Coplay Borough Council held a special reorganization meeting Jan. 3, during which the three newly re-elected council members were sworn in by new Mayor Stephen Burker.

Burker took his oath of office earlier in the day.

Louis Bodish, Carl Luckenbach and Charles Sodl took the oath of office to serve another term on borough council. Following the swearing in, motions were made for nominations for officer positions. After nominations and voting, the officers are Bodish, president; Sodl, vice president; and Rick Kern, pro-tem.

Council voted in favor of reappointing Kimberly Bachman as borough secretary and treasurer.

Approval was also given to reappoint James F. Preston as the borough solicitor, Vincent Genovese as police chief, Brandyn Bechtel as fire chief, Joseph Gill as health inspector and Ronald Helman as code enforcement officer.

After the special reorganization meeting, council called its first workshop meeting of 2022 to order.

Council members discussed the approval of the roof estimate for the borough building. Councilwoman Janet Eisenhauer noted the COVID-19 grant funds the borough received could possibly be used in part to help fund the new roof. The grant has stipulations the money be used in a way to help relieve stress of the pandemic on adults.

Since the borough building is used for many different activities that aid the public in coping with stress - such as aerobics, the gym and weight rooms, the police department and the food bank - it is possible the grant can be utilized for the roof expense. Advisement from the state recovery program and state representatives has been sought to confirm the use of these funds.

For clarification purposes, Burker completed his term of serving on borough council before accepting the position of mayor. As a result, there is a vacancy on borough council, which would entail the chosen candidate to serve a two-year appointment.

There are two interested individuals who have written letters to borough council asking for their consideration.

The first candidate is Allen Himmelwright, a truck driver and graduate of the Citadel. He is a registered Democrat and has lived in the borough for 30 years.

The second candidate is Michael Dreisbach, who has worked at Air Products for 37 years. He is a registered Democrat living in the borough for six years. Dreisbach has also been serving on the borough planning commission.

Borough council interviewed both candidates and will hold a vote at the regular meeting, set for Jan. 11, to select the new council member.

Eisenhauer reported Coplay Public Library will be closed every Monday due to staff shortages. The library is currently seeking a library director and is in need of one board member.

Kern noted the hope of receiving a grant for police body cameras is currently on hold. The borough received notice it is on a waitlist for this grant due to the fact that more than 1,000 applications were received.