Palmerton's mayor would like to see the borough add a new full-time officer to help round out its police department.

Under his report, Mayor Chris Olivia expressed to borough council Thursday his desire to see the borough move in that direction."It's getting to where this part-time thing, it's really a headache," Olivia said.Olivia suggested council have the borough's safety committee look into an officer funding program."It would take away a lot of our headaches," he said.Councilman Kris Hoffner suggested that the borough apply for the COPS grant.No action was taken on the matter.The 2015 COPS Hiring Program is a competitive grant program that funds the hiring or rehiring of law enforcement officers.It provides 75 percent of the approved entry-level salaries and fringe benefits of each newly hired or rehired full-time officer, up to $125,000 per officer position, over the three-year grant period.In March, Olivia expressed the need for the borough to hire more part-time officers to its police force.He said at the time the police department could use at least three or four part-timers.Borough Police Chief Randy Smith confirmed that need, and at that time said the department has eight full-time officers, including himself, and five part-time officers.However, three of the borough's five part-time officers work for other police departments, while the other two part-timers have full-time jobs that aren't police-related, Smith said.School parking improvementsAlso on Thursday, Councilwoman Holly Sell said she'd like to send out a thank you to the mayor, police chief and police department for improved school parking conditions."There has been an increased presence," Sell said. "People are improving their use of the crosswalks."Last month, Sell informed council that parking trends at elementary schools in the downtown were a huge concern.Sell cited instances of double-parking and failure to use crosswalks as causes for concern at both S.S. Palmer Elementary and the Parkside Education Center."There definitely has been a lot more of a presence; a lot more foot patrol," she said. "I saw them (Thursday) morning telling people they couldn't be parked where they were parked."Water leaks detectedUnder his report, borough Manager Rodger Danielson announced that three water leaks had been found in the Residence Park area.Two of the leaks were found on Harvard Avenue, while the other was found on Smith Avenue, Danielson said."Unfortunately, we're starting to see some additional water," Danielson said. "We suspect possibly another leak has developed, or it could be attributed to lawn watering."