Kristie Wentling, executive director of the Northern Valley Emergency Medical Services (NOVA), told Walnutport Borough Council that NOVA received a Keystone Communities Program grant for $115,000 for this year.

The grant will go toward an ambulance remount in December. Another ambulance will be remounted in January 2024, and another after football season concludes in 2024.

Wentling also gave an update on NOVA.

“2022 was a little bit challenging for us,” Wentling said. “We had staffing issues at the beginning of the year. As the year progressed, we were able to build up our staffing. Currently, we are fully-staffed.”

According to Wentling, NOVA had 3,289 calls for 2022. The organization raised $472,048 through fundraising efforts and grants, which is above the contributions made by the participating municipalities.

“We are ordering a new truck to replace 6794 which was already remounted previously,” Wentling said.

Upcoming fundraisers include a comedy night and dinner to be held today, which is sold out. The Ladies Auxiliary will hold a shoofly pie sale, and the auxiliary will host a craft/vendor show on June 10 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vendor spots are available. Tables are $20 each. Call Carolyn at 610-984-3703 to reserve a table. Visit their website at www.northernvalleyems.com or find them on Facebook for more information.

Council business

Walnutport Borough Council approved a number of motions at its monthly meeting on Thursday.

• Voted to give a 50-cent raise to the borough’s cleaner, increasing the rate to $11 and hour.

• Voted to approve a handicapped parking permit renewal for a property at 317 New Street. Council wants to speak with the person at 123 New Street to get more details on their renewal request.

• Council received several applications for the part-time assistant secretary position and will begin the interviewing process.

• Council postponed a decision on a blighted property at 645 Lehigh Gap Street following a discussion about what the borough’s options and obligations would be in order to move forward and condemn the property. The house and barn on that property have significant damage and overgrown weeds and trees.

Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Wentz told council that there are grants available to use toward the demolition of blighted properties. Wentz will provide more details by the next meeting, when council hopes to make a final decision on the property.

• Voted to put three items up for sale on Municibid - a 2001 Ford truck chassis, an old motor from a blacktop roller, and an old pressure washer.

• Councilman David Stankovic presented four possible road projects that would be put out for bid:

• North Lincoln Avenue, 3,666 square yards, cost $21,996

• 3rd Street, 2,400 square yards, $14,400

• Kiddie Lane 2,626 square yards, $15,706

• Chestnut Street, 983 square yards, $5,898

Total for all four streets is $58,000.

Of the four, North Lincoln Avenue needs repairs the most. The cost of milling and blacktop overlays for North Lincoln Avenue would be $66,000.

The costs provided are based on a price of $6/square yard if the project is for a total of 10,000 square yards. If the borough only has North Lincoln Avenue repaired, the price per square yard would increase.

The road projects will be pushed back to a future meeting to allow road crews a chance to analyze the work needed.

• Council members discussed an issue with the Recreation Building. It was discovered that some time after the men’s room had been winterized and water turned off, someone used the men’s room. It sat for about a month before being discovered. Borough Secretary Annette Lacko will draft a letter to community groups to advise them that any group that needs to meet must use the borough building and not the recreation center.

• Lacko is scheduling the next five years of e-recycling and document shredding events for the borough. Lacko made the recommendation that the fall version be held the third Wednesday of September instead of October. The spring version would still be the third Wednesday of May. Council voted for that schedule.

The next e-recycling event and document shredding will be done Wednesday, May 17 at the Walnutport Borough Hall.

Lacko also said, in the past, the borough paid an outside company to shred documents for the police department and for the borough. The fee for doing that was $80 for the police and $80 for the borough, four times per year. She suggested that if the borough holds a shredding event twice a year from the community, the fee is about $300. The community recycling event goes toward the borough’s recycling totals.

Lacko recommended that, instead of hiring the outside firm, that they instead shred the documents at the community events. It would save the borough the fees plus they get credit for the recycling.

• The borough is looking for one person for the Planning Commission, one person to serve as an alternate for the Zoning Hearing Board, three persons to serve on the UCC Appeals Board, and volunteers for the Recreation Board. Anyone interested can contact the Walnutport office at 610-767-1322 or email Annette Lacko at alacko@walnutportpa.org.