HONESDALE, PA — Borough secretary-manager Judy Poltanis held up two draft documents at the November 12 meeting of Honesdale Borough Council. One was a 2019 budget containing only those expenditures deemed essential to borough operation and employee safety. The other was a wish list from each department.

Department of Public Works director Rich Doney’s request for purchase of a new street sweeper was pitted against police chief Rick Southerton’s stated need for a new police cruiser, new officer body armor and replacement of all handguns. Both men had seen their requests postponed from previous years, so that now each considered them urgent needs.

It would be almost impossible to argue that police officer safety be put at risk by failing to replace body armor before expiration of its shelf life, which will occur in 2019. The same could be said for replacement of worn-out handguns not in conformance with those of the area’s other law-enforcement agencies. Asked which of his requests could be reasonably postponed for another year, Southerton answered, without hesitation, the cruiser. “Do we need a new cruiser? Yes, but we need new handguns more,” said Southerton.

When Doney was asked if he could postpone purchase of a new street sweeper without significant depreciation of the current equipment, he said denial of his request for more than two years has left the current equipment unsafe to operate and ready for the junkyard, with “zero dollar” trade-in value and inability to operate controls from within the cab. To use the sweeper, crew must operate it manually from outside the cab, a dangerous and inconvenient operation.

Despite what appears to be preparation of an austerity budget, finance committee chair Travis Rivera introduced a motion to pay down the borough’s $85,000 debt, effective immediately. It passed, five to one (with Bill Canfield absent and President Mike Augello casting the opposition vote). Rivera stressed that doing so will not increase borough taxes.

Unanimous approval of the handgun and body-armor replacement followed, as did approval for submission of a grant application for development of two electric-vehicle charging stations to be placed beside the Fred R. Miller Pavilion on Main Street. But approval for turning the unused Hoff property at 13th and East streets into a public space was not unanimous, with five ayes and one nay (Augello). That controversial decision has generated arguments both for and against it for months, with the most recent argument in favor presented at that night’s meeting by resident Jim Hamill, who offered a petition containing some two dozen signatures of residents living within a couple of blocks of the property.

The meeting was recessed to November 14 at 6 p.m. The venue will be Honesdale High School’s LGBI building, where topics will include citizen input on the star/cross debate and resumption of budget preparation.