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ASHLEY — The borough council voted to make monthly payments to the Ashley Rescue Hose Company in the amount of $351.05 from the Ashley Fireman Equipment Fund Tuesday night.
The payments to the department had become a matter of contention for the council. In April, councilwoman and fire committee member Donna Schappert questioned the monthly payments.
The new ordinance states that a monthly check can be automatically issued to the department, stopping the council from voting on it monthly.
The Ashley tax breakdown allocates .15 mills to go to the Ashley Fireman Equipment Fund. A mill is $1 in tax for every $1,000 in assessed value.
Still the vote on the ordinance was not without controversy has council quibbled over the amount of the payments. Mayor David Evans had to cast the deciding vote.
Councilmen and firefighters Joe McGlynn and Don Sipple claim Schappert has a “vendetta” against the fire department as Schappert questions the payments every month.
“You can ask for it, instead of getting it every month,” Schappert said to Sipple during the meeting. “Let us see the bill and we can give you the amount out of the fund.”
In other business, the council:
• Adopted a borough code of ethics.
• Asked Vinsko, who transcribes meeting minutes, to make a draft copy of minutes so the council can pass minutes quicker than the regular 30- to 60-day lag time.
• Will be requesting a Multimodal Transportation Fund Grant of $500,000 from the Commonwealth Financing Authority to be used for street paving. In conjunction with the grant, the borough will be moving $150,000 from a combination of debt services and liquid fuels funds to a separate fund as a 30 percent match toward the grant if awarded.