Emmaus Borough Council met Sept. 19 with a light agenda.

At the Sept. 6 meeting, there were a couple of personal appeals. One resident complained the borough would not accept military insurance. This stemmed from his need for an ambulance ride. However, Borough Manager Shane Pepe explained the borough does accept the insurance and it was a contract issue. The matter will be resolved in time. Additionally, a resident thanked the borough for installing the autistic child signs on Shimerville Road.

Councilwoman Shana L. Baumgartner said Emmaus was awarded a Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant in the amount of $318,400 to be used for the rehabilitation of Lions Field.

In special presentations, Mayor Lee Ann Gilbert issued the oath of office to Assistant EMS Chief Adam Priest.

In Gilbert’s report Sept. 6, she made a plea for people to reach out to the Emmaus Police Department if they are interested in becoming a crossing guard. The borough is in desperate need to keep the children safe.

A resident attended the Sept. 19 meeting to talk about issues with parking and heavy traffic around St. Ann School, specifically on Fairview Street and the surrounding area. His letter was accepted and his complaint will be submitted to the safety committee. The gentleman has come to council with this issue in the past and it was previously addressed. However, over time, things have gotten worse again.

There were three items in communications.

A planning commission volunteer application was received from Christian Didra; however, he has yet to be interviewed. Handmade Mystic put in a community event request for a Festival of Witches planned for Oct. 29. This request still needs to go to the community relations and development committee for approval. There should be an update at an upcoming meeting.

Knauss Homestead put in a community event request for a harvest festival at the Homestead. The Harvest Festival will take place 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 22. There will be around 30 vendors and alcohol will be sold. This was approved.

There were no items in unfinished and new business.

Gilbert announced Proclamation 2022–549 marking October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

A Today is the Day event request came from Bethesda Church. This will be an Evangelist event at the Emmaus Triangle 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 22. It was approved.

The bill list was approved in budget and finance; the total amount was $734,472.

There was another Knauss Homestead item in community relations, planning and development. The council approved a split layer fence expansion at the Homestead.

A representative from Comcast was in attendance to request network expansion into Emmaus. They were looking to find out the next steps to get this done. Pepe has received their previous communications and will be reaching out in a few weeks.

The next borough meeting will be 7 p.m. Oct. 3 at 420 S. 10th St., Emmaus.