Jim Thorpe Borough Council has voted to have Barry Issets & Associates to act as Zoning Officer, Building Code Officer, and Code Enforcement Officer.

Barry Issets & Associates will be following the borough's ordinances.Some residents raised concerns about having the Zoning Officer, Building Code Officer, and Code Enforcement Officer all being under one company. Some residents gave examples of how they liked the idea of having Barry Issets & Associates doing all three.Also in discussion, some residents suggested that there be more than two commercial Uniform Construction Code (UCC) inspectors accepted in JT.In JT, there are two commercial UCC inspectors accepted and there is no set amount of residential UCC inspectors.Borough council discussed looking into adding to the list of accepted commercial UCC inspectors.In other news council approved:St. Patrick's Day Parade to be held Sunday, March 10th.Re-appointing Joseph Micko to JT Planning Commission for a 4 year termRe-appointing George Stoffa to the JT Zoning Hearing Board for a 4 year termRe-appointing Roxanne Long to the JT Zoning Hearing Board for a 4 year termRe-appointing William Brior as the Sewage Enforcement OfficerRe- appointing Bruce Dobash as the alternate Sewage Enforcement Officer.Re-appointing Buckno Lisicky and Company as auditorRe-appointing August Long as Health AgentRe-appointing Curtis Jackson to the vacancy board. However, later in the meeting Jackson was asked to serve as Emergency Management Coordinator. He accepted but asked to resign from the vacancy board. Both of which were approved by council.In other news during the Mayors report:Mayor Michael Sofranko stated that over the past two years he and Chief Joseph Schatz have actively pursued different grant programs for the JT Police Department to help offset some of the costs. The police department has brought in around $17,037.The different grants included Click it or Ticket, Impaired Driving, and DARE Program. Other sources of these donated funds include State Representative Doyle Heffley and the Policeman's Ball.Mayor Sofranko presented a list of the funds received."The numbers you see there will continue to come in this year along with an aggressive driving grant that he (Chief Schatz) has also received which is going to add to those numbers," stated Mayor Sofranko.In other news,Councilmember Jay Miller made a comment about wishing to discuss, in the future, Memorial Hall and the cost that it has on the borough.In additional news,Council President, Betsy Ahner stated that council will currently not be filling a truck/laborer position due to the insurance increasing.Council discussed that the previous insurance company cancelled the insurance.Miller read some of the claims that were mentioned and some of them included injuries sustained for falling on the roadway or sidewalks, the Jim Thorpe suit, etc…Mayor Sofranko said, "Jay read them. A large number of them are claims of people who have tripped and fell on sidewalks.""Because we have a large number of visitors that frequent this borough that kind of targets us as high risk."He added that the ongoing Jim Thorpe lawsuit is costing the borough money as well as the Castle lawsuit costs the borough a considerable amount of liability."Twelve other boroughs and municipalities have been dropped (by insurance)," stated Ahner.Ahner worked with the borough's insurance broker, Brown & Brown, and got a policy done and the borough is insured.