At the busy Feb. 6 Hellertown Borough Council meeting, several important topics were discussed, with an impact on borough businesses and residents alike.

First, however, the meeting commenced with the presentation of a Pennsylvania House Citation in celebration of Richard Fluck’s 90th birthday. Pa. Rep. Robert Freeman said, “He has demonstrated the highest ideals in citizenship throughout the years and truly deserves this special recognition.”

Fluck, a Korean War veteran and former borough council member and mayor until 2017, was in attendance with some of his family members. He spoke briefly, thanking Freeman and the council for the recognition.

Taylor Huffner and Jamilia Bell, graduate students in Speech-Language Pathology from DeSales University, then provided an update on their proposed Augmentative Alternative Communication board, for which the council agreed to provide funding and labor for installation in December.

Huffner, who shared images of the board’s final design via Zoom, said that tokens of appreciation and a recognition plaque would be given to the borough and GoFundMe contributors upon its installation - near the playground at Dimmick Park - in the spring.

Councilor Terri Fadem and Garrett Powell then discussed plans for their first Climate Action Town Hall, scheduled for March 13 at 6 p.m. at Borough Hall.

The forum will be in a hybrid format and will include topics such as energy cost reduction, energy resilience and production, infrastructure maintenance, and tax credits and rebates available, Powell said. Fadem also invited interested parties to add their thoughts to an exploratory survey shared on the borough’s Facebook page.

An upset Mayor David Heintzelman then mentioned photos of trash built up at Grist Mill Park which were recently shared with him.

The public works department will pick up the trash, he said, but Heintzelman stressed that the borough must become better stewards of public areas. He said, “It doesn’t take much energy for you to find a garbage can. Not only does this hurt the environment, but it requires borough labor for clean-up.”

Manager Cathy Hartranft discussed a proposal for the adoption of a new meeting agenda management system called ‘Diligent Communities,’ which would replace the council’s current method. She recommended that the borough adopt the cloud-based software-as-a-service application and shared a video advertisement that described its functions.

The one-time installation fee for the system is $1,000 and the annual subscription fee is between $2,500 to $5,000, Hartranft said. She suggested trying out the lower-cost tier of services first before committing to a higher yearly expenditure, and although the potential upgrade was not reflected in the borough’s budget, the board voted to proceed with the service based on her recommendation.

Zoning and Codes Officer Kris Russo provided an update on potential local legislation to require more robust installation and inspection of carbon monoxide detectors in commercial properties.

He said that his research did not shed any more light on the legality of such an edict, but there was a bill with considerable support in the Pennsylvania Senate that would address many of the issues. Upon his and Solicitor Michael Correire’s recommendations, the board decided to wait to learn more details before proceeding with any official action.

The long-delayed final payment to Pioneer Pole Building was once again discussed at some length. When Councilor Earl Hill asked if outstanding issues such as intermittently-malfunctioning automatic doors and a compressor had been fixed, Public Works Director Barry Yonney reported that everything was, except for the garage doors, which he described as still “working when they want to.”

Heintzelman opined that if Pioneer hasn’t fixed the issue, “they don’t get paid.” Hill suggested paying half the remaining amount, but Hartranft suggested paying more. After some discussion, the board agreed to pay $75,000, leaving a remaining amount of $44,733.

The council also authorized the advertisement of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Community Block Development Grant engineering services.

Hartranft explained that the borough needs to establish a designated engineering firm to apply for the federal grant. The RFP is being advertised to obtain bids from interested firms, with applications due every three years, and was approved unanimously.

Police Chief Robert Shupp reported that the department is “one man down,” and asked the council to approve the public advertisement of their vacancy. As per Civil Service protocol, they need to establish a list of candidates for a full-time officer before filling the spot, he said.

The item was approved unanimously, although Shupp made it clear that this does not commit the department to move forward with hiring on any particular timeline.

Close to the meeting’s hour mark, Rieger led council into an executive Session to discuss potential litigation concerning fire equipment. Fadem and Hill, who were joining over Zoom, were brought into the session via their cell phones, as the council retreated to a back room.

The session lasted for approximately 40 minutes, followed by Councilor Liz Thompson’s motion to engage a fire apparatus expert’s opinion with a limit of $10,000 in expenses to the borough. Rieger apologized to audience members for the longer-than-expected delay.

Hartranft also reported being recently approached by Comcast to bring cable services to Hellertonians. She said that she had reached out to Cohen Law Group for negotiation services, for which the cost would be approximately $7,000, payable in three installments. The council agreed to invite Comcast to the next meeting to present its proposal.