Good news for residents was announced at the Emmaus Borough Council meeting Dec. 7 – no tax increase.

Ordinance 1134 passed its first reading, which involves taxes for the fiscal year of 2016 in the borough. Tax rates will not change for residents and the distribution of taxes between the general fund and the fire fund will not change.

Council also voted to adopt the proposed budget for 2016.

The vote will be finalized at the Dec. 21 meeting as well as Ordinance 1134. The proposed budget for 2016 will be displayed for 10 days at town hall until the final decision is made at the next meeting.

Emmaus Borough Manager Shane Pepe said the almost 20-hour budget workshops were grueling, but he appreciated everyone’s cooperation and hard work.

“The department managers were here for almost every minute of it,” Pepe said.

“They spent a lot of sweat, and sometimes almost tears, when we were making the cuts. We appreciate everything they put into it as well.”

In other business, a man residing in Alpine Circle had a tree removed from his front lawn and wanted to plant the new tree he purchased in the grassy area in the center of Alpine Circle.

Pepe said Public Works Director John Dychala expressed concern about planting a tree in the center of the street.

Dychala said he piles all of the snow for the neighborhood in that circle and he thinks the tree will probably be killed from the amount of salt in the snow piles. Pepe said when the tree grows larger it will become a hindrance to the snow piling operation.

Pepe said the alternative was to plant the tree in Emmaus Community Park because a number of trees no longer stand due to damage.

Councilman Nathan Brown made a motion to plant the tree in Emmaus Community Park, with Councilman Brian Holtzhafer seconding the motion.

As a resident of Alpine Circle, Councilman Brent Labenberg said he thinks the center of the street is a perfect place to plant the tree.

“One of the reasons it would be good there, is a beech tree is a rather large tree, so it will deafen the sound from the railroad,” Labenberg said. “Another thing is a resident had a tree removed from the neighborhood, and in lieu of having one in his front yard, having one in the circle will still keep it in the neighborhood.”

Labenberg said if council does not feel it should go in the circle, then it should go as a street tree “because borough removed the tree, and to put it in the park to me does not make sense at all.”

He said the neighbor who removed the tree did not want to put the new one in his yard because he is an older gentleman and was worried about leaves getting in the gutter and the tree roots causing a problem.

Council President Lee Ann Gilbert asked if anyone has spoken to the man, to which Labenberg answered the last time he had spoken to him, the man assumed the tree was going in the circle. Gilbert said she would like to hear from the homeowner before making any decisions.

Holtzhafer stood by his vote to plant the tree in Emmaus Community Park because “it is going to be a maintenance issue for the borough that we don’t currently have and it’s probably going to die.” He suggested planting the tree in the park and dealing with the circle later.

Pepe said a decision needs to be made soon because the tree has already been purchased and is ready to be planted.

Councilman Wesley Barrett agreed with Gilbert and Labenberg. He would rather see the issue go back to committee and hopes the tree will be planted in Alpine Circle.

Labenberg said he will go around to all of his neighbors to see what their opinions are and report to council. He also wants to get the opinion from the borough’s Shade Tree Commission.

After listening to the arguments, Brown decided to withdraw his motion. However, Holtzhafer refused to withdraw his second, which meant a new motion had to be put on the floor to table the original motion.

Labenberg made a motion to table the tree planting until he heard more from the neighbors and Shade Tree Commission. The motion passed 6 to 1 with Holtzhafer opposing.

Council voted to award the 2016 heating oil, unleaded fuel and diesel fuel bids to Lehigh Fuels, and the kerosene bid to Suburban. These rates are all cheaper than last year, with heating oil dropping 80 cents, kerosene dropping 40 cents, unleaded fuel dropping 92 cents and diesel fuel dropping 54 cents.

Council members unanimously voted to appoint Dimmich and Dinkelacker as the borough’s delinquent tax collection agency for 2016. Also appointed to be the per capita tax collector for the borough was Berkheimer Associates.

Council voted 7 to 0 in favor of allowing Faith Presbyterian Church to hold a candlelight service at Triangle Park 11:30 p.m. Dec. 24.