Lansford borough will soon have an additional full-time police officer on the streets again.

Borough council on Wednesday reinstated Officer Matthew Houser, who left in February and sought to come back to patrol Lansford.

Council first discussed his return in September, but needed to square away issues such as seniority, longevity and pension.

He does not need to undergo police testing, as new police officers would be, as he was returning within two years of serving the borough.

Solicitor Bob Yurchak said that Houser’s pension will start at zero.

Another pension matter was briefly touched upon during council’s regular meeting, when someone asked if Jack Soberick, who served as police chief until May 2022, ever received his pension.

Soberick, who is now a borough councilman, said that he had not received his pension, but believed he and the borough were in the end of negotiations now.

Three months after retirement, Soberick grieved how the borough calculated his pension and sought unused sick, vacation, compensatory and personal time.

An arbitrator granted Soberick time, but agreed with the borough’s calculation of the pension. Soberick then appealed, but the courts did not overturn the arbitrator’s decision.

Soberick’s sister-in-law, Erin Soberick, who runs the Straight Talk Lansford Borough Facebook page, asked if he had ever filed his paperwork requesting his pension.

Councilman Soberick entertained the question.

“Obviously, your question is not well thought out, because how did I end up in court, if I didn’t file the paperwork, Erin?” he said. “So your question would disprove that there is no such thing as a stupid question. I have nothing else to say.”

His statement was met with a hearty round of applause.

The question on Councilman Soberick’s pension came after his wife, Mary, had questioned her sister-in-law Erin Soberick’s repeated questions about borough hard drives, which were removed and investigated while Jack Soberick was still police chief.

Mary Soberick suggested the questions stemmed from sour grapes over her husband, Kevin Soberick, a retired Salisbury Township police chief and former Coaldale officer, not becoming police chief, and suggested that she already knew the answer regarding the hard drives because she had friends on council.

Yurchak, who investigated the hard drive issue, said that he turned over his findings to council, and that it was up to council whether or not they would be disclosed.

Council President Bruce Markovich said that council would have to discuss the matter.