Macungie Council Agrees to Incur Debt

At the Tuesday meeting of Macungie Council, the four members present voted to hire a financial manager so that the borough can move forward with several capital projects on its agenda.

It has not yet voted to actually spend money on anything but a person -- yet to be named -- who will advice council on the best way to finance projects that include:

• Refinancing of water authority debt: up to $250,000
• The development of Lumber Street: about $250,000
• Curb and sidewalk construction on Cotton Street including engineering costs: more than $300,000
• The possibility of installing a traffic light at Church and Main streets: about $250,000

President Christopher Becker and members Joseph Sikorski, Debra Cope and Linn Walker agreed that none of the projects could be paid for within one budget year, and that council needs advice on how to pay for the $1.1 million that needs to be spent on the projects.

Council members Jean Nagle, David Boyko and Gregory Hutchison were absent.

Council members talked about the possibility of paying with a bond versus a loan and agreed that hiring a finance professional is in order.

"This is step one in a long path," Becker said.

"This allows us to go to the next steps. I think it's a good idea. I hate to spend the money, but I hate not to worse," he said.