Lansford Borough Council will start looking for a new street sweeper after its 32-year old machine broke down.

The borough resumed street sweeping in the Ridge Street business district this week with the help of neighboring Summit Hill, said councilman Bill Chuma during Wednesday’s council meeting.

Street sweeping will continue on the second Wednesday and Friday of every month, he said. On Wednesdays, cars should be moved from the north side of Ridge Street from Springgarden Street to Center Street, and on Fridays, the opposite, or south side.

Chuma believes the borough can find a decent machine that will not require a lot of work for about $75,000. A new machine starts at about $325,000, he said.

Council set a cost limit of $75,000 on a new sweeper, and Chuma said he will begin looking for one.

Solicitor Robert Yurchak said the borough wouldn’t need bids, if it purchased one from another municipality. Chuma said that other communities are looking for new ones now, too.

Land lease

The borough will lease an empty lot on Dock Street from the coal company, Lehigh Natural Resources, for tractor-trailer parking. The cost is $150 a year, Chuma said.

He said that tractor-trailer drivers are leaving their trailers either at the pool parking lot or near the stadium on Cortright Street, and driving their tractors to their homes.

The commercial vehicles are too big to be parked on the borough streets, Chuma said. The borough will look to change its ordinance to prohibit trucks with a gross weight of 19,500 pounds or more from parking on borough streets, he said.

The property on Dock Street will be designated as tractor-trailer parking from April 1 to Nov. 30, and then truck parking will move to the pool parking lot in the winter months, Chuma said.

Veterans

The borough will partner with the Victory for Veterans Program operated by St. Luke’s Hospital in Lehighton.

The program allows the police department and other employees, such as the zoning code officer, to refer to the outreach program that helps veterans with homelessness, drug or alcohol abuse, and any other support they may need, council President Bruce Markovich said.

There is also a volunteer program, in which veterans volunteer for various community public service projects, he said.

Markovich said there is something wrong when veterans are sleeping on the streets and immigrants are being housed in hotels.