The April 12 meeting of Alburtis Borough Council began with the reappointment of two members to the Alburtis Planning Commission. The terms of office of Sharon Trexler and Steven Mehl expired March 4; council re-appointed Trexler and Mehl to a four-year term as members expiring March 4, 2021.

There was a discussion regarding possible tax credits for volunteer firefighters, but it was tabled because the fire chief could not be present at the meeting.

Council discussed the footprint zero project, an energy conservation program led by PPL Electric Utilities. It involves replacing lights and light fixtures with LEDs. The project would cost the borough $6,800. There was an estimated annual operational savings of $3,817. According to this estimation, it would take 2.1 years for the borough to earn their money back. Over 10 years, the borough would save an estimated $38,177. The borough decided to approve the plan unanimously.

Council also discussed a plan for rental agreements. There was a debate about whether to require inspections every two years, or less often. Some felt that every two years was too frequently, especially because the rental would also have to be inspected when it acquired a new tenant. There was also a discussion about renters having to provide either a mailbox or a post office box.

There were three kinds of fees involved in the rental agreements: inspection fees, re-inspection fees and violations. The inspection fee would be $35 per unit, while the re-inspection fee would be $25 per unit. The violation fee would be $100 per unit per day.

Another topic covered during the meeting had to do with a resident’s concern regarding cats. Alburtis resident Shantel Foster explained she sees three feral cats outside her house on a regular basis.

She had successfully trapped one of the males in the past month and had him fixed at No Nonsense Neutering before releasing him. Foster would like to continue to trap, neuter and release as many cats as possible in addition to spreading the word to residents of the borough about fixing any feral cats they have hanging around on their properties.

An issue arose regarding the ongoing Walnut Street project. The borough was given a grant to repair Walnut Street. The organization offering the grant claimed borough maintenance cannot be in charge of work on the street and the project would have to go out to bid. The original plan was for borough maintenance to do most of the work on the project except for the concrete sidewalk. Council was looking to put the concrete sidewalk project up to bid.

The Macungie Ambulance Corps submitted a report for March 2017. There were a total of 247 calls for Macungie Ambulance Corps service during the month. Six of the calls were in Alburtis.

Alburtis Borough Council will hold its next meeting April 26. Meetings are 7 p.m. the second and last Wednesdays of the month at Alburtis Borough Hall.