Laureldale Approves $130K Sewer Contract, Police Benefits

Laureldale Borough Council hired Mr. Rehab for sanitary sewer work on Kutztown Road for $130,341.05, with the cost "to be paid from grant funds," according to the minutes of its Sept. 14 meeting, which the borough posted this week. The same night, council approved borough medical coverage for two full-time police officers and threw out every bid it had received to pave the Rosedale Playground.

The sewer motion came from Councilor Jeff Calpino, reporting for the Public Health Committee, and was seconded by Heather Sustello. The engineer's report in the minutes, from Systems Design Engineering, the firm of Borough Engineer Keith Showalter, identifies the money as the PA Small Water and Sewer Program grant for the borough's sanitary sewer rehabilitation project. The August minutes fill in the size: the borough was awarded a $249,000 grant in January 2026, and the Kutztown Road job is "Phase 1" of the rehabilitation work. Mr. Rehab's price was the lower of two proposals the borough received through COSTARS, the state's cooperative purchasing program that lets local governments buy from pre-bid state contracts instead of running their own bid. The other proposal, per the August minutes, was Performance Pipelining at $150,196.00. The engineer's firm will set up a pre-construction meeting with the contractor and borough staff, and the work "is anticipated to be completed this Fall," the minutes say. They do not give a start date or say which stretch of Kutztown Road is affected.

The minutes record every motion with a recorded result that night as "Carried," with no roll call and no vote count. All seven council members were present: President Rick Heffner, Janet Hess, Calpino, Beth Young, Nytza Santiago, Sustello and Dean Borrell. Mayor Cherylynn Martin (the borough's website and its January reorganization minutes spell the name Cherlynn), Borough Manager Josh Levengood, Solicitor Alex Elliker, Showalter and Public Works Supervisor Bill Kutz also attended. The meeting ran 35 minutes.

Two officers move onto the borough health plan

Council approved borough medical plan coverage for Officers Aron Brotzman and Luis Ortiz as of Oct. 1, 2026, "based on the Officers' employment experience with the Borough" and subject to approval by the borough Police Officer Association, the minutes say. Both remain probationary full-time officers for their first 12 months of full-time employment, under the terms of the association contract, and each must sign an acknowledgment before the coverage takes effect. The minutes do not state what the coverage costs the borough. The Sept. 8 committee minutes had anticipated a motion to offer benefits to "the 3 new full-time police officers"; the Sept. 14 motion covered two, and the third prospective hire, Robert Souders, whose hiring council tabled in August, was up for a full-time hire on the Oct. 12 agenda.

Council also approved the borough's 2027 pension obligations for both uniformed and non-uniformed employees. That is the amount the borough must budget next year for its employee pension plans. The minutes do not state the dollar figures, though a letter from Thomas Anderson & Associates about the pension plan is listed among the month's communications.

Playground bids rejected, manhole risers bought

On a motion from Hess for the Finance Committee, council rejected all bids for the Rosedale Playground paving project and voted to re-bid it for the October council meeting. That reversed the plan council had published: the Sept. 8 committee minutes said the paving bids would be opened Sept. 14 at 3:30 p.m. and "tentatively approved" at that night's council meeting on a motion by Hess. The Sept. 14 minutes do not say how many bids came in, what they cost or why they were rejected. (The committee meeting three weeks later took the project in a different direction; see below.)

Other business from the Sept. 14 minutes:

• August bills: $255,274.39 from the General Fund and $360,060.59 from the Sewer Fund.
• Council bought 12 manhole risers from Morgans Welding for $2,269.80, paid from the Sewer Fund.
• Council accepted a letter from McCarthy Engineering granting a time extension, to Nov. 10, 2026, on the Muhlenberg School District's Phase 5 land development plan. The extension gives the borough more time to act on the plan. The minutes do not describe the project.
• Council approved the borough's annual MS4 report, the stormwater report the state Department of Environmental Protection requires from municipalities that hold an MS4 stormwater permit, and authorized Heffner to sign it.
• The tax collector reported $2,466.08 in taxes collected in August.
• Hess gave an update on measles in Pennsylvania and Berks County. The minutes record no details.

Six residents spoke during the public portion. Patrick Shannon of Raymond Street raised enforcement of sidewalk upkeep and asked how ordinances get removed from the borough's ordinance book. James Kocher of Chestnut Street raised permits issued in the borough and the condition of its sidewalks. Brenda Conrad of Myrtle Street asked about community yard sales landing on the same day as trash collection. Amber Cobb of Chestnut Street questioned the accuracy of council's meeting minutes, and Gail Schwab of Chestnut Street complained about loud music in her neighborhood. Ashley Lambert of Prince Street complimented council and borough employees. The minutes do not record any response from council.

At the Oct. 5 committee meeting: playground paving awarded, a $26,685 codes vehicle

Laureldale's council generally meets twice a month: a committee (workshop) meeting on the first Monday and the regular council meeting on the second. The Oct. 5 committee minutes record four motions on business, plus adjournment, as carried at that session, again with no vote counts. Sustello was absent; the other six members attended, along with Levengood, Elliker, Kutz (listed there as street supervisor) and Police Chief Doug Goeltz.

• Council, at its committee meeting, awarded the Rosedale Playground paving project to Folk Paving "pending attorney review." No price is recorded, and the minutes do not say whether this was the re-bid council ordered on Sept. 14.
• It hired Joe Bellanca for cement work at Rosedale Playground for $18,300, paid from grant funds.
• It approved buying a new codes-enforcement vehicle from Bob Fisher Chevrolet for $26,685.00, plus custom vehicle graphics from Sign Pros at a cost not to exceed $1,500.
• The minutes also say council "approved the EPA to test the Rail Trail for lead levels." No motion, reason or timeline is recorded.

Heffner gave an update on the Rosedale Playground project and there was an update on Muhlenberg School District projects; the minutes give no details on either. Council went into a closed executive session on personnel and legal matters for eight minutes before adjourning.

Four items were set aside for a vote at the Oct. 12 council meeting: a 2027 contract with Safety Net Sanctuary for $2,000, a final payment of $9,602.32 to Easton General Contractors once the remaining work is done, a new tractor for the streets department, and hiring Bob Souders as a full-time police officer effective Oct. 12.

The school district that owns the Phase 5 plan serves both Laureldale and Muhlenberg Township, a separate government whose commissioners were scheduled to vote Sept. 21 on a bond issue of up to $9 million. Nothing in the Laureldale minutes ties the two.

What happens next

The Oct. 12 council agenda listed the four committee items with prices filled in: the Safety Net Sanctuary contract at $2,000, a zero-turn tractor from Kunkle's Saw and Mower for $9,604, the Easton final payment of $9,602.32 "upon satisfactory completion of the balance of work," and the motion to hire Robert Souders as a full-time officer effective Oct. 12. It also listed September bills of $273,212.43 from the General Fund and $20,357.53 from the Sewer Fund, and $5,056.93 in September tax collections. The agenda did not list the Folk Paving award or the Bellanca cement work. Minutes from the Oct. 12 meeting had not been posted when this story was written, so the outcome of those votes is not yet public.

The borough's online calendar lists the next council meeting for Nov. 9 at 7 p.m., with a workshop Nov. 2; no November agenda had been posted as of this writing. The September minutes do not state where council meets; the borough's January reorganization minutes are headed "Laureldale Borough Hall," which the borough's contact page places at 3406 Kutztown Road. Our guide explains how to find any Berks municipality's meeting schedule, and how Berks County government works covers what boroughs handle versus the county and your school district.