Weissport Borough Council voted to advertise the draft of their 2022 budget, and final adoption of the budget will be done at the Dec. 20 meeting.

The budget will include a 1½-mill tax increase due to the rising cost of insurance and various materials.

Borough secretary Jennifer Ketchledge advised council that they could lose grant money for the Bridge Street project.

“I received an email from Carbon County stating that if we didn’t hear from our engineer by a certain date, they will pull the project,” Ketchledge said.

“They will pull the funds for it.”

She believes the date was Dec. 20.

President Arland Moyer said he was waiting for a call back from engineer David Horst regarding the Bridge Street project and two garages the borough has been waiting to be built.

“The contractor is waiting for the pipes to come in,” Moyer said regarding the Bridge Street project.

Barker & Barker Paving of Bethlehem was awarded the contract for the Bridge Street project for the amount of $149,190.

Council will see about applying for an extension on the grant money so as not to lose the funds.

In other business

• Police Chief Matthew Williams provided his monthly statistical report from the Weissport Borough Police Department, from Oct. 4 to Nov. 15.

He responded to five traffic violations and five quality of life issues, three administrative duties, two C.Y.S. assists and two trespassing events, and one each domestic dispute, landlord/tenant issue, suspicious person, parking violation, assisting another police department, ambulance assistance, and court attendance.

There was one criminal arrest and one defiant criminal trespass, plus three traffic citations and three uninspected vehicles.

It was also mentioned that something needs to be done about people speeding on White Street.

Council members mentioned that some children were almost hit by someone speeding and looking at his cellphone.

• An ordinance was passed regarding the loan that the borough applied for.

Both the council and the Municipal Authority passed the ordinance.

Enough members of both were in attendance at the meeting for the required quorum.

The new ordinance will be advertised, then proof of advertising and paperwork will be sent to Harrisburg for approval, then that and the loan forms will go to Community Bank.

They are looking at Dec. 2 as the tentative date for settlement at Community Bank.

There are three loans outstanding at present.

One loan is at 1% and will be finished next year.

The borough is looking to finance $280,000 to pay off the two higher-interest loans; one at 4.5% that does not expire until 2043, and another at 4.5% that would not be paid off until 2029.

The new loan would be at 1.9% for 10 years. So rather than paying $6,327 per month for the current loans, the borough would be $4,125 per month for the refinanced loans and that would include the extra funds to purchase the remaining grinder pumps.

• Hope Community Church will hold a free Christmas dinner on Dec. 12 from noon to 2 p.m. at the church at 306 Bridge St.

• The Christmas tree lighting will be held Dec. 4 in the Weissport Borough Park beginning at 6 p.m.

There will be hot chocolate and Santa.

• Council is looking for volunteers to help decorate the Weissport Park two days: Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. and Nov. 27.

Call 610-377-5606 for more information.