Emmaus Borough Council met Aug. 18 to conduct its regular meeting; there were no comments from the residents in attendance.

The evening featured several special presentations, most notably the swearing-in of Keith Miller as director of emergency services and fire chief and Adam Priest as deputy director of emergency services and ambulance chief. Both were formally introduced and took their oaths before council, establishing the leadership in the borough’s emergency response departments.

Council approved the minutes from the July 21 meeting and moved forward with communications.

The Emmaus Rotary Club requested permission to hold its 2026 Summer Festival at Emmaus Community Park June 6, 2026. This was approved by council.

There were no items discussed during the borough engineer and solicitor reports.

Council then addressed unfinished business, including the second readings of Ordinances 1280 and 1281. Ordinance 1280 amends the borough code to add a residential disabled parking space in front of 136 N. Fourth St. while removing one at 106 S. 12th St. Ordinance 1281 authorizes the borough to issue a general obligation note totaling $684,848.01 for various purposes, establishing terms for repayment and appointing a sinking fund depository. Both ordinances passed their second readings.

Under new business, council introduced Ordinance 1282 on first reading. The measure would remove a residential disabled parking sign at 572 Jubilee St. and convert a reserved disabled parking space in front of 902 Evergreen St. into a public disabled parking space. The first reading was approved, with the second reading coming at the next council meeting.

Next, Mayor Lee Ann Gilbert delivered her report, thanking the borough residents who attended the National Night Out event. She stated it was very well attended and a tremendous success.

Committee reports followed, beginning with public works, with council approving Resolution 2025-23, a plan revision for new land development tied to the borough’s PFAS treatment facility project. This was a requirement under the Municipality Planning Code. Health, Sanitation and Codes reviewed a request for an Emmaus Commerce Center security release. The money released was for public improvement to the borough infrastructure.

Parks and recreation reported no new actions ahead of its upcoming Aug. 21 meeting.

The public safety committee provided notes from its Aug. 13 meeting, stating a plan to improve parking around the high school fell through during committee meetings. The next public safety meeting is scheduled Sept. 10.

General administration confirmed its upcoming Aug. 20 meeting as well.

Budget and finance presented the year-to-date budget performance report, significant revenues and expenses from early August and announced the resolution regarding the borough’s bill list.

Community relations, planning and development reported on its Aug. 5 meeting and scheduled its next meeting Oct. 7.

Following these updates, council heard public appeals where a resident stepped forward to ask about stop signs around the borough school zones. They stated they see vehicles running the stop signs often and hoped for action moving forward. They requested some sort of discussion or solutions moving forward.

In his report, Borough Manager Shane Pepe thanked a local Boy Scout Troop for attending the meeting. It was announced several Troop members are working on improvement projects at Emmaus Community Park. He also had a couple, short administrative items to highlight.

The council meeting was then adjourned. The next meeting will be held 6 p.m. Sept. 2, in the borough building, 28 N. Fourth St.