Emmaus Council Votes Against Raising Part-Time Officer pay, for Now

Emmaus Council Monday night voted 4-3 against raising the Borough's part-time police officers' pay from $17.65 to $18.81.

And in a 5-2 vote, council agreed raise the fines for failing to shovel snow from sidewalks from $25 for a first offense to $100.

The topic of raising the pay for the two part-time officers came up at a council meeting Jan. 3. It was figured by Council President Lee Ann Gilbert that Emmaus Police Officer William Bryfogle, Jr. earned about 25 cents during the minute 10 bullets were fired at him Dec. 30 when the KNBT Bank on Main Street was robbed.

Gilbert thought it was appropriate to discuss a pay rate increase. On March 17, the Budget and Finance Committee met with Police Chief David Faust, who, according to council member Brian Holtzhafer, said the police budget could be adjusted to accommodate the raise.

It would cost approximately $1,500 more for the rest of this year, Holtzhafer reported.

At the council meeting March 21, however, the majority did not think this was the right time for a pay increase.

Council member Brent Labenberg said it was a “purely emotional” appeal and that if the bank robbery hadn’t occurred, the issue would not have come up.

Gilbert said she would have introduced it in any case.

Holtzhafer, who also supported the motion, said the rate of $18.81 was equivalent to the highest paid part-time position in the Borough, a paramedic.

Holtzhafer said he “couldn’t believe” the police officers were not making as much as a paramedic.

Council Member Nathan Brown said all the Borough’s employees are heroes when they are needed.

“When there’s a water main break, the people in public works are heroes; when someone is having a heart attack, the paramedic is a hero, just as police officers are,” he said.

All the council members who spoke made an effort to say that no amount of pay seemed worth being shot at, but there was a time for everything.

Council Member R. Erick Reinhard said that the 2011 budget process was over, and the time to discuss raises would be during the 2012 budget process.

In the vote, members Holtzhafer, Gilbert and Wesley Barrett voted for the increase, and members Labenberg, Brown, Reinhard and Michael Waddell voted against.

In a similarly drawn vote, council voted to significantly raise the fines charged residents who fail to shovel their sidewalks within 24 hours of a snowfall.

James Farnsworth, the Borough’s Code Enforcement Officer, sent a letter to council members last month urging them to raise the fees assessed residents for violating the Borough’s snow removal ordinance.

The argument was that there were some habitual non-shovelers, and with a winter as bad as the last one, it caused problems. Plus, Farnsworth suggested in his letter,  the old fines didn’t even cover the cost of enforcing the code.

The fines, according to the ordinance, were $25 for the first offense, $50 for the second and $100 for the third. Council agreed to raise those to $100 for the first offense, $150 for the second and $200 for the third.

Waddell said the increase was “unreasonable,” and Labenberg called it “excessive.” Both voted against it.

Theoretically, Labenberg said, if it snowed while someone was on vacation, they could be stuck for the fine, plus the cost charged the homeowner for the Borough shoveling the walk.

Holtzhafer and Borough Manager Craig Neely said they thought the ordinance was really only used against habitual abusers. They said there were some business owners who would rather pay the $25 fine because it was cheaper than hiring someone to shovel.

“I hope we don’t selectively enforce it,” Labenberg said.

The process, Neely said, involves leaving a notice at the residence and then sending a certified letter notifying the homeowner of the fine if the sidewalks are not cleared.

Sometimes the snow melts away by then, Neely said, and sometimes it snows again. He suggested that if the ordinance had a steep enough fine it would encourage residents to shovel in the first place.

Holtzhafer, Barrett, Gilbert, Reinhard and Brown voted to increase the fines.