The plans for the Church and Main streets traffic signal are ready for council review, but proceedings on the project may be delayed now as discussion was raised regarding a more aesthetic approach to the traffic signal's appearance.

Three signal arms and mastheads are being installed at the intersection in the usual matte aluminum seen along public roads. But a committee member from the Main Street Streetscape Plan was present at the meeting and asked council and the engineer about costs for decorative flower pots at the base of each pole and painting the poles a different color.

The committee is trying to improve the design of the area and incorporate decorative poles, including streetlights. Ryan Kerns, representing borough engineer Barry Isett & Associates, reported a decorative cast iron pole for the traffic signal would be a $10,000 increase per corner around $30,000 for the whole intersection.

If the borough wanted to paint the grey aluminum poles black or green, as permitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, it would be an increase of between $4,000 and $5,000.

Ron Beitler, commissioner for Lower Macungie Township, also spoke to council at the March 2 meeting regarding his interest in investigating opportunities for members of the community to raise money for an aesthetic approach to the project. Beitler offered to take the challenge on himself as he feels strongly about enhancing the appearance of the area.

Concerning formal action on council's part at the meeting, the borough's Intergovernmental Agreement was approved with Ordinance 2015-02. The borough council meeting was the scheduled and advertised public hearing for the ordinance. No objections from council or residents were raised. The agreement updates the regional comprehensive plan.

Chris Becker, borough council president, is concerned about the amount of funds needed for appropriation to street repair in 2016-2017, as the engineer reported on several streets planned for work in that timeframe. A section of Fairview Street, two parts of Hickory Alley and Hay Alley from Cedar to Locust streets are all scheduled for work at a cost of over $120,000, Kerns said.

Only $35,000 is budgeted this year for street repair and $28,000 is earmarked for Cotton Street.

Greg Hutchison, council vice president, suggested adding Public Works Supervisor Tracy Smith to council meetings to discuss which streets need work the most. Kerns said there is some subjectivity to the evaluation based on who does it and the status of alleys versus busier trafficked streets.

A meeting is being planned with property owners along Cotton Street regarding rights of way and easements for the pending construction project. Barry Isett & Associates will meet with the property owners to discuss the temporary construction easement and how it will affect them. The curb is being built on the right of way line and it will impact properties for a few feet to accommodate equipment.

Patrick Armstrong, borough solicitor, reported there would likely be very little disturbance and for a limited period of time. Pre-construction conditions would be restored as nearly as possible following construction.

In other meeting news, Becker raised his concerns regarding the conditions of rental properties in the borough, many of which, he reported, lack basic safety measures including smoke and fire alarms, and in one case a working fire escape on an upper story.

Becker said he had been approached by two renters about conditions in their units being imposed by the landlord. Forty-four percent of residences in the borough are rentals. Becker says there is no enforcement policy for the condition of rental units and asked council about adding some kind of policy.

Hutchison asked what criteria would be used to determine the safety and compliance of rental units. Chris L. Boehm, borough manager, said the Uniform Construction Code would be the measuring stick and the code can be used to construct a policy.

As scheduled, representatives from UGI appeared before council to present on some of the utility's services and the state of gas lines in the borough itself.

UGI representatives reported Macungie has about six miles of gas main under its streets, and of that 94 percent is contemporary material: plastics, coated steel and protected bare steel. One of Becker's concerns was the condition of the pipes underground and how repairs are done, especially as repairs impact street conditions.

Brian Slinskey, operations manager at UGI, said there are no cast iron pipes in the borough and that elsewhere such pipes are steadily being replaced in the next 15 years. The replacement effort is part of a $1.2 billion infrastructure initiative and UGI plans to invest $75 million this year alone on replacing mains and on services.

In the borough, three miles of pipe is plastic; about two miles of it is coated steel and the remainder less than a mile is protected bare steel. In the past year, 11 service repairs have been made in response to leaks.

Slinskey and Becky Eschbach, regional business development director, reminded council there is no charge for UGI to respond to and investigate a reported gas odor and Scratch-n-Sniff mailers are available to help residents know what to look for when suspecting a gas leak.