Hatboro Council Hears Committee Reports

Hatboro Borough Council will later this month vote on a number of topics that it advanced at Monday night's meeting, during which it received reports from each of its committees.

The Public Works Committee updated council on the radio-upgrade project, in which the borough's public works radios will need to be narrowbanded to comply with new Federal Communications Commission regulations. The initiative, which will require most radios to be reprogrammed although a handful will need to be replaced, will cost about $4,025. Council will vote on the proposal at its June 25 meeting. 

Also up for a vote at the upcoming meeting will be two issues relating to .

The Facilities/Parks Committee presented information on an effort to repaint an inner wall of the snack-bar area at the pool, which the borough recently repainted white over a former artwork. The original artist, who first painted the wall about five years ago, has offered to redo the work, and a proposal calls for her to receive a free pool membership for her efforts. 

The work is slated to look similar to the previous piece and will advertise the types of food and drinks available in the snack bar. A sketch will be presented at the June 25 meeting. 

Council also will vote on a proposal to allow the YMCA to use the pool for swim meets. Councilman Robert Hegele, chair of the Facilities Committee, noted that such an agreement has informally been in place for years and that the borough and YMCA have "worked very well together." 

The proposal calls for pool members to have access to the YMCA pool when the swim meets are being held and also in case of the emergency closing of the pool. 

After a resident concern about parking, Council suggested that YMCA offer a parking map to all guests planning to attend the events. 

Two roads-related proposals will also be addressed at this month's voting meeting. 

Council will consider a five-year agreement with PennDOT that will reauthorize the borough to be reimbursed when it uses its own equipment to plow snow from PennDOT-owned roads, such as stretches of Old York and Byberry roads. The borough is slated to bring in about $10,000 in reimbursement each year from the agreement, which would cover 2013-17. 

An effort by Rep. Thomas Murt (R-152) to honor fallen Vietnam War vets was also addressed. 

Murt's plan would rename the portion of Warminster Road between County Line and Byberry roads "SP4 Harold E. Kashman Memorial Highway," in honor of a Warminster native who grew up on Corinthian Road in Hatboro and who was killed in action in 1968.

A handful of residents at Monday's meeting expressed concerns about funding, and a Murt representative said the office can attempt to locate corporate sponsors so that the borough would not need to pay for the project. Murt's proposal is also coming before Upper Moreland Township, as one of the two proposed signs would be affixed in that locale. 

Borough officials plan to come up with a cost estimation before the June 25 meeting.