Lansford Borough Council will consider its options for street sweeping, as its current sweeper may not be worth repairing.

The borough suspended street sweeping in the business district last week after the sweeper broke down.

Councilman William Chuma didn’t think it was worth investing any more money into the current machine, which is more than 30 years old.

He believes the sweeper needs at least $20,000 in repairs, and he suggested the borough replace it with a newer, used machine.

Chuma said that he checked prices, finding a 1995 sweeper for sale at $26,000, and a 2015 machine going for $75,000. New sweepers cost upwards of $320,000, he said.

Chuma told council members that he’d like to see the purchase of a street sweeper on the agenda for next week’s council meeting.

He asked council members in attendance to consider a price range, suggesting they consider spending between $40,000 and $75,000. Chuma said he would start looking once given a range.

Council President Bruce Markovich asked if neighboring Summit Hill would agree to help with street sweeping in the meantime. Chuma believed that the borough would be willing to help.

Councilwoman Jennifer Staines asked about contracting street sweeping services, and Chuma believes that would be costly.

She mentioned Nesquehoning contracted services and suggested asking how much it costs the neighboring borough.

Trucks

In other matters, Chuma believed the borough needed to revamp its ordinance regarding truck parking in the borough.

Tractor-trailer drivers are parking their trucks in the larger parking lots, disconnecting the trailer and driving the tractors home, he said. These trucks are too big to be parked on borough streets, Chuma said.

Drivers used to leave the trucks and trailers overnight, and drive a car home or have someone pick them up, he said. That has changed, and there are numerous drivers in town now, Chuma said.

He suggested council consider banning commercial trucks over 19,500 lbs. gross weight from parking on borough streets, and designate areas, such as the parking lot at the pool for truck parking.

Resident Joe Gentis suggested the borough ask other municipalities for copies of their ordinances, and borrowing applicable language to save attorney’s fees for researching and drafting an ordinance from scratch.

Trash

The borough also needs new trash receptacles for the main streets and parks, Chuma said. He would like to get covered trash cans, which allows the borough workers to open and remove trash bags, he said.

He said Lansford Alive was unable to get any containers, and he would like to seek sponsorship, possibly from one or more of the banks in town, to buy new covered containers at $260 each.