Emmaus Borough Council met Jan. 3 as Jan. 2 was recognized as a Federal holiday.

The meeting began without any personal appeals from the public.

Next, in community minute, Councilman John Hart announced he is not running for council in the next election. Four council spots will be open for election. The three other spots will have current council people looking for reappointment.

Hart said he will be turning his attention to heading a new organization in Emmaus, the Emmaus Community Foundation.

Mayor Lee Ann Gilbert did not have a report for the evening.

There were five items in communications. They all dealt with reappointments or resignations from positions.

Kathy Reinhard was reappointed to the library board, John Stover was reappointed to the vacancy board, Rebecca Straus was reappointed to the shade tree commission and Craig Neely was reappointed to the general authority. The only resignation was from a member of the library board.

In health, sanitation and codes, a security reduction was approved for the Fields at Indian Creek. Again, there were several appointments. Theodore Iobst II and Roger Steinmayr were reappointed to the zoning hearing board. Dr. Aaron Ratner was reappointed to the board of health.

In general administration, Resolution 2023-1 was passed, which appointed all officials to their designated positions for a term expiring Jan. 2, 2024.

Additionally, the secretaries union contract was accepted through 2027.

Pension board appointments were first approved in budget and finance.

The police pension board includes Gilbert, Council President Brent Labenberg, Borough Manager Shane Pepe, Sgt. Kevin Schmidt and Carlos Marrero.

The employee pension board includes Leslie DeLong, Yahsira Hussett, Sara Jarrett-Eaton, Labenberg and Pepe.

Following that, the bill list was approved dating back to the previous meeting. Highlighting the top bills was the January allotment of $10,112 to the Emmaus Public Library.

Pepe had a projected year end cash balance for the borough. In his report, he wrote, “Overall, I’m satisfied where the numbers fell in, as they are very close to where our projections were.”

The meeting was then adjourned. The next meeting will be held 7 p.m. Jan. 16.