A Bowmanstown resident expressed multiple concerns she has to borough council.

Phyllis Kreiss peppered borough council on Tuesday with questions on various topics.

Kreiss asked council if it has any plans for Mill Street and Pine Street in the future.

“I keep hearing about this five-year plan,” Kreiss said.

Council President Pam Leiby confirmed that council does have a five-year plan, and that a grant has been applied for Lincoln Avenue.

Kreiss then asked if the borough could get any grants for Mill Street or Pine Street.

She then questioned whether the office staff gets compensated for their work on grants.

Councilman William Ravert explained that council is exploring its options.

“We are presently looking into some type of compensation for grant writing,” Ravert said. “We are looking at some other options.”

Kreiss said she believes the office staff is a tremendous asset.

“To me, these girls I feel are the glue,” she said.

Ravert cited a field inspection recently completed of the borough-owned bridges on Hamilton Street and Ore Street over Fireline Creek as an example.

“We are going to wait until we get a report from the (borough) engineer on the bridges and see what needs to be done,” he said. “This is some of the things that happen that’s unexpected.”

Kreiss reiterated that she believes the office staff should be paid for going above and beyond their duties.

Ravert explained where the matter stands at this point.

“We can’t give an outright stipend to the girls,” he said. “We have to look at other ways to compensate them for it.”

Councilman Darren Thomas told Kreiss he understood her concern about the condition of the roads.

“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of roads that are deteriorating,” Thomas said.

Leiby echoes Thomas’ sentiment,

“We are attempting to correct as much as we can,” Leiby said.

Kreiss also expressed frustration with certain council members not being in attendance at council meetings.

Thomas said circumstances come up where council members can’t always attend council meetings, and noted that council members oftentimes assist in matters that go on behind the scenes.

“Many times, it’s work issues,” he said. “There’s other responsibilities than just being at this meeting.”