Dear Editor:

The Borough of Lansford is currently is dire financial straits, and yet the Borough Council is reluctant to move the offices of the Borough to the Community Center building on Ridge Street in downtown Lansford. I have spoken to several council members and find this situation to be totally out of control. To begin with the current offices are located in the ancient fire house on Patterson Street. The building is mold infested and not a healthy work environment. The employees of this building need to be relocated to a safer environment. I realize that the current council can not agree on a complete remodeling of the Fire House versus a permanent relocation to the community center...thus I offer this simple remedy.1. Be certain that the Lansford Community Center is mold free.2. Regardless of the future of the Fire House building the employees would need to be relocated during any extensive renovation so they would need to be relocated now or at a later date.3. The only "free" space for that relocation is the current Lansford Community Center.4. Let's move the Lansford Borough office personnel to a safe and healthy work environment now and if necessary keep discussing the renovation of the Fire House.My personal thoughts are: The Borough of Lansford presently does not even know what the financial condition of the borough is. The borough does not have any financial resources to match a grant of $260,000 nor the tax base to raise the necessary matching funds. The Lansford Fire Company, to my understanding, has offered to attempt to secure 25 percent of the necessary matching funds. If the Fire Company is successful in raising the $65,000 share of the grant it too would come from the pockets of the citizens of Lansford. When all is said and done, if successful, the Borough of Lansford would have taken a free, outdated, building and made it into a over One Half Million, $520,000 outdated building. Now I am not an engineer or a contractor but as a businessman for most of my life I do understand dollars and "sense." And the Fire House renovation makes NO SENSE.Hopefully Lansford Borough Council will read this letter and finally sit TOGETHER and come to a sensible conclution, hopefully before the winter begins.Bob SilverLansford business ownerFormer Lansford MayorLansford resident for 71 years