By Lois Thomson

Ben Avon Mayor Bob Jones' lunch with Ben Avon Heights officials caused a bit of a stir at the borough's council meeting Tuesday.

Joined by Ben Avon Council President Lloyd Corder, Jones picked up the tab for a business luncheon with Ben Avon Heights Mayor Scott Dismukes and council president Mark Davis, at a cost of $59.07.

When Jones asked council for reimbursement, finance chair Judy Konitsney said the borough has never paid for a business luncheon, and added, "We have a borough hall if you want to hold a meeting."

Ben Avon will be keeping the Carnegie Library Bookmobile service for 2011.

Finance chair Judy Konitsney has been opposed to the idea because, she has said, the cost of the ser-vice -- $10,000 -- could be better used elsewhere. However, when the subject came up at Tuesday's meeting, she said she was also against it because people other than borough residents use it, and those communities don't contribute to the cost.

The question of open burning was addressed at Tuesday's Ben Avon Council meeting when Council member Judy Konitsney said that she had been receiving complaints about it.

When pressed for details, Konitsney said she didn't have any, but said someone told her they had seen embers going up. She added that she knows "the county doesn't allow it." However, council member Dan Herchenroether said, "We have to know what it is about (before we can do anything)."

By LOIS THOMSON

Ben Avon is considering eliminating the Bookmobile service in the borough. In drafting the 2010 budget, council member Judy Konitsney, head of finance, said at the Oct. 20 council meeting that she recommends not renewing the service for the coming year.

The Bookmobile comes to Ben Avon once a week for an hour, and she said that on average, 24 people have been using it, of which 16 are borough residents. And at a cost of $9,115, that averages out to $11 per person, per hour. Ben Avon Heights had contributed to the cost in 2009, but is not planning to do so next year.