Faced with a near 500% increase and a new contract, Lansford Borough Council decided to switch billing companies Wednesday.

Borough Secretary Wendy Butrie said MuniBilling, of Greensboro, North Carolina, which the borough has used since 2014, sought a $33,000 a year contract to continue the service. The borough did not have a contract previously, she said.

“So, I shopped around for a new billing company,” Butrie said during the council’s committee meetings.

Surrounding communities also saw price increases with the same company, and made the switch to Diversified Technology of Bloomsburg, which was one of the companies that submitted a proposal to Lansford.

Diversified wanted $16,570 a year, and it provides a better billing setup, Butrie said. Other verbal quotes were higher, she said.

Council approved a contract with Diversified for billing for sanitation, sewage transmission and rental licensing.

Butrie also got quotes on a postage meter, since the borough spends a great deal on stamps and certified mail, as well as the drive to the post office in Lehighton, she said.

The quote from FP Mailing Solutions was $32.95 a month for two years, and $34.94 a month for one year, Butrie said. The borough would also save 5% on all first-class mail, she said.

“They would set it up, calibrate it and train us on it,” Butrie said at the committee meeting.

Council approved the two-year contract with the firm.

Pool

Council authorized a new feasibility study on the borough pool, using the remainder of a 2017 Department of Community and Economic Development grant fund.

Council President Bruce Markovich said they contacted state Sen. David Argall’s office about the change in use on the grant and DCED will allow the change in use as well as an extension on the grant.

The borough wanted to update an existing study, but was told it could not, Markovich said during a committee meeting. The study is six years old, and the physical description of the pool wasn’t accurate, he said.

“The feasibility study that was done says it’s a concrete pool and it isn’t,” he said. “It’s a block pool, and it’s a block pool that’s in poor condition.”

Markovich said the pool will likely remain closed again this year, as they take on a new study which is estimated to cost $26,000.

In other business, council:

• Transferred $10,000 from its American Rescue Plan Act, or COVID-19 relief funding, to its 2022 Community Development Block Grant fund to cover the anticipated cost of tearing down 316 W. Patterson St. and 334 W. Bertsch St.

• Authorized Solicitor Robert Yurchak to prepare bid specifications for the sale of the Zimmerman building.

• Rescinded action on the abandonment of Tunnel Street from Water Street to the Lehigh Natural Resources Property.

• Approved the sewer transmission ordinance, reducing the fee to $60 a month. The ordinance was advertised, but did not appear on the agenda and was added verbally.