Over a year since initially advertising the job, Jim Thorpe Borough appears close to making an offer to a potential borough manager.

Council President Greg Strubinger said the administration committee had a candidate in mind, but wasn't prepared to move forward at Thursday's council meeting."We're starting negotiations," Strubinger said. "Hopefully in the next few weeks, before the new year, we will have something in place."Outgoing councilman Curtis Jackson asked if there should be a vote Thursday on making an offer."I don't think it's a good idea at this point," solicitor Jim Nanovic. "If you vote to make an offer, you have to say who it is and you're still negotiating at this point."Council agreed that if an offer is ready by the end of the month, it would meet Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. to vote on the matter.Jim Thorpe first advertised the position in October 2014. Though it received 19 applicants, the borough never made a hire.It re-advertised the job in July after Jackson said the borough "made a mistake by letting the previous applications sit without action."The position has been vacant since Wesley Johnson was terminated in 2012 after almost two full years on the job.If a new manager takes the reins, one of the first priorities may be reviewing the security protocol at borough buildings."At our office right now, you walk in and our administrative staff is wide open to anything," Councilman John McGuire said. "These days, that isn't such a good idea."Another project discussed Thursday was establishing a system where borough officials and employees would have identification badges used to access buildings like the administrative office and Memorial Hall, where council holds its meetings.On more than one occasion in recent months, council and meeting attendees have had to wait outside the building for someone with a key to unlock the hall."Not only would we alleviate that if anyone on council could access the building, we would know who is in the building and when," McGuire said.The idea surfaced after borough employees were questioned by some residents when they went around to pass out information on Jim Thorpe's recently adopted snow ordinance."Residents wanted to make sure they were in fact with the borough," McGuire said. "Identification badges would also solve that in the future."