Lansford council appoints Romankow as mayor; no changes to budget

Lansford Mayor James Romankow lost his office in the Democratic primary last May — but he got it back Wednesday night because his opponent chose a seat on council instead.

Council voted 4-3 to appoint Romankow at a special meeting.

They also decided not to change the 2018 budget, after voting to reopen it earlier this month.

Romankow served as mayor from 2014 through Jan. 2.

“The past three years I’ve been under my budget by $120,000. I fought for more police because we need it in this town, and we made great progress,” Romankow said before the vote. Silver nominated Robert Gaughan, but only he and Marie Ondrus voted in favor.

Tommy Vadyak was also nominated and got two votes.

Six other people submitted letters of interest for the mayor’s position: Ronald Derr, Douglas Knauss, Timothy Midas, Hugh Vrablic and Michael Zavagansky.

Voting for Romankow were Matt Walsh, John Turcmanovich and Joseph Butrie. Ondrus, Silver and Irma Leibensperger voted against. Soto, who as council president is the de facto mayor, cast the tiebreaking vote for the mayor

Budget unchanged

Council also reopened discussion on the 2018 budget Wednesday night but ultimately made no changes.

Silver proposed eliminating the 0.98-mill parks and recreation tax to help taxpayers. Only Leibensperger supported his plan, and it failed.

Leibensperger said that she was against raising taxes, and called the parks budget a luxury.

“We don’t have luxuries. We have a garage to build, we have trucks to buy, we need a new police car. We have things that are important to run this town, not a luxury,” she said.

Walsh and Soto said they would support a partial reduction in the parks and recreation tax, but it never came up for a vote.

Silver also proposed using cash on hand from the Local Services Tax to cover police expenses, reducing the amount that would have been taken out of recreation.

“We don’t need cash in the bank, $36,000. We should be spending this money on police, that’s why we’re collecting,” he said.

There was confusion about whether council could change the tax rate at all. State law allows a newly elected council to change its budget, but Secretary Jill Seigendall said she didn’t believe they could change the tax rate.

Resident Mary Soberick said council could, but it would have to do it before Jan. 31 and advertise it in the newspaper seven days prior. But that would still have been a day late.

Silver was a clear winner in November’s election.

He won the mayor’s seat over Derr, 352-140, but opted to take a seat on council instead. In the council race, he got 63 more votes than the next highest vote-getter.

He defeated Romankow in the Democratic primary for mayor, 257-105.

At the reorganization meeting, council chose Jared Soto as president instead of Silver, who was also nominated.

Other business

• Council agreed to a one-year contract extension with Tamaqua Transfer as the borough’s trash hauler, through May 1, 2019. The cost is $304,030 per year, or $25,335.83 per month. The contract has been in place since 2012. Tamaqua Transfer picks up trash from residences and businesses once per week, and allows one bulk item per week, Seigendall said.

“This company has now worked with us for several years straight without raising rates, and in this day in age, with inflation, to do that, shows their dedication to this town,” Walsh said.

• The borough was approved for a $35,000 LSA grant for the Lansford Pool, which has been closed since 2015. That is less than they requested. Resident Rose Mary Cannon said the Friends of the Lansford Pool may consider scaling down their plans for a renovation.

• Cannon, who lost in last year’s primary election, defended the borough’s current auditor, Hutchison, Gillihan and Freeh, She said they took on the borough’s accounts when no other firm would. Council has voted to seek quotes for a new auditor because of concerns over the cost of the audit and the date it is expected to be completed.

• Seigendall said that all trash bills have been mailed out as of Jan. 8, however some residents have not received theirs. Anyone with questions can visit the borough office or call 570-645-3900.