Mohnton Set to Nominate Mayor, Weigh $1M Culvert Grant

Mohnton Borough Council meets Wednesday night with the mayor's office empty, a council seat about to open, and a stack of money decisions. The agenda for the 7 p.m. Oct. 14 business meeting calls for council to nominate a new mayor, accept a council member's resignation, and vote on whether to seek a $1 million state grant for Main Street stormwater culverts, an application the agenda lists "with a match of $580,849."

The borough posts its agendas on its events calendar, and this is the first Mohnton meeting we have previewed.

A mayor to nominate and a council seat to fill

The agenda lists the mayor's report as "Vacant" and, under new business, a motion to "Nominate new Mohnton Borough Mayor." Council accepted the resignation of Mayor Eric Burgis on Sept. 9, by a motion from Alicia Bressler seconded by Cathy Przyjemski with all in favor, according to the minutes of that meeting; Burgis was absent that night. The minutes were posted Oct. 7 but are not yet linked from the borough's agenda-and-minutes page.

Council is also set to accept the resignation of council member Jerry Boughton, who chairs its personnel and public safety committee, per the borough's 2026 committee list, and to advertise the open seat. The agenda sets the timeline: candidate interviews and statements of interest at the November workshop meeting, then a selection at the November general meeting.

Both choices sit with council. Under the Pennsylvania Borough Code, council fills a vacancy in the office of mayor or council member within 30 days, by resolution, with a registered voter of the borough, and the appointee serves until the first Monday in January after the next municipal election held more than 60 days after the vacancy. The code says a resignation creates a vacancy on the date council accepts it or on the resignation's effective date, whichever is later. Council accepted Burgis's resignation Sept. 9, and the minutes do not state an effective date, so if it had taken effect by then, the 30-day window closed around Oct. 9. The code sends a vacancy council does not fill within 30 days to a vacancy board, which must act within 15 more days.

It has been a year of turnover. Council accepted the resignation of Council President Jonathan Davis on May 13 and made what the minutes call a temporary vacancy appointment of Przyjemski to his seat that night, then named Jason Kercher president, per the May 13 minutes. The same meeting accepted the resignation of Police Chief Eric Pistilli, who was reinstated as a patrol officer; the agenda now lists Tom Focht as chief. On June 10, council accepted the resignation of Vice President Gary Hafer, per the June 10 minutes. Boughton's would be the third council resignation of 2026.

A $1 million grant application, and a $580,849 borough share

The biggest vote of the night is a motion to approve a Local Share Account grant application for the Main Street stormwater culverts, listed as "1 million, with a match of $580,849." The vote follows an executive session. The Local Share Account is a state program that distributes gaming revenue through the Commonwealth Financing Authority, according to the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

The $580,849 is the figure residents should watch, and the agenda does not explain it. The statewide program's guidelines say a grant request may not exceed $1,000,000 for any project and that a match "is not required for this program." So the $580,849 is not a condition the state imposes. If the two figures describe one project, the culvert work would cost roughly $1.58 million, with the borough covering what the grant cannot; the agenda does not state a project total or say where the borough's share would come from. For scale, the borough's proposed 2026 budget lists total operating revenue of about $2.04 million.

The same culverts are the subject of a second pending application. The borough engineer, Barry Isett and Associates, lists a 2026 state Multimodal Transportation Fund request of $537,006 toward a $767,151 project for Main Street and Fern Street culvert improvements, with an announcement expected in January 2027. The agenda does not say whether the two applications cover the same work. The borough's last request to the statewide Local Share Account program, $431,033.85 for Church Street improvements in 2025, was not awarded, the agenda says.

A second look at the fire company ladder truck

Council will revisit a decision it made in August. On Aug. 12, council voted, with all present in favor, "to file the LSA Grant application for the Fire Department," per the minutes. Wednesday's agenda asks council to "review the August General Meeting LSA Grant application decision for purchase of the Fire Company new Ladder Truck" and to "vote to approve or deny the August decision," followed by a resolution for a statewide Local Share Account grant for the truck. Both votes come after the executive session. The agenda gives no price for the truck and no reason for the second look.

Sewer, stormwater and paving money

• The engineer's report says $419,666 "was awarded" to rehabilitate sanitary sewer mains, manholes and laterals in the Northridge neighborhoods. Work is expected in 2027, and the grant expires in 2029. Isett is preparing a proposal for design and construction oversight. The agenda does not name the source of the award.
• For the Highbrooke stormwater project, which needs federal Department of Agriculture approval before work can begin, council is set to approve legal fees of up to $20,000 and a Water and Waste System grant agreement for storm drainage "to finance not more than $105,163.00." Tree clearing on that project can only happen between Nov. 15 and March 31.
• A change order for Ronnie C. Folk Paving on the 2026 road improvements reduces the contract from $96,018.10 to $77,950.94, a cut of $18,067.16 for "additional work reduction."
• Under streets and lights, council is asked to approve a revised Sewer Specialties quote for Main Street of $95,618. The agenda does not describe the work.

Fees, policies and the fire company

Council is also set to approve "increased Subdivision and Zoning application fees," with no amounts listed; a 2027 IT and cybersecurity contract for the police department, also without a figure; and a purchasing, bidding and procurement policy. For the fire company, council would transfer an air compressor and SCBA cascade system to the Volunteer Firemen's Relief Association of Friendship Fire Company No. 2, and approve switching the fire company's internet from Comcast to Starlink.

A zoning application from Distilleria Simonimo LLC for 4 Front Street is listed for discussion under the solicitor's report. Other grants in progress: a $56,954 Local Share Account request for police equipment, six Taser devices and four body-worn cameras, which council approved by resolution on Sept. 9 and which carries no match, with an announcement expected in May 2027; and a withdrawn $69,989 request for the Front Street basketball court, which the engineer asks the borough to confirm was pulled.

The tax votes September put off

The Sept. 9 agenda listed motions "to approve raising taxes" for trash, property and fire taxes. The minutes show no vote was taken: the three motion lines are blank, followed by the note "Content for next General Meeting." Wednesday's agenda does not list the tax motions and does not mention tax rates or the 2027 budget. On Sept. 9 council did approve a one-year extension with Berks Transfer that holds 2026 trash pricing through 2027, chose Hirneisen's $540-per-light quote, or $7,560, to replace 14 streetlights in next year's budget, and established a police corporal position for 2027, subject to review with the police union contract.

How to attend

Council meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14. The agenda does not list a location; Borough Hall is at 21 N. O'Neil St., Mohnton, and the borough office can be reached at 610-775-0660. Public comment is the fourth item on the agenda, before the engineer's and solicitor's reports. The meeting is recorded, per the agenda, and the borough has posted this year's minutes roughly one to two months after each meeting.

For how borough government fits with the county and the state, see our guide to how Berks County government works. For meeting days across the county, see our guide to township and borough meeting schedules. Nearby Cumru Township was the subject of our first Cumru preview in August.