During public comments at the Summit Hill Borough Council meeting, Paul Slivka spoke out about borough residents' frustration over vandalism.

"The acts of vandalism in town seem to be recurring and are becoming more prevalent," he said, and residents feel helpless after reporting the incidents to the police and not getting any resolution.Slivka said, "I've been living in Summit Hill for 11½ years and went from having nothing stolen from my porch to having four incidents since November."Slivka said he didn't want to disrespect anyone, or claim that people are not doing their jobs, but he was making the council aware of the consensus some neighbors have concerning the issue, and that they don't even feel like reporting any incident because they feel it's useless, and the police won't do anything about it.Chief of Police Joseph Fittos Jr. said the borough police department is limited, and that they need everyone's involvement to serve the community better. He exhorted those present to call the police whenever they witness suspicious activity, and that even if it's nothing, that's what they get paid for to go and find out.He acknowledged that 10 different vehicles had their tires slashed in the borough and they have not been able to solve that crime, but they have solved crimes where people had surveillance systems, or have witnesses, or people moving forward and reporting on them.Fittos said, "If people don't report it, shame on them."Councilman David Wargo also responded to Slivka's concern, saying efforts have been made to start the crime watch again, but that they need the involvement of the whole community to make it efficient.Wargo said the Neighborhood Watch meetings started in February, and the attendance keeps dwindling like in times past when they tried to establish it. This year's first meeting had 17 attendees, the second meeting had 11 people, and the last meeting only had two.Wargo said if at least 10 percent of the borough residents would get involved out of the 1,500 homes and 3,000 people who live in the borough, they would have enough eyes and ears to deter further criminal activities, and solve most of them.He said the borough cannot afford to hire more full-time police officers because it would mean raising taxes on residents.Only one officer is on duty at any given time, so it is impossible for the police to be everywhere. He pleaded with those in attendance that if they care for the community, as their presence at the borough council meeting indicated, that they should step forward and "fill out an application to participate in the neighborhood watch before leaving" that night.He encouraged everyone to be at the next meeting at 7

p.m.May 11, and keep in mind that the crime watch group meetings are being held the second Wednesday of each month at the Hilltop Community Center.Fittos said they are hoping to have the Neighborhood Watch become autonomous and self-operational without the direct presence of the mayor or the police to keep it going.Regarding old business, the council discussed garbage exemptions that had not been renewed by vacant homes that do not use theservice and are now delinquent for refusal of payment of the garbage fees.Borough secretary Kira Steber told council that people who had applied for exemptions assume that the exemptions renew automatically, but they receive a letter of approval saying in bold letters that they need to reapply for the exemption every Jan. 1. They claim they were never told that, and consequently are responsible for paying the trash bill, to which some have said it's not fair.Steber said, "I've had a few people tell me that they are not paying, and to take them to court."Wargo said he would like to do away with the exemptions altogether. The borough will follow procedures to try to collect the delinquent fees up to and including putting liens on the properties.The council approved a motion to advertise for a part-time officer after accepting the resignation of part-time police officer John Milkovitz.Council also approved an ordinancefor the borough to join the Carbon County Council of Governments.A motion was made to accept a PPL program to replace the borough's 309 streetlight bulbs with LEDs.A motion was made to make the "no parking" space in front of the mail drop box in front of the Post Office bigger to allow for more space for patrons to pull in with their vehicles and use the mailbox.