April 13 marked the first meeting of the month for the Alburtis Borough Council.

The meeting began without public comment and moved right to the agenda items.

The meeting began with a discussion on council interviews for a vacancy on council.

Mehmet Birtk was in attendance to announce he was interviewing for the open council seat.

Birtk moved to Alburtis from New York City, following a career on Wall Street. He is from Turkey and studied at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and then got a job in New York City. He has always been interested in local politics and looks forward to helping the board moving forward.

Resolution No. 2022-5 was amended to include Birtk as the newly appointed council member. Following a vote, the resolution was approved and Birtk was sworn in as the newest council member.

There was no mayoral report for the night.

Alburtis Police Chief Tony Alsleben gave a report. Alsleben said the police department has made it a priority to find ways to halt the number of tractor trailers driving through the borough. This truck traffic is due to the large warehouses in the area. Alsleben has met with state Rep, Ryan Mackenzie, R-134th, to discuss solutions.

Alburtis Mayor Kathleen Palmer stated she had seen drivers with summary offenses coming back to the commonwealth court to ask for forgiveness, as any marks on their record could result in a loss of their commercial driver’s license. This is what makes harsher restrictions hard to pass, as this could really hurt a driver’s livelihood when they have never been to the area before.

Alsleben next announced the department’s filing system needs to be updated to an electronic version so policies can be properly documented in today’s era of policing. This creates less liability for borough police and borough council. The cost of the new proposed system is $4,853 annually.

Additionally, a new program was agreed upon for the police department to be a part of a Taser™ program costing $2,700 per year. It will provide the department with up-to-date Tasers™. Alsleben said there was a recent incident where an outdated Taser™ was deployed, but it did not work.

Following the police report, the previous meeting’s minutes and bills for payment were approved. There were concerns about going over budget in a small discussion during the treasurer’s report. The engineering budget is already at 80 percent, according to meeting discussion.

In administration, the Ultra-Thin Bonded Wearing Course bid opening was discussed. One bid was received for work to be done on a couple of streets in Alburtis. The total bid amounted to just over $102,000. The first payment will be for Thomas Street and amounts to a little over $66,000. The next payment is for Lauren Street, which amounts to a little over $36,000. Both bids were approved in a split vote.

A recommendation to award Franklin Street curb and sidewalk work on School Street around the S-turn was approved for Ott Consulting.

The next item was an email from Penske Logistics, requesting they would like to coordinate an Earth Day project for cleanup around the area. They were looking for suggestions on where they should clean up. Council decided to refer them to the Rec Hall and suggestions are still being considered. Council was genuinely proud to say the borough does not need much cleanup due to the work of the people in the borough and the maintenance department.

The last item was hiring summer help for grass cutting. It was decided the borough will table the discussion for a later date. The meeting was then adjourned.

The next Alburtis Borough Council meeting will be 7 p.m. April 27. Meetings are in Alburtis Borough Hall, 260 Franklin St.