The Slatington borough council authorized its engineering firm, Lehigh Engineering, to seek bids for this year’s Community Development Block Grant project. The project involves repairs to Church Street from First Street toward Walnut Street.

Borough Manager Daniel Stevens said the project will go out for bids soon, and the borough wants to get the work done this summer or next fall.

“We do them as soon as we get them,” he said.

The work will consist of repaving, and could include fixing curbs, sidewalks, drainage, and any needed improvements to the storm sewer and catch basins, Stevens said.

The council also authorized submitting two Community Development Block Grant applications for road projects in 2022. Only one grant can be awarded, but the borough applies for multiple projects so that they might get assistance for one of them.

The two projects consist of East Franklin Street from Main to Second Street. And the second project is South Street from Second Street to Fairview Avenue.

“It badly needs done,” he said.

The council also approved awarding the sludge hauling contract to its current hauler, Biros Septic and Drain Cleaning Inc., headquartered in Zion Grove. The contract will run from 2021 through 2024. Biros has eight locations in the Eastern Pennsylvania area and serves 14 counties.

The rate is 7 cents per gallon, but they haul between 5,000 and 6,000 gallons almost every week, Stevens said.

“That rate is better than what we have right now,” Stevens told the council.

Continuing with the sewer plant, Stevens said it has changed the process from aerobic bacteria to anaerobic bacteria, so he expects the amount that will need to be hauled away will be less than before.

The borough has begun working with the Lehigh County Authority to inspect the sewer collection system by running a camera through the underground pipes and test for leaks.

Stevens said the first thing they do is jet the lines with water, then they look for fresh water leaks into the lines and illegal hookups. The work began on Monday and is expected to continue for two weeks.

Council President Bryon Reed said they completed 1,500 feet in one day.

“It looks good,” he said. “It looks like it was just put in.”

That section of pipe was installed around 2009, Stevens said. Different sections of the line will be checked each year.

The cost for the inspection is $20,000 per year and has been planned for in the budget.

At the borough’s water treatment plant, the council awarded the media replacement project to Roberts Filters in Coatesville and will cost $104,500.

It involves replacing the media and wash arms and any anticipated repairs in the two filters at the water treatment plant.

Each filter is about 18 by 12 feet in size, Stevens said. The media used to filter the water consists of anthracite coal, which was installed 25 years ago. The project has needed to be done for about 10 years, he said.

“The DEP (state Department of Environmental Protection) wants this done,” he said.

In other business

The council welcomed its newest member of the police department. Christopher Pfortner was sworn in by Mayor Walter Niedermeyer Monday night during the meeting.

Pfortner was hired as a new part-time officer and will start off at $19 per hour. Stevens said the wage for part-time officers will be increasing to $21 per hour on April 1.

The borough is hosting some upcoming events.

An Electronics Recycling Day will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on April 3 at the borough garage for residents only.

And the spring Community Yard Sale will be held on May 14 to 16. A community yard sale will also be held in the fall from Sept. 10 to 12.