Emmaus residents will now have a second payment option for refuse bills come 2020.

At the Sept. 16 Emmaus Borough Council meeting, it was announced residents will have the chance to pay their refuse bill quarterly instead of annually. Residents will still be able to pay their full bill upfront before the February deadline to get the discounted rate, or they can choose to pay the bill in quarterly payments but with an additional $10 per quarter.

Borough Manager Shane Pepe said they are in no way trying to make money. “Just like any other bill you would pay where you’re gonna break it down into payments, you’re gonna pay the administrative fee to go with it,” he said.

“Essentially, this is meant to help people,” Pepe stated. “The goal here is it gives people the option to pay and spread it out over a year so they’re paying four payments rather than one big lump sum payment.”

Pepe said in previous years, if someone couldn’t afford the $360 up front in the middle of winter, they had to pay penalties, and then be taken to court if the bill wasn’t paid by the end of the year. Now, if a resident doesn’t use either payment option and goes the whole year without paying, they will be turned over to the borough solicitor to handle.

Pepe said about 70 percent of residents pay the discounted lump sum before February.

As always, there will be a low income reduced refuse rate for certain residents. The qualifications are residents whose head of the household is 62 years of age or older and the “annual income for 2019 must not have exceeded $18,000, as a single resident, or $25,000 as a household of two or more. This includes individuals residing in the home under the age of 62.”

If a resident falls under the above conditions, they will have to pay either $180 in full by Feb. 18, 2020, or $50 quarterly. Residents meeting these conditions need to fill out an application with documentation and return the paperwork to the borough no later than Feb. 1, 2020 to be considered.

In other business, the police department will get new guns in 2020. Every 10 years, the police department recycles their old guns and purchases new guns. However, the gun brand the borough uses now, the Sig Sauer, is offering the borough to trade in their current .45-caliber pistols for new 9 mm pistols.

The borough originally bought .45-caliber pistols in 2012 due to the knockdown power and because the 9 mm pistol was less favorable at that time. The .45-caliber pistol, however, is a heavy weapon to carry, hard to control and has less bullets in the clip than the 9 mm pistol. The 9 mm pistol has greatly improved over the past few years and police departments are going back to them because they are more accurate, faster and easier to shoot.

If the borough switches out the .45-caliber pistol for the 9 mm pistol in 2020, they will get enough money to pay for approximately half of the holsters, lights and other equipment needed for the new guns. The rest of the money will come from the 2020 budget. The ammunition for the 9 mm pistol is cheaper than the .45-caliber pistol as well.

Pepe said their net cost in the trade will be $4,500. “They’re giving us money to trade guns, which is usually unheard of,” Pepe said. “The reason why we’re encouraging this now is because of the cost analysis of it. If you wait a couple more years the value of the .45-caliber pistol goes down.”

A Boy Scout hoping to earn his Eagle Scout rank will be constructing an Americans with Disabilities Act accessible bridge connecting the Cintas parking lot to the Emmaus Remembrance Garden. The bridge will be eight feet long, have concrete footings, composite walking decks and a wood railing with composite top. The project is set to be completed next year, after which the Emmaus Remembrance Garden will maintain the bridge.

Council voted to allow several improvements to the Knauss Homestead.

The first addition, approved 4-2, will be a fence around the property. Councilwoman Shana Baumgartner and Councilman John Hart voted against the motion. Baumgartner said there is no sufficient proof the original building had a fence and also the historical commission never reviewed the idea. She said she would have felt more comfortable if they did.

Council voted 6-0 in favor of allowing them to remove a non-working bathroom from the 1950s on the second floor of the house in order to create room for a museum.

Council also is going to allow the building to receive a fresh paint job in the spring.