Emmaus Borough Council met June 19 with a few residents in attendance who gave public comments. There was a complaint made about a neighbor who has a badly unkempt property. Council has already taken legal action with a fine. There was another resident complaining about the loudness of live music coming from the Emmaus Pavilion. Council advised the resident to call the police when these incidents occur, plus it will be addressed by the parks and recreation committee.

Councilwoman Teri Sorg-McManamon thanked the Emmaus Main Street Partners for the plants in the downtown planters during a community minute. A reminder was given about attending Tunes in the Triangle.

In decisions on bids, Zgura Concrete was awarded the bid for the Community Development Block Grant curb and sidewalk project.

There were three items in communications. A letter of appreciation was received from Anne Zayaitz, president of the East Penn Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Evelyn Keogh provided her letter of resignation from the Emmaus Fire Department due to her move away from the borough. She is no longer within the radius required to work. Lastly, there was a request for a handicapped parking space to be granted and placed on South Fourth Street in front of the business buildings or on Railroad Street at the corner of South Fourth Street and Railroad Street. No decision was made on this, as it will be addressed at committee level.

The meeting moved to unfinished business. Ordinance No. 1244 was passed which establishes rules and regulations for the sale and use of consumer fireworks within the Borough of Emmaus.

This was introduced at the previous meeting. Communication will go out to the borough residents to explain the regulations. Councilman John Hart said this will not interrupt residents’ plans for fireworks on the Fourth of July.

In public works, a road reclamation project was introduced. This would be the first reclamation work in decades. The locations of work would be Alpine Street between Dalton Street and the dead end, Banner Street between East Main Street and Fernwood Street, Fernwood Street between Alpine and Mountain Boulevard. The project was approved to go out to bid.

In health, sanitation and codes, Resolution 2023-20 was approved. This conditionally approved the revised preliminary/final land development plan for Wesley Works Properties, LLC, which is Parkside at North Street.

There were a few items in parks and recreation. A resident would like to construct a South Mountain Fairy Trail within the Homestead Loop. It was suggested by Council President Brent Labenberg the trail be relocated to the community pool area, as signs and equipment are consistently destroyed along the South Mountain Trail.

It was noted by Borough Manager Shane Pepe there will be surveillance cameras placed in the area soon. After some discussion, council decided to approve the South Mountain Fairy Trail as introduced.

Next, the committee proposed building a pickleball court at Furnace Dam. The project is estimated to cost under the $148,000 budgeted to spend at Furnace Dam. This was approved by council. The third item was a description and approved advertisement of a parks and facilities director position for the borough. The last item was the approval of a pole building to be built on South Fourth Street by the Emmaus Youth Association.

A full-time paramedic was approved for hire in the first item during the public safety report. Secondly, “No Right Turns for Trucks” signage was approved to be placed at Stephen and Pike streets. The last item was the train survey results discussion.

There were complaints about the noise from the trains coming through the borough, so a survey was done. There were 966 resident responses to the survey – 64% of the respondents have lived in the borough for more than 10 years; over 40% have lived in the borough for more than 20 years. A majority of the respondents live within five blocks of the railroads. On a scale of 1 to 10, a question was asked how disruptive the railroad was. The average score came to 3.4. A total of 68% responded they would not be in favor of a quiet zone for the trains. For those in favor, they were shown it would cost between $1.9 million and $2.3 million to Norfolk Southern for the infrastructure updates required for a quiet zone. Overall, 142 respondents stated they would be willing to pay a higher tax rate to establish the quiet zone. It was determined 85% were not in favor.

It was decided nothing will change regarding the borough’s responsibility for the trains.

Hart said if residents have concerns over the trains, it would be best to submit a writing campaign to Norfolk Southern.

In general administration, Comcast submitted a cable franchise with the Borough of Emmaus. This would permit Comcast to construct, operate and maintain a cable system. It will take four years for service to begin. Council agreed to table the decision for the next meeting.

It was noted in Pepe’s report the borough has hired a part-time seasonal public works employee and a part-time paramedic. It was announced borough hall should be ready for employees to enter by the middle to end of August.

Following this, the meeting was adjourned.

The next Emmaus Borough Council meeting will be held 6 p.m. July 17.