Vice President of Macungie Borough Council Greg Hutchison did not resign his position at council's meeting Oct. 1; however, it didn't prevent some present from asking him to.

In a heated moment at the last meeting, Hutchison tossed his nameplate on the table and said, "I resign as vice president." Hutchison withdrew his statement at the following meeting after asking council if they wanted him to remain.

David Boyko had seconded what he thought was a formal motion two weeks ago and refused to withdraw it. Boyko asked the recording of the meeting be reviewed before the approval of the minutes, and though the borough manager confirmed Hutchison had not made a motion, the minutes will be voted on at the next meeting. President Jean Nagle pointed out council members have resigned in the past and it has been waived, even on the current council.

Council approved revised meeting guidelines allowing for public comment on non-agenda items at the beginning of the meeting and requiring consent of council for the president to move agenda items such as special professional presentations.

This was only after lengthy debate on the effects of moving the public comments to the end of the meetings, which frequently run upwards of four hours. Recent meetings have been conducted this way out of Nagle's desire for order and decorum to be observed at meetings, which have recently gotten out of control. Hutchison took the blame, stating he initiated the new order of the agenda and Nagle followed through.

According to Nagle, who requested council try the new order on trial for the five remaining meetings of the year, the arrangement will allow for council to "set the tone of meetings."

Debra Cope argued fervently for the public interest, and several council members agreed it was unfair to ask residents to wait several hours to speak on something unrelated to the agenda.

Nagle believes residents who have gone through the "proper procedure" by contacting the borough before the agenda is posted should have precedence. "If they don't want to stick around they can always do it in writing," Mayor Rickie Hoffman stated earlier. "You gotta do the borough business first. That's the object of their meeting."

The guidelines previously allowed for the president to approve and make final changes to the agenda before its distribution. Nagle says she "took it upon [herself]" under the guidelines to make an improvement in the meetings after asking for suggestions and receiving none except from Hutchison.

"I think you're disenfranchising the people," Boyko said.

His statement was taken up again by resident and former council member Dorothy Kociuba.

"Moving [public comment] to the end of the meeting just to make your job easier is not the way to go," Kociuba said to the president. "It is your responsibility to listen to the concerns of the borough."

Several residents took the stand to oppose Hoffman's new directive to the chief of police to schedule an officer on a tact shift 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. every first and third Monday to be on call if necessary for council meetings. Kociuba and Tim Romig accused Hoffman of exercising a double standard, calling it "a slap in the face," and questioned the necessity of having a second officer on duty when the mayor had already refused to reinstate 30 shifts of coverage due to his wish to save money.

Hoffman did not budge, and noted the chief of police has four tact shifts a week to dispose of as he wishes and the mayor had only asked for two to be rearranged.

"These meetings are not in control," Hoffman said. "People just talk out of turn. The meetings are not run the proper way. People don't listen."

The mayor, who listens to recordings but does not always attend meetings, described the president's failed attempts to maintain control with the gavel. Hoffman asserted the need for a readily available officer to maintain order, even to escort people out if necessary.

In other business, Boyko and Cope confirmed the updated emergency management resource manual for the borough should be ready by the end of the year for council review. Boyko, borough emergency management coordinator, has been working through the plan for over a year but has met delays due to lack of information and cooperation from other council members and borough departments.

The borough does not currently have a fully equipped emergency operations center and several residents were concerned another snowstorm like last Halloween would find the borough in a state of unpreparedness.

Council will also review the new borough Facebook page policy. Borough Manager Chris Boehm wants to use Facebook to disseminate information to borough residents. The borough page will not be open for public comment but Boehm plans to update about once a week on borough events and news. While some council members were concerned about spending time and by extension money on yet another task, Boehm insists, "It's the way of the future."

Boyko suggested using Facebook as a means of communicating to residents in an emergency.

The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation is sponsoring the Envision Lehigh Valley program, a three-year public outreach effort to create a sustainable Lehigh Valley. LVEDC will be holding 25 public meetings throughout the fall to hear input from the community on residents' vision for the valley, with a focus on economic development, fresh food access, jobs, housing choices and more. The first meeting was held Oct. 2 at the Macungie Institute.

Council conditionally approved the relocation and reconstruction of Lumber Street based on a revised proposal that will not eliminate any parking spaces on Lehigh Street, and asked that some consideration go into a further design to allow for more parking spaces on Main Street. This was approved after several residents of Lehigh Street had complained about the proposed relocation of parking spaces to the new Lumber Street. The street reconstruction is a part of the land development plan for the new Devine School opening on Lumber Street.