Jim Thorpe Borough has almost 20 applicants seeking to become its next borough manager.

Borough council member Greg Strubinger said the next step involves council members looking through the applications and "forming a committee" to "take the process to the interview level."No timetable was provided at Thursday's council meeting for making a hire. Jim Thorpe has been without a manager since Wesley Johnson was terminated in 2012 after almost two years on the job.Since the motion to advertise the position was made last month, resident reaction to the possibility of an additional borough employee has been mixed."I still say they need a borough manager," Ed McArdle said. "They're playing with a couple million dollars and you can't have part-time doing it. You need someone to straighten the people out, tell them what their job is and what they need to be doing."Ronald Confer said he couldn't see the borough hiring a manager."I don't think we have the money to do it and we just got rid of one not too long ago," he said. "There is $104,000 budgeted for it and I just don't think we can afford that. You can't keep burdening the people paying taxes."Confer suggested hiring a part-time worker to go after grants."If they get maybe two or three a year, you give them 10 percent of what they bring in," he said. "I think you should save the money and reduce the water rate. The well is running dry, but nobody is paying attention. It's not just here, it's everywhere."While discussing the 2015 borough budget, Councilman John McGuire advocated for a manager."We're just not getting the job done," he said. "We don't have the people to do it. Years ago you had bankers up here. We need someone here to run this."The deadline to submit manager applications was Nov. 5.If one is hired, McArdle said he has one main question he'd like to get answered."I've called for a copy of the borough burning ordinance and nobody can find it," he said. "Some people in this town get their matches out when four leaves fall. I'm tired of it. Little old Weissport has a burning ordinance."Councilwoman Joanne Klitsch said the borough "looked through its ordinances and can't find one related to burning.""We'll have to come up with something," she said.