Residents press council on parking, safety and local services; council weighs pay increases, handicap parking and a liquor-license transfer

At the council's public-comment period, residents raised multiple localized quality-of-life concerns, including sewer odors in basements, chronic parking congestion near the baseball field and apartments, speed and safety near school drop-off points, and uncertainty about reimbursement processes tied to PFAS/state settlement funds.

Resident Britney Henry—who identified herself and an address for the record—pressed the borough about who would be reimbursed for PFAS-related costs and whether the borough was pursuing state settlement money on behalf of residents. She urged the borough to seek as much state funding as possible and said, "I don't want to pay for it I live in a town too I don't want to pay for the company responsible for damaging our system." Borough staff said the state has a process and that the borough would pursue available funds and work through established application channels.

On operational items raised by residents, council discussed raising crossing-guard pay to improve recruitment and retention; neighboring municipalities were cited as paying about $20 per hour, and council asked the police committee to prepare a salary guide and cost breakout for the budget. The council confirmed that current crossing-guard pay is recorded as two hours per day in the police budget but acknowledged the district of actual time worked varies.

For immediate traffic and parking complaints near the school and ballfield, residents urged short-term measures (signage, enforcement) and a feasibility study for structural changes (angle parking, one-way conversion or additional permanent spots). Council asked staff to explore a feasibility study and suggested convening a committee to review parking and speed controls across affected streets.

Separately, the council discussed a request to install a handicap parking space at 304 Hon Road based on a medical letter; staff indicated an ordinance and site measurements are required before a formal space is established and directed the chief and public works to review the request and prepare an ordinance that could include other locations.

Council also discussed the potential transfer or sale of a borough-associated 'pocket' liquor license (formerly tied to Metro Diner), explaining that any transfer out of town requires a receiving municipality impact study and statutory transfer procedures. Finally, the council reviewed borough-owned rental homes approaching vacancy and asked a committee to consider options for selling one owner-occupied house via bidding to offset maintenance costs while considering restrictions to preserve single-family occupancy.

What's next: council asked committees and staff to provide cost estimates for crossing-guard pay changes, to measure and draft the handicap-parking ordinance, and to investigate legal/market steps for any liquor-license transfer; residents were advised that many items will return for committee review or future meetings.