Fleetwood to Fill Council Seat, Eye Water-Sewer Rate Hike

Fleetwood Borough Council has a vacant seat and no president, and it plans to fix both at its meeting Tuesday, Oct. 13, according to the agenda posted Monday. The same meeting continues the borough's 2027 budget review, with the borough manager's report listing the general budget and the water and sewer budgets and a question the agenda prints as "Suggested rate increase to authority?"

The agenda says the meeting is "held in Café"; the borough's 2026 meeting schedule notice puts council meetings at 6:30 p.m. in the first-floor cafeteria of the Fleetwood Community Center, 110 W. Arch St., and lists Oct. 13 as a Tuesday meeting. The borough's officials page says council normally meets the second Monday of the month. Residents may speak on agenda items for up to three minutes each near the start of the meeting, and on other matters near the end.

The vacancy

The agenda's first two items of business are "Appointment of interim council member to fill vacancy" and "Election of president of council." The agenda does not say who left or why. The borough's Sept. 14 agenda and Sept. 28 workshop agenda both listed Ralph Touch as council president at the top of the roll call. Tuesday's roll call lists six members, with Pete Merkel as vice president, and Touch's name is gone. The officials page now shows the council president line blank while still listing Touch among the members. The borough's July 6 minutes, the newest posted, show Merkel running that meeting in the president's absence.

Under the state Borough Code, council must fill a vacancy within 30 days by resolution, appointing a registered voter who has lived in the borough for at least a year; the appointee serves until the first Monday of January after the next municipal election held more than 60 days after the vacancy, when voters choose someone for the rest of the term. The agenda labels the appointment "interim." The borough has posted no notice explaining the vacancy.

Budgets and a possible rate increase

Under the manager's report, the agenda lists a "2027 general budget review and proposal" and a "2027 water and sewer budget review," followed by the line "Suggested rate increase to authority?" The line carries the agenda's asterisk, which marks items "that will likely result in a motion being made," but the agenda gives no figure and its wording does not say whether council or the Fleetwood Borough Authority would set a new rate. The authority's own Sept. 15 agenda listed a "Sewer Rate Study" and a "Water Rate Study" under its engineer's report. No budget figures are posted with the council agenda. The Sept. 14 agenda listed "2027 budget status" and the Sept. 28 workshop agenda listed the same item. The Borough Code requires council to adopt the budget by Dec. 31.

A related item from September is still open in the record. The Sept. 14 agenda, under the fire report, carried a "Request to increase fire tax," along with a grant resolution and approval of Scott Little as an independent fire consultant. The minutes of that meeting have not been posted; approving the September minutes is item 10 on Tuesday's agenda, so the outcome should appear in the record after this meeting.

Money and contracts

• $135,680.75 to CMS, the first payment application for the borough's paving projects.
• $12,836.59 to Kinsley, the third payment application on a creek project.
• Ratifying September invoices and invoices dated Oct. 8.
• A status report on an insurance claim the agenda calls the "sewer plant phase reversal," which the Sept. 14 agenda had listed as a settlement item.
• A Met-Ed streetlight agreement.

Two ordinances and parking

The solicitor's report carries two land-use items. A point-of-sale inspection ordinance, listed "with committee," was also on the Sept. 14 agenda. A "zoning overlay residential over industrial" appears for the first time on Tuesday's agenda. The agenda does not describe what either would do, marks both as likely to produce a motion, and does not say whether Tuesday's action is an introduction, an advertisement, or an adoption. The Sept. 14 agenda also listed a 6:15 p.m. hearing on the joint comprehensive plan with Richmond and Maidencreek townships and a motion to adopt it; whether council did so is not in any posted record, as we noted in previewing Richmond's vote.

Also under the solicitor: an executive session on personnel, acceptance of an employee's resignation, and the dedication of the Willow Crest water line. Under parking, council will take up permit parking at the municipal lot on Main Street, an item also listed in September.

Smaller items: assigning the address 100 N. Oak St. to a parcel, a Recreation Board sip-and-paint night on Oct. 28, and the police report.

What happens next

If council fills the seat and elects a president Tuesday, the borough will have a full council for the budget votes ahead, with the 2027 budget due by Dec. 31. Whether a water or sewer rate increase is proposed, by whom, and in what amount should surface in the authority's or council's later agendas. The borough office at 110 W. Arch St., Suite 104, is open Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with Friday by appointment, per the borough homepage; the phone is 610-944-8220. Council meetings are recorded and the borough says it typically posts the video after the meeting. Our guide to how Berks County government works explains which services the county controls and which belong to your borough or township.

Corrections: corrections@berksbeat.com.