Council gave its consent for Macungie Fire Department to take out a loan for the purchase of a new fire truck after a brief public hearing with Fire Chief Mike Natysyn at the Feb. 17 meeting. The loan is not a financial obligation on the part of the borough, but the fire department requires approval from borough council and a written agreement of which council authorizes the signing by vote.

The new fire truck is smaller, reported Natysyn, and therefore better equipped to move around some of the more narrow borough streets.

The loan for $330,679 will be used in part to purchase a Ford F550 Mini Pumper and to refinance the 2007 Smeal pumper. Natysyn vouched for the department's sound capability to finance the equipment.

The fire department will be selling one truck and replacing it with the smaller one, which also features a larger pump and an 800-foot hose. Natysyn said the five-year plan for the department includes disposing of some trucks and downsizing the department's equipment. He said they do not have the manpower for all the trucks.

There was no comment from the public and no dissent from council.

A large part of council's discussion centered around the rules regarding parking for businesses situated on Main Street. John Yerman has been looking into the borough's parking requirements following a recent decision to lower the borough's fee in lieu of parking in hopes of attracting new businesses to the area. Yerman did some research into the parking requirements of Macungie's two closest neighboring boroughs.

Yerman cited Emmaus as having a particularly "terse" language regarding parking.

In Macungie, there are rules for how many parking spaces a business is required to have, and any business owner wishing to have that number of spaces waived for whatever reason must pay the fee in lieu of parking. In Emmaus a minimum does not apply in the downtown area except in certain cases. Parking for customers is to be found on the street where available. Yerman said the planning commission endorses applying similar or matching language to Macungie's zoning ordinance. He said it seems to be working for Emmaus and it would be another step toward relaxing parking requirements downtown.

Borough Manager Chris Boehm said in the case of a downtown restaurant required to have 17 parking spaces, the borough would be losing a lot of spaces. She noted Emmaus is even talking about a parking deck because of the lack of parking in the borough.

Yerman stood by his argument, that the purpose of the discussion was to encourage businesses to come into the borough and this would be another step toward that. He said he would rather see a successful business area than an empty, albeit efficient, one. Yerman hopes to have new language in draft form for council to begin reviewing soon.

Council also discussed an addition– or rather reinsertion– to the zoning ordinance to give the zoning officer authority to request removal of obstructions from the sidewalk in front of residences. This had formally been in the ordinance but got lost in the shuffle during a revision period, and Boehm said she would have to go back to see where it got lost.

The clause would apply to things like parked cars, garbage cans and furniture. Currently there is only a provision for snow removal from the sidewalk under the zoning officer's authority. It is expected a draft will be ready for review at the next meeting.

There will be a presentation from UGI coming up at another council meeting. Boehm reported the gas company had planned on a 90-minute presentation on their general services, but council president Chris Becker has questions about the age of the pipes in the ground and where the oldest are located.

Council is interested in knowing how the Macungie gas lines are operated in a safe manner. Council asked whether the presentation could be culled to a more suitable length.