Meeting for over two hours Thursday night, the Walnutport Borough Council covered a wide array of topics, including the recent appearance of a sinkhole within the borough.

For the first half-hour, Ted Mucellin of The Federal Property Registration Corp., discussed ways in which his company could benefit the borough by helping them find and communicate with banks regarding bank-owned properties in the area.He said his company splits a $200 registration fee, established through an ordinance by the municipality, on any foreclosing entity, most often a bank. This 50/50 split provides both the borough and his company with income which, while not much, may be enough to purchase new some new playground equipment.For example, if there are 40 homes in a community that are in foreclosure proceedings, and a $200 registration fee is produced for each, Walnutport would receive $4,000 and the company would also get $4,000.He said that there are many other benefits and no up-front costs or risk to the borough because "we're only collecting if you're collecting." He did, however, say council would need to pass a new ordinance to begin this public-private partnership.Council had many questions for Mucellin, but most members seemed enthusiastic about the prospect of bringing more revenue into the borough. They told Mucellin they will look over his proposal and get back in touch with him.Later, Streets Committee Chairman William Turk noted that Road Foreman Eric Strohl had recently brought something to his attention."Spruce Street has a sinkhole … and we have to fix it," Strohl said. "A concrete pipe dropped, and right now all the water is running into the ground. The sinkhole's getting bigger underneath as we speak."He said he and his crew temporarily fixed it but that it more or less constitutes an emergency situation that needs further repair.Council made motions to transfer money from one account to another in order to have it available and also to fix the hole, which is estimated will cost at least $7,250.Next, President Matthew Newhard said a list is being compiled in regard to the cost for borough recycling "toters" for 775 homes, though 1,000 would actually be purchased. One cost will be for 64-gallon totes, at $40-$42 apiece, and the other for 96-gallon totes, at about $50 apiece.He said he was told people are more likely to use 96-gallon totes and reiterated that "the more we up our recycling, the more money we (as a municipality) get back."Council also convened for a short executive session to discuss legal matters and the garbage contract.