On April 6, Emmaus Borough Council held one of its two monthly council meeting via the video conferencing platform Zoom.

Hitting very few hiccups during the video conference, council and Borough Manager Shane Pepe updated the public on their current COVID-19 actions and future plans.

In March, Mayor Lee Ann Gilbert issued Proclamation 2020-479, which was an emergency proclamation regarding community spread of COVID-19. In that proclamation, which is located on the borough website for residents to view, it states “pursuant to the provisions of the Borough Code and Pennsylvania’s Emergency Management Services Act, there remains the existence of a state of emergency through the Borough of Emmaus.”

Any resident violating the proclamation “commits a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed $300 and costs or to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 30 days.”

Council unanimously passed Resolution 2020-15, which extends the proclamation to either the point where council votes to disband the proclamation, or the end of the state of emergency through the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Pepe and the directors of emergency services have put together a plan mapping out steps currently being taken, or will be considered to be taken as the borough gets further into the current COVID-19 situation.

The currently drafted confidential document, which has three phases, will go for final review April 9. Councilman John Hart said some of the actions have already taken place, such as “not hiring part-time people for the summer, laying off part-time people when pressed upon and delaying some of the projects that were scheduled to go into effect at the present time.”

Another cutback made was the borough giving the library a donation of $9,000 per month. The library is currently closed, so council has voted to defer the April payment and possibly further months if the library is to remain closed. The payment would reinstitute if the library opens.

“It’s nothing we want to do,” Pepe said. “However, we’re getting at the point where we’re losing a lot of money just in sustaining our ambulance, for example, because 911 calls are down. As people are sitting at home unfortunately not working, there’s no income tax.”

Pepe said they are getting hit financially the same way every other business is.

“We need to make sure we are making the cuts, rather than simply saying we’ll just tax you more at the end of the year.”

Pepe said the borough has to look at it “not from an emotional standpoint unfortunately, but from a business aspect.” He went on to note that in the chance they have to go to phase three measures, there are some tough recommendations that cuts across the board in every department. “We’re preparing all the way from minor things to drastic things, just like every other business is forced to do, or our households are forced to do.”

Pepe said as of now, they’ve seen some minor cuts in services, but his bigger focus is the community as a whole and the borough’s employees, specifically the emergency responders. Pepe praised the emergency team for doing an amazing job given the current situation. He especially put emphasis on the emergency service chiefs, which include Police Chief Charles Palmer, Fire Chief John Price, Ambulance Chief Jeffery Hoffman and Emergency Management Director Keith Miller.

Pepe said Price has been one step ahead which has helped them stay on track with making sure they are getting supplies and putting procedures in place before the fact rather than after the fact.

He said they have put in an order for 2,000 face masks. EMS only has a week or two of face mask supplies left and the police department does not have any face masks. The borough also ordered two different machines, which includes a fogger that will take surgical antiseptic and decontaminate the emergency vehicles.

The budget and finance committee is looking at withholding penalty fees for certain items. Pepe said they are trying to do their part to help the people in the community.

“I’m really concerned for small businesses. How long can they sustain without being open?” Pepe stated. “It’s a tough time for everyone and I think there’s a lot of fear. There’s definitely an economic impact and we’re continuing to do what we can to make sure the town is protected, but also to alleviate as much as that impact as we can.”

In other business, council voted 6-0 in favor of Resolution 2020-14, which is a conditional approval for Towns at South Mountain.

The townhomes were approved at a previous council meeting, but after some changes were made by the developer, the amended plan was brought before the planning commission and then council once again.

One major change was the addition of two car garages versus the originally proposed one car garage. This will increase the size of the house and driveway, but will leave room for much more off street parking rather than on street parking, which was an original concern.

The other major change involved the stormwater facility design. Pepe said it is going to hold the same amount of water. The developer removed some of the “bells and whistles” the original engineer had over designed. The borough’s engineer felt the new design was better and it addressed the concerns previously raised.

The borough council meetings, along with committee meetings, will continue to be held on the Zoom platform until further notice. Links to the meetings can be found on the borough website, as well as the borough’s Facebook page.