction Clearance, a business that rents space from the borough. He believed the borough needs to move on evicting the business.

Bartek noted early in the meeting that Construction Clearance had paid back rent and is current on payments.

The borough hasn’t been assessing penalties when the business is behind on payments, secretary Ashely McLaughlin said, and said they were waiting for council approval on that.

Butrie pointed out that there is trash all around the Dock Street property Construction Clearance rents from the borough, and that would void the lease. Butrie also raised issue with the business parking vehicles near the former Silberline office building, which the borough was considering for a police station.

Council members suggested Monk talk to the owner or send her a letter about the trash first.

• Staines, who is talking to neighboring communities about police regionalization, asked if they could regionalize code and zoning. Council members believed there were too many differences in each community’s laws for it to be effective, and they would need more than one person for enforcement.

In a related move, the Blueprint team is looking at a grant to hire a consultant to go through all of the Panther Valley communities’ blight ordinances and unify them, and then apply for funding for a blight officer to work in all four towns, Markovich said.