A member of Lansford Borough Council is concerned that the borough garage is in danger of collapsing.

Councilman Joe Butrie said a corner wall of the garage is pushed out 3 inches.Equipment and anti-skid materials are stored in the building.Butrie said he fears an accumulation of snow on the roof will cause the structure to collapse, "and the new loader will be destroyed."The loader, purchased for $122,000, arrived in the borough last week.Butrie, by a 4-2 vote, was granted permission to remove four nonconnected exterior poles and the related steel work next to the garage so a new salt storage area could be created.Council President Martin Ditsky and Mary Soberick were opposed. In favor were council members Butrie, Samantha Yasson, Colin Jones and Rose Mary Cannon.Councilman Tommy Vadyak was absent.Ditsky said he was against the proposal because Butrie will be using shared services, which includes using equipment from Summit Hill, for the work. He's concerned about the safety of the employees.For several months the poor condition of the building has been discussed, and the council has spoken about building a new salt shed.There also has been discussion on constructing a pole building to replace the existing structure.No action has been taken on either matter.Cannon indicated she was unhappy nothing has been done sooner on the salt shed."Once again, we're starting too late," she said. "You don't start a salt shed in November."Ditsky said prices have been obtained to build a salt shed with block. He said the blocks would cost $1,920 and hauling the block to the site would be $1,200. "This doesn't include the roof," he said.It was also reported that a heating boiler in the building isn't functioning properly.Butrie said Mark Krajcirik of Evans Heating Oil Co. made temporary repairs.Ditsky asked if it was worth paying for a new heating unit for "a building that should be replaced."Butrie responded, "But do we want frozen water pipes?"The matter was tabled.Snow plow needsBesides storing winter anti-skid materials, there was other discussion about the winter weather.The council said it is compiling a list of people willing to help the borough plow snow.Anyone interested, with or without a commercial driver's license, should contact the borough secretary.Cannon suggested raising the pay rate for drivers with CDL licenses, saying that one reason the borough has a hard time finding enough is that it isn't paying a decent wage.She said the present rate for drivers with CDL licenses plowing snow is $10.20 per hour, which is less than other municipalities, including the neighboring towns of Summit Hill and Coaldale.Yasson agreed with her, saying that if enough drivers aren't hired, the borough will have to use private contractors, which will be more expensive.Although the council agreed to advertise for drivers, no action was taken on changing the pay rate.The council said the snow parking ordinance will be strictly enforced this winter. The rules are listed on utility poles.Cannon said, "I hope they enforce parking better this year than last year."Butrie said last year "it seemed like it was a pick and choose storm" for enforcing the parking rules.Mayor James Romankow said often only one officer is on duty."You can't ticket with one officer," Romankow said.All part-time officers have now been notified to be available for work when it snows. If no part-time officer is available, an extra full-time police officer will be used.Romankow said, "(Parking rules) will be enforced every storm."In other winter matters, bids were read for the purchase of heating oil.Of two bids received, Evans Fuel Oil submitted the lowest quote at a locked-in price of $2.865 per gallon for about 15,000 gallons.The other quotation received was $2.89 per gallon.