Lansford is moving closer to hiring a new police chief and hiring an additional police officer.

The first round of interviews for a new police chief is scheduled Oct. 20, Council President Bruce Markovich said.

The borough contracted with the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association to conduct a search for a chief and all applications were sent to the association to review.

The association will conduct the first round of interviews, and then the borough council will conduct its interviews, Markovich said. The association will provide an experienced chief to sit in on the final interviews with elected officials.

The borough has been without a police chief since May 2022, when Jack Soberick retired.

Council Vice President John Turcmanovich said Mayor Hugh Vrablic told him last month that they had an applicant for police officer, and that the mayor and officer-in-charge were screening the application.

“Hopefully, we get an answer, and hopefully, it’s good,” Turcmanovich said. “We might be able to hire another officer at the next council meeting.”

Pension fund

In another police matter, the borough’s police pension plan continues to lose money, Markovich said.

The fund is down to $1,090,000 – down from $2 million two years ago, he said, and that’s without drawdowns.

The fund lost $38,000 in the last quarter, and the borough may need to start adding to the fund, Markovich said.

“It’s really starting to worry me at this point,” he said. “I don’t understand why we’re losing all this money. Banks are paying 4.75% on CDs. We keep losing money out of this pension fund.”

Councilwoman Jennifer Staines asked what other municipalities, such as Nesquehoning, does.

Markovich said they may be with the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System, which is one of the best pension funds.

“They offer great benefits and they offer all kinds of different benefits that our pension doesn’t,” he said.

However, when he spoke to a representative last year, the concern was that the borough’s pension plan didn’t have enough money to fulfill all the benefits that they offer, Markovich said.

The borough is currently with Girard Management for the police pension fund, and had been assured at the beginning of this year that the fund would make a recovery, he said.

But it’s still losing money, Markovich said.

“It’s a sinking fund,” he said. “If it doesn’t improve by the end of the year when we get our next pension report, I think we’ve got to take steps to get out of it and move somewhere else.”