Officials from three Panther Valley communities and their school district came together this week to discuss more than 20-year-old services agreements and plans to continue helping each other save money in the future.

Summit Hill Council President David Wargo organized the meeting, which brought together leaders from the borough, Coaldale and Lansford, as well as the Panther Valley School District.

The municipal leaders haven’t met in about five years to discuss the agreements that allow the communities and school district to pool their resources to complete projects at a lower cost to taxpayers, Wargo said.

Everyone first reviewed the agreements, one of which dates to 2000, so all the communities were on the same page with how they worked, and to be able to suggest possible updates, he said.

“They’re 24 years old,” Wargo said on Wednesday following the meeting. “It wouldn’t hurt to read them … and make sure they’re still relevant.”

The agreements allow the communities to communicate to those in charge of the road crews about what was needed, determine manpower and scheduling, he said.

They agreed that work orders would go through council committee chairs and down to the road crews, he said.

They also discussed what equipment each community had to pool, and agreed to have their road crews come up with inventory lists as well as lists of equipment that may be purchased in future.

The lists will allow each community to know what is available in the pool, and which communities may have backup equipment, in case of break downs, Wargo said.

The group discussed both the sewer vacuum and street sweepers, he said. Lansford is working on repairs to its sweeper as well as purchasing a new, used machine, it was reported.

Wargo pointed out that Summit Hill requested an email from Lansford regarding use of its sweeper to facilitate the job. Summit Hill will be working with Lansford to get street sweeping done, and Lansford will pay for new brooms, which wear out quickly during spring cleanups, he said.

They also agreed to meet again to keep the line of communication open and facilitate planning for equipment purchases, Wargo said. The next meeting will be in mid-September, as they begin working on their budgets.

“We’re hoping to do this twice a year,” he said.