Emmaus Borough Council met Jan. 16 at 420 S. Tenth St., as borough hall is still under renovation.

There was no one in attendance for personal appeals.

During the community minute, Councilman Roy Anders announced the Emmaus Youth Association is open for baseball and softball sign-ups. Additionally, Councilwoman Teri Sorg-McManamon wanted to remind the community to come out to the Triangle noon to 4 p.m. Feb. 4 for the Emmaus Arts Commission’s 16th annual Snowblast Winter Arts Festival. There will be around 30 artists, various vendors and food trucks.

There were no special presentations for the night.

In communications, the Kiwanis Club’s request to hold its annual Easter Egg Hunt was approved for April 8, with the egg hunt starting 1 p.m.

Following were several requests for reappointment.

Todd Laudenslager requested reappointment to the building board of appeals. Jessi O’Donald requested another term for the Joint Emmaus Advisory Council. Nigel Watt and Robert Toth requested another term on the Emmaus Borough Planning Commission. All were approved.

A volunteer application was received from Justin Gifford to join the Joint Environment Advisory Commission. Additionally, John Stover Jr. volunteered to serve as an alternate on the Emmaus Zoning Board. This will go to the committee level for further action.

The Emmaus Public Library’s third annual “Tee Time at the Library” was announced. The event will be March 24 and March 25.

A request for a building electrification policy was received from a resident. They requested Emmaus make a policy that phases out all fossil fuel use in borough buildings and to enforce strictly electric. However, this was dismissed.

East Penn Chamber of Commerce and Emmaus Main Street Partners came together to apply for a permit for a banner to be placed across Chestnut Street to promote East Penn Restaurant Week 2023 which will be held Feb. 26 through March 4.

A conversation was held on the Forino South Mountain Project. The discussion dealt with the initially proposed lights, walking path material and the infiltration basin fence.

A motion was approved on the infiltration basin fence to change the initial two-piece split rail system to a three-rail split fence.

The walking path material and lights were not approved during the meeting but were moved to the general administration committee. Additionally, Forino Co. requested the borough withdraw their $3,000 escrow payment or waive the fees associated with any late fees. This was denied by the council.

The last item was the resignation of a paratransit driver for the borough.

In new business, three new ordinances were introduced.

Ordinance No. 1237 amends several sections of the Borough of Emmaus parking regulations.

Ordinance No. 1238 adds a residential disabled parking sign and will assign a permitted parking space in front of 107 S. 12th St., Emmaus.

Ordinance 1239 deals with the borough parking lot. This ordinance will instruct the borough to purchase the first parking kiosks and establish parking regulations for parking kiosks in specified locations throughout Emmaus. The first location shown on the ordinance was the parking lot located at 311 Main St. No timeline has been established and this will be brought back at a future meeting.

Ordinance No. 1237 and No. 1238 will be reread and approved at the next meeting.

Brent Reed was hired as the new Emmaus codes officer during health, sanitation and codes. He has been the parks manager for the borough for the past five years.

In public safety, the purchase of the first parking kiosk, reflecting Ordinance No. 1239, was introduced by Councilman John Hart. The price of the kiosk is quoted at $7,000. This was approved by the council.

Joanna Vanaman was approved by council to be hired as the police department clerk. This was the last item in public safety.

The bill list totaled $598,620.

Borough Manager Shane Pepe had a few hirings in his report. He highlighted the hiring of Laurie Barry as an advanced EMT. Sara Pierce was hired as an EMT. Alysha Page was also hired as an EMT.

In president’s business, Council President Brent Labenberg introduced starting council meetings at 6 p.m. This was approved by council and will begin in February.

The meeting was then adjourned. The next meeting will be held 6 p.m. Feb. 6.