Lansford Borough Council talked about various spending, including buying a new sewer vacuum truck and equipment for the borough office during a work session Tuesday.

Councilman Joseph Butrie suggested council take insurance claim money for the two vehicles damaged in the borough garage fire in March and put it toward a new sewer vacuum truck.

The new truck carries a more than $300,000 price tag, he said, and the insurance company was offering the borough $144,000 for a burned street sweeper and $22,000 for the sewer vacuum truck.

Butrie wants to take funds from the insurance claim and money from the borough’s sewer transmission fund to buy the new vacuum truck.

Council President Bruce Markovich said the borough could also explore grants, including a gaming grant, or federal grant options through U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie’s office.

Mackenzie’s office reached out to the borough following the garage fire about a federal grant, but an application needed to be done within five days, not giving them enough time, Markovich said.

“They’ve been very helpful with us. Maybe this is something we need to follow through with for next year to try to get some federal money toward one of these pieces of equipment,” he said.

“There are a couple of different options here,” Markovich said, also suggesting applying for a gaming grant this year. “It’s just too early to commit to any one of them at this time.”

The borough’s sewer vacuum truck is a piece of equipment in the pool for shared services, an agreement the borough has with neighboring communities and the school district to share resources.

Summit Hill, which is using its street sweeper to sweep streets in Lansford, also has paving equipment that is shared with paving in the Panther Valley communities, as does Coaldale.

Butrie acknowledged Summit Hill’s contribution to clean the Lansford’s streets, but wished people would comply with “No parking” rules on streets to be swept. Street sweeping will continue into next week.

Butrie also discussed installing lights at the Zimmerman building along Dock Street, which will serve as the base of operations for the streets crew, and ordering two new tires for the payloader.

He also asked if Markovich could write a grant proposal for a new sewer camera, which was demonstrated for the borough.

Under municipal administration, the borough is looking at upgrading its postage meter at a cost of $54.95 a month, which would allow for individual pins for employees to track postage costs. This is about $20 more a month, said Ashley McLaughlin, borough secretary.

The borough is also looking at a new printer, preferable a color printer, as one of its printers is reaching its end of life. Costs range from $500 to more than $1,300, Markovich said.

The borough is also looking at three new time clocks at a cost of $147 a month, Markovich said. Employees can sign in by phone, fingerprint or facial recognition on the new time clocks, McLaughlin said.