Alburtis Borough Council met Feb. 8 with more than 10 residents attending, mostly to hear about an inquiry from Dave Kutzor of Keystone Consulting Inc. about the possibility of vacating Ore Alley beginning at Ash Alley to West Front Street.

JMR Enterprises LLC, of Emmaus, inquired if it is worth spending the time and money involved to submit a plan. Kutzor reviewed a large sketch plan of the proposal and gave council the results of traffic studies captured by closed circuit cameras during the day on a Friday.

Results showed 10 cars in a 12-hour period drove on Ore Alley.

A half-hour discussion was initiated by David Lehr, of Alburtis, stressing his concerns with going from three to two ways to enter and exit Ore Alley and Ash Alley and safety issues, namely the possible inability of fire trucks and emergency vehicles to manipulate the trucks into and out of Ore Alley and Ash Alley during an emergency, especially if there was only one way in and one way out.

Cory Schmaldinst, of Alburtis, agreed and was also concerned about the width of the alleys because there is only room for one car. If a car was going down Ore Alley and a car was coming up Ash Alley at the same time, one of them would have to back up.

Kutzor said this condition exists all over the borough but people are courteous and wait. Kutzor answered all questions why vacating a used road was being considered. Kutzor said not many people use the road and it was determined to be more beneficial to vacate Ore Alley because it would be safer and because of the parking and traffic issues.

Some residents were not happy with the traffic study saying people were at work when it was conducted and traffic was monitored for only one day.

The discussion continued until council decided not to consider the request any further until they have more information, especially about safety issues.

In other business, council passed a motion authorizing Borough Manager Sharon Trexler to use online file-sharing services to post open records on the borough website as suggested by Councilperson Stephen Kaufman.

Trexler reported she is working on completing the forms to be submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get snow assistance funds from the federal government.

The borough was notified by the Pennsylvania Department of General Services the COSTARS Salt Contract Participation Agreement has been approved for the 2016-2017 seasons. The borough will be required to purchase road salt through the contract August through July 2017.

Trexler reported the borough received a check for $16,398.93 from RCN in payment of the 2015 cable communication franchise fee. This is an increase from last year.

Macungie Ambulance Corps reported responding to 343 calls for service in January with 12 of the calls being in Alburtis. It was the highest monthly call volume total ever recorded by the corps. They have increased their staff levels and office hours beginning this year.

During the blizzard and the day after, Macungie Ambulance Corps was greatly appreciative of various fire and public works departments who assisted the ambulance corps in responding to emergencies.

An invitation was received from Meals on Wheels of Lehigh County, Inc., to participate in the national March For Meals Campaign March 24 to support seniors and adults with disabilities who want to remain independent in their own homes. It was decided those who can will participate.

PPL will be installing new poles in the borough. The last time this was done, old poles were placed beside the new poles. Council President Ron DeIaco asked Trexler to call PPL and discuss this issue.

Mayor Kathleen Palmer reported Police Officer Vanim is waiting for the next available training class so he can be certified to inspect trucks and trailers inside the borough. Chief Robert Palmer reported a turning sign for trucks has been ordered.