Emsworth will be ordering some new recycling bins, although officials want to do some research into whether it would be cheaper to have the bins imprinted with the borough name by the manufacturer, or order decals separately.

Council president Paul Getz said that the borough has not ordered bins for about five years. Secretary Cathy Jones said that there are only about five bins remaining in the borough’s supply.

Getz said that residents often purchase additional bins to accommodate m9ore recyclables, and bins also are lost due to people moving or damage.

Bellevue Council will vote next Tuesday on whether to continue a contract with the Northgate School District for a full-time school resource officer (SRO) at Northgate Middle-High School.

The proposed contract, already approved by the Northgate School Board, would have Northgate contributing $25,000 to have a Bellevue Police officer at the school on a full-time basis, according to council members who discussed the issue at last tuesday’s pre-council meeting.

Bellevue Council will consider changes to the borough’s proposed burning ordinance after hearing from a number of residents at a special meeting on Tuesday.

Most of the 30-plus residents who attended the meeting opposed any restrictions on back yard fires, but council also received a grim reminder of the dangers of unrestricted burning.

Although there are new faces in the Bellevue council chambers, Tuesday night’s debate over whether to hire a pool management company was familiar. Proponents argued that the higher cost of a management company is justified by a safer and better-run pool at Memorial Park, while other council members said the borough cannot afford the price tag.

Plans for construction of a skate plaza in Bayne Park will go no further for now, as concerns about the rising cost, loss of green space and lack of proper procedure prompted Bellevue officials Tuesday to again delay a decision.

By LOIS THOMSON

Ben Avon Borough is seeking grant money to start the next phase of improvements on Avon Park.

Council president Lloyd Corder said at Tuesday's meeting that he wanted the borough to apply for a grant now because he did not believe funds will be available in the coming years. The money would be put to use to remove part of the tennis courts and put a surface on the rest that could have multiple purposes, i.e., for tennis, basketball, dek hockey.

Another half million dollars in grant funds are expected to be received in Bellevue this year, funding projects as diverse as public safety, recreation and economic development.

Anticipating the pending arrival of the borough’s new aerial firetruck, purchased in large part with $600,000 in FEMA funds, Fire Chief Glenn Pritchard told Bellevue Council Tuesday that the fire company also has received a $300,000 FEMA grant to purchase a new fire engine.

The new truck will replace Bellevue’s 1989 pumper, the chief said.

And that was only the start of the good news.

Bellevue will take its proposed 2011 budget down to the wire, with the major points of contention left unresolved despite extensive debate at a special meeting on Tuesday.

Council reached a consensus on only one of three sticking points, that of next year’s garbage fee increase. Major points that could sway a final vote on the budget on Dec. 28 are the sewer surcharge and a raise for the public works supervisor.

By LOIS THOMSON

Frustration was evident on both sides as members of Ben Avon Council and members of the Ben Avon Volunteer Fire Department discussed a possible consolidation of the Ben Avon and Emsworth fire departments at Tuesday's council meeting. Ben Avon firefighters told council that they are happy with the status quo, and see no need to consolidate or merge the departments.

Bellevue residents could find themselves subjected to street sweeping parking restrictions year 'round.

"I want this enforced," safety committee chairman David Gillingham Jr. said of the borough's 1981 ordinance that provides for the weekly parking prohibitions on particular streets to be in place all year, rather than just the April through November period that has been the practice for decades.

The final step that would have authorized a sewer surcharge increase for most property owners in Emsworth was put on hold on at council's regular meeting on March 10.

Council voted in January to change the rate structure of the surcharge, making it based purely on how much water is used, in an attempt to make the sewer system self-funding. That vote came after officials decided in December that instead of a rate change, reserve funds could be transferred.

Bellevue’s chances of approving a 2010 budget by the end of the year went up in smoke last Friday night when a scheduled public hearing never got off the ground.

Although five members of council were in the room at 6 p.m., when the budget hearing was supposed to start, two refused to participate because they said the borough administration had failed to comply with Bellevue’s home rule charter in terms of the pre-hearing mandated advertising.