Editor's note: The Lehighton Sesquicentennial celebration starts Saturday. In the days leading up to the celebration, we will be featuring stories about the town and the people.

Small towns face major obstacles to survive, according to a former Lehighton borough manager, but this town has one advantage over many other municipalities. It owns most of its utility companies.Mortimer L. Smedley, who now resides in Sebastian, Florida, a city of 23,000 people on Florida's east coast, served as borough manager in Lehighton from September 1970 until July 1, 1987.Since then, he has served as manager of a Maryland county and a North Carolina city, has worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and has done research work with Harbor Branch of the Oceanographic Institute, which is now a part of Florida Atlantic University. His research work took him to many locations, including American Samoa, Italy, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.Part of his work while in American Samoa was a search mission for the missing Amelia Earhart airplane.Earhart was an aviation pioneer, whose plane crashed in the Pacific on July 2, 1937.Smedley, now 75, officially retired from all positions about six months ago."I think all the small towns are in trouble because they don't have the finances or capacity or infrastructure to do all they want to do. Lehighton has its power company, which is a big asset," he said.Lehighton also owns its own sewage treatment plant, sewer system and water company."They own all their utilities except for cable and telephone," he said.The former borough manager had quite a few achievements during his duration.Among them are revitalizing the power department, having the First Street bypass installed, obtaining major grants for downtown revitalization and getting big improvements done in the park.Asked if he had any regrets, he said the only one is that he wasn't able to widen First Street, the business district, by 10 feet to allow two-way traffic.Smedley said, "Look at all the businesses along and near Lehighton's Main Street that have closed over the years. These were taxpaying businesses with customers, employees, landlords and important parts of the fabric of the borough; and a reason to visit the borough. Their owners were also contributors to an enormous number of local charities and undertakings.""This loss should be a wake-up call," he said.He added, "While there are many reasons for these businesses closing, one cannot deny the changing nature of retail. However, the borough is challenged, and if you want to preserve its economic life, it is time to examine what the borough can do to reverse this trend."In this day and age of increased competition from surrounding competitors, you can no longer rest on laurels," the former manager said. "You must take a hard look at place-making, beautification and better maintenance of your streetscape."According to Smedley, "You need to employ better coordination and deployment of assets and resources between other neighboring communities, increased programming and utilization of the parks and public spaces."He encouraged better use of the area along the bypass, saying, "The waterfront access along the Lehigh needs to be fully implemented, as it is an asset that has not received much attention, generating tax revenue for the borough rather than being subsidized by the taxpayer."At a time when there were so many demands on municipal budgets, it's time to start thinking about how to create an active economy while retaining your charm," he said.One of the goals Smedley was never able to accomplish in his nearly 17 years as borough manager was the construction of a hydroelectric plant for the borough. Although the borough has since mothballed plans for a hydroelectric plant, Smedley feels it is still a feasible project that could provide an affordable form of electricity."It's free, or almost free," he said. "(The water) is running all the time. It's not as costly as fossil fuels. Any time you can get away from fossil fuels and produce energy, it's good."Smedley always pushed for greater use of the Lehighton Park amphitheater."Lehighton offers families the opportunity to gather at the band hall, which is literally at the center of town, to watch summer concerts, acoustic artists and folk singers," Smedley said.He suggested that a farmers' market could be set up around the amphitheater in conjunction with the concerts.After leaving Lehighton, and then after having numerous other positions both in Carbon County and in neighboring states, Smedley settled in Florida. In 2008, he was called upon by the town of Milton, North Carolina to serve as interim city manager during a crisis in that community.For FEMA, he has worked at the sites of major disasters, including Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy.Smedley still returns to Lehighton periodically, although he hasn't been back in about three or four years.It's obvious his heart is still in the town."Many people are looking to both downsize and retain the ability to live a somewhat urban lifestyle, but not have to do it in an expensive or congested place like it is in a downtown of a large city. People want to live in a quieter, and maybe quainter, place. Lehighton still has that kind of charm." he said."The infighting that has long characterized development in the area is a key detriment," he said. "It is now at the forefront of growing small towns all over the country. These small towns are no strangers to disputes - you could even argue that small towns are more combative and catty - but they've had to put these interferences and prejudices aside and work together if they ever want to achieve the goals of progress and well-ordered development."Asked if he has any special memories to share from his time as borough manager, Smedley responded, "I had a good team. That's what it takes - teamwork. Everybody trying to work together."He said this teamwork came not only from the borough council but department heads, employees and citizens.When questioned about the most positive events when he lived here, he said, "Too many to mention."