Jan. 10 marked the first meeting of the month for Alburtis Borough Council.

The meeting began with a plea from the mayor to thank the borough maintenance department for the job crews have done cleaning up the roads, as roads were done faster than most other municipalities.

Comments were made on social media that the public works department in Alburtis does not do a good job. However, voices on council believed this to be completely unfounded. They thanked the team for how much they do, especially since they do not have the equipment or manpower of other municipalities.

The police report, meeting minutes and bills for payment were approved without discussion.

The police report showcased the yearly police activity report totals. There were 1,615 incidents in 2023.

Nearly half of this total was vehicle or truck stops. There were 86 EMS assists and the third highest total was 83 follow-up investigations. Additionally, there were 57 reported suspicious activity, vehicles or persons.

The Macungie Ambulance Corps also submitted its yearly incident report for 2023. Throughout all of Macungie, their total number of calls serviced for 2023 was 5,165. In December 2023, there were 11 calls in Alburtis.

The engineer’s report was next approved.

To begin the administration portion of the meeting, Mike Preston presented on the Bicentennial Village Multimodal Improvements Project pre-construction meeting. The contractor was also in attendance to answer questions from council.

The contractor plans to begin work in early spring of 2024. The contractor will begin demolition, preparation and installation on Lockridge Lane and East Second Street. For a period, impacted residents will not have vehicular access to their homes or driveways. The contractor and borough will also be in contact with residents ahead of time to give notice of upcoming work plans. There will be other potential disadvantages for residents during the project. However, these are merely projections.

Many of the questions asked by council were on the costs and potential issues that could raise the costs of the project, as there are ongoing fears about going over budget. Concerns about parking were raised as well, with designated parking areas being discussed, though nothing was approved.

Resolution 2024-4 was approved for the sale of surplus property of small value. This will include the auction of a broken-down police car.

Next, members of the maintenance department stepped up to ask for assistance from the borough. They requested a full-time position be hired to assist the department. There are members of the department who are retiring soon, only a couple of the members are water-certified and backup is desperately needed. It was decided borough council will meet 6 p.m. Jan. 18 to formulate a plan to address the situation.

A motion was approved to hire a current independent contractor as a part-time maintenance employee for up to 12 weeks to help address the current department shortages.

The meeting was then adjourned.

The next Alburtis Borough Council meeting will be held 7 p.m. Jan. 31.

The location of the meetings is Alburtis Borough Hall, 260 Franklin St.