Edward J. Deichmeister of Northampton yesterday began his official duties as the newest borough manager in Lehighton.

Hired at last night’s meeting of the town council, he received the oath of office from Mayor Miles Haberman.

The new manager succeeds Mortimer J. Smedley, who resigned the position last May in order to enter employment with the private sector in North Carolina.

Deichmeister, a Northampton Borough councilman, said his two top priorities on the job will be construction of a hydroelectric generating plant and enlargement of the borough’s sewage treatment facilities.