“As the world turns, Chief [Charles] Palmer would like to hire former Chief [David] Faust as a part-time employee,” Borough Manager Shane Pepe announced at the Emmaus Borough Council meeting Sept. 19.

Faust, who retired in March after being the Emmaus Borough Police Chief for 16 years, would be hired as a part-time police officer at $20.16 an hour. Pepe said he would mainly be working the Emmaus High School sporting events.

“We prefer to hire him as a part-time officer rather than an auxiliary officer for a lot of different reasons,” Pepe said. “He could actually be useful in an emergency situation as he has his badge number, he has arrest powers and he has his full police power.”

Pepe commented if worse came to worst they could always have him fill an open shift, but that is not the main intention of hiring him.

There would be no additional cost to the borough, as the borough gets reimbursed by the school district for officers working sporting events.

Faust would have to be resworn in by Mayor Winfield Iobst as well as get a new background and child molestation check done as required by law. Council unanimously agreed to rehire Faust.

Council voted 7-0 in favor of appointing John Price as the next director of emergency services. The offer is contingent upon Price passing the background investigation check as well as a physical and drug/alcohol screening.

Price was originally a candidate when the position was created in 2015. Council felt instead of re-advertising for the vacant position, they would contact and interview the top candidate from the previous process.

Price, who is a retired deputy fire chief from Easton, is scheduled to have his first day of work Oct. 3.

In other business, council members voted 7-0 in favor of passing resolutions 2016-37 through 2016-41. These resolutions are allowing the sale of the following properties: borough hall and adjacent parking lot; 543 Jubilee St. parking lots; 647 Ridge St.; the police and fire stations.

It was noted by Councilman Wesley Barrett “all of these things are not going to be all of a sudden coming onto the market, this is very preemptive.” He noted council is doing this just to get everything taken care of and that it’s done officially. Many of these things are six to 10 years away from being actually sold.

Council voted 7-0 in favor of applying for the “Green Light Go” grant, which is a request for getting crosswalk lights in the borough.

“We hopefully would like to address five main intersections, possibly six, through our quarter of downtown,” President Brent Labenberg said.

There have been 18 vehicular accidents involving pedestrians within the public streets of Emmaus since 2010, 10 of which have occurred within the corridor of Main and Chestnut Streets. There are six traffic light intersections on Main Street and Chestnut Street that do not have electronic crosswalk signals

Resident Khline Alkhal came to council chambers in hopes of requesting 15 reserved parking spots for her business launch party Sept. 23. Her company, Khineder Creations, produces natural organic bath and beauty products and employs moms that can work out of the comfort of their own home.

Barrett noted he couldn’t think of a time borough council has reserved parking for a single business event. They typically only do reserve parking for large events involving multiple businesses.

Council members suggest Alkhal talk to surrounding businesses such as the Emmaus Bakery or St. John’s Lutheran Church in hopes of them allowing her to use their parking lots during her event.

Council voted to hire First States Financial Services Group/EMS Revenue Solutions to be the borough’s ambulance delinquent collections group. Pepe said the borough is currently collecting 2.8 percent of delinquent bills, while the industry standard is 10 percent.

Ordinance 1141 passed its final reading, which pertains to amending certain areas of the borough’s fire ordinance.

Ordinance 1144 passed its final reading which will establish restricted parking on certain days and hours in front of 516 North Street.

The 2017 Minimum Municipal Obligation, which relates to the police and employee pension plan, was approved. The police pension plan is going up $57,000 while the employee pension plan is going up $18,000.

Iobst officially declared 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 28 as Trick-or-Treat night in Emmaus. Residents wishing to participate should leave their porch or exterior lights on.