Councilman Nathan Brown said at the Aug. 15 council meeting, the borough received official notice it is in quarantine in regard to the Spotted Lanternfly.

The insect is an inch-long black, red and white spotted insect which attacks pines, grapes and fruit trees.

Adult Spotted Lanternflies lay egg clusters of 30 to 50 eggs that often adhere to flat surfaces, including trees and man-made objects. Transplantation of objects with these egg deposits on them is one of the main factors that spreads the insect. Egg deposits can be eliminated by scraping them off of the tree and then putting the eggs in alcohol or hand sanitizer to kill the larvae.

Trees attacked by the Spotted Lanternfly typically have a trail of grey or black sap trickling down the trunk.

In a press release from state Rep. Gary Day, R-187th, the quarantine forbids movement of materials, such as firewood, yard waste, grapevines and outdoor equipment such as lawnmowers and grills that could spread the insect.

The borough will be distributing information to residents per the United States Department of Agriculture on how to handle firewood, compost and other objects that may contain the fly.

In other business, council voted to pass the “Memorandum of Understanding: School Resource Officer for the East Penn School District.” This is an agreement between the Emmaus Borough and East Penn School District to place an Emmaus police officer at Emmaus High School to provide security and crime prevention services.

Councilmen Wesley Barrett and Brown gave praise to both the school board and council for being open minded and cooperative during this process.

The borough’s fire ordinance was also discussed at the meeting.

Ordinance 1141 passed its first reading which pertains to the fire regulation ordinance. The following sections in the ordinance were amended or added: outdoor fires, fire prevention and life safety program, regulating fire protection systems, and fees. Council has been working on revamping this ordinance for over six months.

“We went through a lot of the sections that defined outdoor fires and recreational fires, the type of grills that can be used for cooking, what the definition of a portable fire was, the distance from a structure, gas fired outdoor fire places,” head of the Health, Sanitation and Codes committee Jeff Shubzda said.

A lot of the regulations came from the International Fire Code as well as the existing building code.

“We felt that the International Fire Code knows more than we do about safety and fire, so we kind of left it with their recommendation of what’s safe and what isn’t safe,” Chairman Chris DeFrain said.

Councilman Roy Anders questioned what part of the ordinance covered fire pits dug in the ground with rocks surrounding the pits. Borough Manager Shane Pepe said if you previously had that done you were required to have a permit.

“We said that if there currently is an existing one it has to meet the requirements of either the requirements of your previously awarded permit, or the requirements of what the UL [underwriter’s laboratories] might say on the pit which is basically the manufactured requirements of what the pit should be,” Pepe said.

Council President Brent Labenberg noted any fire must be 10 feet from the property line and 15 feet away from any structure.

“I know there may still be some issues from neighbors with smoke blowing in homes and stuff, but you know, people have the right to burn fire too,” Labenberg said.

He said he hopes neighbors will be respectful of each other.

In other business, Pepe thanked Martha Lieberman for donating $1,000 toward Project Lifesaver.

“We also are receiving a very large donation from an anonymous donor to fund just about the rest of the project,” Pepe said.

He stated the donor, who doesn’t want their name to be released, has donated to the borough’s emergency services for three consecutive years now. Their donations have been over several thousand dollars.