The Jan. 3 meeting of the Macungie Borough Council began with new junior council member Valeria Cordner taking her oath of office.

Cordner, whose father is Macungie Mayor Gary Cordner, is currently a senior at Allentown Central Catholic High School.

Mayor Cordner said Valeria is the borough’s first junior council member since 2001. He continued by saying he tried for three years to find a junior council member, but the applicants he found did not live in the borough.

The borough has a second junior council member, Renee Martin, who did not attend the meeting.

Valeria Cordner talked about the importance of the borough having a junior council member.

“A junior council member brings the kid and teenager spirit to the borough council and enlightens the council members as to what teens need to feel safe. It also is a connection between the youth of the borough and the council,” Valeria Cordner said.

She also talked about the importance of her being a junior council member.

“It’s important to show other kids my age and younger that they can be a part of the community. Everyone has a voice,” Cordner said.

The borough council’s discussion then moved on to police department vests. The borough is waiting to receive a vest from an ex police officer. Council President Chris Becker said it might be difficult to get the vest back. The officer in question was supposed to come back in a part-time capacity but ended up not returning. There was also discussion about getting a grant for two officers’ vests.

Mayor Cordner and the borough council also discussed keeping a police car. The police force wanted to keep the car primarily for license plate reader equipment. The borough council wanted to look into how often the police car in question is being used. Council member John Yerman suggested waiting until May to see how much the car is being used.

The borough council next looked into improving Brookfield Park. There were two main parts of the improvements, upgrading the basketball court and adding a walking path around the park. Becker was concerned whether the borough could build the walking paths in question and wanted to look at the difference between sidewalks and walking paths.

Three board appointments were made during the meeting. Barbara Levinson was appointed to a three-year term on the Emmaus Library Board. Linden Miller was appointed to a five- year term on the borough authority. Kevin Wieder was appointed to a one-year term on the vacancy board.

There were four resolutions adopted during the meeting. The first and second resolutions had to do with police pension contributions and the designation of depositories and signatories in 2017. The final two resolutions had to do with the approval of banners across Route 100 and the 2017 fee schedule.

The next meeting of the Macungie Borough Council Jan. 16 will not be held at its usual location, but will be held at the Macungie Institute.

Macungie Borough Council meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of the month. The meetings are usually held at Macungie Borough Hall 7:30 p.m.