The Fountain Hill council made and approved the motion to re-open the borough playground March 1. Recreation Committee Chair Jamie Johnson, recommended the March 1 date because it will give people more time to get vaccinated and it will be just in time for warmer weather. President Blatt also recommended that people continue to wear masks and to socially distance themselves while visiting the park. Residents should make sure to bring their own hand sanitizer as well. It was suggested that the playground should have appropriate signage such as “use at your own risk.”

The basketball court and baseball field have continued to be open for the public to use even though some of the rims are missing on the courts. This will be corrected by March once the playground is re-opened.

In reference to collecting resident payments for sewer and sanitation, President Norman Blatt said, “some of our accounts are outstanding and is not working out.” Kevin Buraks of Portnoff Law Associates gave a presentation to the council on how his firm could help. According to Buraks, Portnoff Law Associates has been doing collection work for over 30 years. They currently have an office in King of Prussia and in Allentown. The process will start of by sending out a notice to delinquent accounts and make offers to pay such as a flexible payment plan and a hardship program. After about 35 days and no contact has been made, more serious actions are taken by the firm.

Mayor Carolee Gifford asked who would qualify for the hardship program since people are struggling because of the pandemic. Buraks responded by stating that his firm did not collect any payments for about 2-3 months after the pandemic started. Burak then recommended that if the firm is hired by the borough that it should be advertised to prepare residents.

In other news, House and Ordinance Committee Chair Will Rufe brought up the fact that Fountain Hill residents are not happy about the new ordinance of single day garbage pickup. More importantly, people are upset about the level of service they are getting from the trash company. Rufe also mentioned how Christmas tree were not picked up during the specified time and people are being told conflicting information when they call the company, Republic Waste Removal. The company is in fact in contract the borough and not the individual residents. Therefore, Rufe advised that council should set up a meeting with the waste management company to voice concerns of the citizens. Rufe continued by suggesting the borough should start documenting missed pickups and then submit the information to the waste company as a whole. The council decided that a meeting will be set up for discussion with Republic Waste Management at the second council meeting in February.