Lehighton's Borough Council covered many topics at its Monday meeting, from snow removal to downtown parking to the purchase of equipment and more.

First up, Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor trail manager Scott Everett said the Carbon County D&L Connectivity Project, which covers multiple municipalities, had two components that "touch the borough": the trail behind Castle Grill restaurant and the trail coming from Weissport into Lehighton.He asked whether the borough would be making the light at Bridge Street and Route 209 permanent, noting their answer would affect the design of a future crosswalk.Police Chief Brian Biechy said that while the light seems to be "so far, a good addition," he wondered whether or not it would still be once the Thomas J. McCall Memorial Bridge is open.Council said it will look into the issue, and Everett moved on to his other topics.He said there will be a public meeting held at Memorial Hall from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25 to talk about the components of the Connectivity Project and the Carbon County pedestrian bridge that will span the Lehigh River in Jim Thorpe.Next up, resident Richard Gombert thanked the road crew "for patching and paving Birch Alley between Mahoning and Alum streets." He said they did "a real good job, considering their paving machine was two shovels."I think it's a shame that a town of this size doesn't have a paving machine," he said."Well, hang around tonight and you might see that change," Councilman John Kreitz said.Later, during item 12 on the agenda, the grant submission proposal of a 2001 Gehl Track Paver for $6,900, the council voted 6-1, with Councilman Joe Flickinger dissenting, to approve the purchase of the 9-12 foot, used, diesel piece of equipment with 1,800 hours on it.In regard to the upcoming winter, the council passed a couple of ordinances.Vice President Scott Rehrig said an ordinance for snow removal on sidewalks would be difficult because some areas of the borough are not even required to have sidewalks.He voted no, while all other council members voted yes, to "amend the other ordinances" pertaining to shoveling from 24 to 48 hours.In regard to plowing snow into the streets, the council unanimously voted to increase the fine from $50 per incident to $100.Later, both Rehrig and Kreitz voted no to taking off the table the "Discussion on permit parking for the two lots at Keystone Alley and changes to parking ordinance ($30 monthly fee)". However, the motion still passed 5-2.The consensus seemed to be that requiring permitting for all of the spots might adversely affect parking for customers of downtown businesses.A topic that brought quite a bit of heated discussion toward the end of the meeting was the discussion on Annex masonry work and funding options.Flickinger thought the Annex should be sold because the borough "can't afford the building." However, a question arose whether or not Community Development Block Grant money would need to be paid back. Borough Manager Nicole Beckett said she would look into it.In other news, the council unanimously approved preparing and bidding of work for the storm sewer project at Fourth and Cedar streets.