The Fountain Hill Borough Council announced during the Aug. 3 meeting that acting Fire Chief Richard Reiss is resigning from his position.

Reiss, who most recently served as chief for around a year and a half, according to council President Leo Atkinson, will be replaced by Assistant Chief Derek Richmond.

Mayor Carolee Gifford said Reiss had been a mainstay in the Fountain Hill fire department for several years, having served as fire chief before his most recent stint. Reiss is moving away from the area, which he felt necessitated his resignation, Atkinson said.

Atkinson said Reiss had been committed to the fire department and wants to continue to see it succeed into the future.

In other personnel matters, the board unanimously approved the hiring of two new employees in the public works department, who were recommended by councilwoman Annamarie Jordan. Council noted public works had been understaffed for some time.

At the request of the fire department, the board discussed removing a series of dead ginkgo trees on the west side of the fire department’s building. The trees have been littered with spotted lanternflies the last couple of years and are difficult to manage, Jordan said.

The borough received a quote of $2,000 to remove the trees from ECHO Tree service, but decided to table the motion approving their removal in order to see if they can get other bids to compare prices. Atkinson also said that he would like their removal contingent on an effort to plant more manageable trees as a replacement.

In regard to public safety, the board engaged in discussions regarding the upkeep of mask wearing and social distancing during the coronavirus, as well as the decision to put snow fencing around the borough park that was made during their July council meeting.

Atkinson and Gifford both reiterated previously expressed points about the importance of wearing masks and social distancing, saying that even though more time has elapsed, adhering to guidelines is still necessary.

“I think it’s so important that we continue to follow public health guidelines, but I can totally empathize with people feeling very sick of them; it has been quite a while,” Atkinson said. “I would love to be able to do normal things again, but it’s frankly not safe. We keep seeing numbers go up, keep seeing the real tragedy of it.”

In regard to the decision to put snow fencing around the park, councilwoman Helen Halleman said she received several phone calls from borough residents complaining about its appearance and who felt it was unnecessary.

Halleman was adamant in saying the borough represents the taxpayers and said she felt the decision to put snow fencing up did not represent their desires.

Halleman said she could understand the decision to take swings off and basketball hoops down, although disagreeing with their removal, but felt the fencing was excessive and an eyesore to the community. The fencing was originally put up in July in an attempt to reinforce that the park is closed.

“That fencing – very disappointing to the people, and my god, with everything these young kids have to endure these days, that tops it all. That fence is an eyesore, it makes the borough look very inefficient,” she said.

Gifford disagreed with Halleman’s sentiment, saying the fencing would only be temporary and it is necessary to help protect Fountain Hill from becoming a coronavirus hot spot.

“You can die from (coronavirus), you can get permanent health consequences, and it’s something that we do have to put up with for this season,” Gifford said. “Hopefully there will be many of us that are able to come back and enjoy the playground because we were careful and prudent in what we did.”

There were also discussions about the potential of eventually installing public Wi-Fi hot spots in Fountain Hill through Verizon, but council members said they are in the process of working with Verizon.