BURNHAM - The Burnham Borough Council discussed a new agreement at its regular meeting Monday in which only Burnham borough and Brown, Union and Derry townships will be serviced by Mifflin County Regional Police Department.
Armagh Township is also currently serviced by MCRPD.
The council did not say when the agreement would take effect.
President Bob Soccio said that under the agreement, two police officers will be cut reducing MCRPD's staff to 12 officers. He said it will not hurt patrol time because there will be three shifts coming in and there would always be an overlap of officers on duty.
In the agreement, the coverage area has been split between the four municipalities by a tally of population, miles of road in the borough, and total property worth, Soccio said. Burnham borough is equivalent of around 8 percent, Soccio said. Derry Township has majority of the coverage area with approximately 60 percent, which means they will be paying more than Burnham Borough for police coverage, the council president said.
The amount of money that came in for fines this year was a lot less than in previous years, the council said. The council said it wants officers to step up ticketing, especially for repeat offenders. In 2011, the council spent money to adopt an ordinance to raise fines for repeat offenders, although it has yet to be enforced, the council said.
The money gained from fines and ticketing would help cut costs throughout the borough, the council said. The council said it is trying to figure out why fines diminished despite the increase in incidents.
The council also approved a motion to accept the 2013 budget and approved Ordinance 2013-1 which is an adoption of the tax rate at the same rate as 2011.
In other business, the council:
Approved a motion to allow the Juniata Valley YMCA to host the Sleigh Bell 5K race.
Approved a motion to accept a per capita tax exonerations from Miffco in amount of $85.58.
Approved minutes from the Nov. 5 meeting.
Approved a motion to pay the bills as presented.
The Burnham Borough Council normally meets at 7 p.m. on the first Monday of each month at its office in Burnham.
