Appointments and honors were announced, a collector for delinquent taxes was selected, and a bid was awarded at the Palmerton Borough Council meeting Thursday evening.

Under the umbrella of the Public Safety Committee, the borough council voted to accept the appointment of Dennis Behler as fire chief and Jason Behler as assistant fire chief, as well as named to the 2016 list of line officers; Capt. Mike Kercsmar, 1st Lt. Christine Obrecht and 2nd Lt. Gerard Alfano also as line officers for 2016; and accepted the appointment of Sgt. Christopher Ritter as the officer-in-charge for Chief of Police Randolph Smith when the chief is away. The measure is retroactive, because Smith had gone on vacation from Jan. 10 through the 17.The council also accepted the retirement of Keith Simmons. Borough manager Rodger Danielson said he thinks Simmons just reached his 30-year mark with the borough. He is leaving the position of department coordinator for the sewer plant.Council member Holly Sell said, "I would like to thank him for all of his years of working for the borough." The council agreed.The council voted unanimously to continue having Berkheimer Associates as its collector of delinquent taxes. Sell, the chairwoman of the council's Finance Committee, said the amount to be collected is $5,830.The wastewater treatment plant odor control system project bid was awarded to Derstine Co. LLC in Souderton with a unanimous vote. Michael Ballard, the chairman of the Sewer, Solid Waste and Water Committee, said the cost for the flat covers will be $271,500.ARRO Engineering and Environmental Consultants in Wyomissing advised the council on the bids and project options. In a letter, ARRO presented two scenarios, and then picked one they would recommend following.The council opted for scenario one, which was the recommended option. In it, the borough would get only the odor control system and tank covers for the IBR tanks. The other option was to get the odor control system and covers mentioned in scenario one, but also get an odor control system for the Belt Filter Press Building. The low bidder for that scenario was Eastern Environmental Contractors Inc. with a bid of $403,850. At one time, the borough also considered getting dome covers and sidewalks, but opted not to pursue it.