Alburtis Borough Council met Oct. 9 for its first bimonthly regular council meeting.

Meetings are scheduled for the second and last Wednesdays of the month.

The meeting started with the Pledge of Allegiance and was next opened to the residents for public comment.

A resident raised concerns about speeding issues occurring on borough streets. The resident stated they had come in months ago to raise awareness of this problem and wanted to know if any progress was made.

Mayor Kathleen Palmer stated borough police clocked cars driving on the streets but had not seen any enormous speeding issues. The mayor encouraged the resident to contact Police Chief Tony Alsleben when these speeding problems occur, as the resident said they see cars speeding all the time.

In her report, Palmer thanked all the residents who donated items to be sent in relief to those affected by Hurricane Helene and accompanying storms that hit western North Carolina and surrounding areas.

Palmer said donations continue to be accepted at borough hall. Donations then will be sent to those affected by the newest storm, Hurricane Milton, which was expected to do extreme damage on the west coast of Florida and surrounding areas.

In the police report, the borough saw a drop in violations from 156 in August to 116 in September.

The minutes from the previous meeting, bills for payment, treasurer’s report and engineer’s report were all approved. The bills for payment, dating back to the Sept. 25 meeting, totaled $45,874.93.

To begin administration, Solicitor Dave Knerr led the council in a discussion on the choice of the garbage contract.

Whitetail Disposal, Waste Management and J.P. Mascaro were the three waste disposal companies submitting bids. Whitetail’s bid was submitted in error, and although the company gave a corrected bid amount, which would come in at the lowest, the bid could not be accepted due to the error.

J.P. Mascaro, who has served the borough for years, sent representatives urging the borough to stay with the company.

Additionally, Waste Management sent a representative to argue their position. Automated trash pickup and recycling collection, among other points, were argued by the representatives.

Whitetail’s representative apologized to the council for the error and asked that the borough reject the current bids submitted in order for council to put the bids out to the public again, which would allow Whitetail Disposal to resubmit.

A motion was made and unanimously accepted that recycling will be picked up weekly. A second motion was approved that they accept the 5- to 6-year contract.

Ultimately, the garbage contract was awarded to J.P. Mascaro Co. The increase in cost per household will rise from $392 to $667 per year.

Next, borough council member Hector Moss made a request to install a sidewalk on West Second Street. Borough Manager Stephen Nemeth will explore grant possibilities to try to fund the project. Moss said he does not want to see the borough pay for this project with its own funds.

The last item received was a notice from the Lehigh County Authority of an invitation to provide input on the Regional Wastewater Plan. The LCA is hosting public meetings and information on when and where these meetings will be held can be found on the borough website.