Emmaus Borough Council met Nov. 15 where resident Paul Iannaci spoke during public comment.

Iannaci is an Emmaus Borough resident of 30 years and is a 30-year law enforcement veteran.

He gave his opinion on the idea of hiring an external candidate for the open Emmaus Police Chief position.

He felt it would tarnish the record of the Emmaus Police Department if they were to hire an outside candidate. His strong recommendation is to stay inside the borough.

Renovations on borough hall, the police station and the central fire and ambulance station are set to begin soon. The first highlight of the night was a construction financing presentation from Ryan Hottenstein and Kevin Reid.

Hottenstein works for FSL Public Finance. Reid represented the bond counsel for the borough.

FSL is the financial adviser for Emmaus on the renovation projects. The total cost of the building renovation project is estimated to cost $13 million. The projects would be paid for with the proceeds from the sale of property and bonds.

For the work to get done, the next step is to draft the official documentation within the next month to craft the needed ordinance the borough needs to adopt. This will be presented at a December meeting. There are certain state statutes which need to be met.

The second and final item in special presentations was from the Shelter House. The Shelter House Board of Directors would like to have a historical experience when visitors come to the Shelter House.

They would like to give the visitors an experience of what it was like to live in the mid-18th century in Emmaus. It would provide an educational experience about the beginning stages of Emmaus and the lifestyle of the early settlers. The project will cost no money to the borough.

In Communications, the Lehigh County Humane Society presented the 2022 Animal Control Services Agreement. The full-year agreement will cost $825 for 2022.

There were no discussions during the borough engineer’s report, solicitor’s report and old business.

Four ordinances were presented in unfinished business:

•Ordinance 1216 removes the designated prohibited parking area on the west side of South Seventh Street between Norfolk Southern tracks and Broad Street, except 80 feet south of the fire hydrant.

•Ordinance 1217 removes the parking restrictions at 31 N. Third St.

•Ordinance 1218 allows the borough to regulate traffic movement in the community during inclement weather.

•Ordinance No. 1219 updates numerous parking time limits, hours and locations throughout the borough. Of note, this included a three-hour parking restriction on several parts of Main Street, Chestnut Street, Ridge Street, among others. It was enacted after several written complaints were received about the situation of Emmaus’ downtown parking.

Councilman Chad Balliet responded to the last ordinance. He spoke on behalf of about 30 downtown business owners and received 25 signatures stating the three-hour parking restriction would only hurt downtown Emmaus. He asked to table the final ordinance.

Numerous council members who worked on the survey which led to the development of the fourth ordinance, felt a copious amount of work was done to create Ordinance 1219. Numerous committee discussions and detailed surveys showed these new parking restrictions would aid the parking issues in Emmaus.

After discussion, the ordinances were passed in a vote by council. There will be a second reading of these new borough ordinances at the next council meeting.

Balliet, chairperson for the health, sanitation and codes committee announced the hiring of the code official position. The committee decided on Bryan Bileimer. He will begin in the next two weeks after all necessary steps are taken.

In the parks and recreations report, a motion was approved to move the MOPAR Club Car Show “Cruise Nights” from the South Mall to Emmaus Community Park. The cruise nights will run from April to October and will take place on the second and last Saturday of the month.

Councilman John Hart discussed the fire department training grounds foam removal including 865 gallons which need to be properly removed at a cost of nearly $30,000.

In general administration, a new police pension investing policy and a new employee pension investing policy were approved. There will be a new 60-40 plan.

A new water tank carbon system was approved for purchase during budget and finance. This new carbon system will filter and clean the entire water system of Emmaus, according to Borough Manager Shane Pepe.

There were several personnel items in Pepe’s report. The hiring of Brenton McLaughlin as a part-time firefighter was the first item. Next, council approved an arts commission request to remove a member that has missed every meeting dating back to 2019. Last, several fire department promotions were announced.

Pepe mentioned there are numerous positions still open in the borough.

The next Emmaus Borough Council meeting will be held 7 p.m. Dec. 6 at 28 N. Fourth St. Residents can access the meeting virtually through the Emmaus Borough website.