LEWISTOWN — The Lewistown Borough Council voted to appoint previous council member Jim Steele to fill the vacant council seat during its special meeting on Monday, in addition to voting on other agenda items.

In council member Larry Searer’s absence, member Scott Gutshall motioned and Lisa Knudson seconded it to appoint Steele to fill Steve Knudson’s vacant seat.

Steve recently resigned due to ongoing health issues, and Steele will complete his remaining two-year term through the end of 2027.

Mayor Deborah Bargo completed the swearing-in process with Steele before further voting on agenda items.

The council later approved the Lewistown Police Department IT services contract with One-Stop Communications. Gutshall motioned and Knudson seconded to approve the contract costing $3,240 per month for five years for a $194,400 total in a 6-0 roll call vote.

Gutshall said this contract is part of the police department’s workplace modernization program. The department will receive training for programs such as Microsoft 365, Microsoft OneDrive and other related tools. He added that the contract will deliver approximately $9,000 in annual cost savings, or approximately $45,000 over the contract term.

In a 6-0 roll call vote, Gutshall motioned and Knudson seconded to appoint David Becker to the Mifflin County Municipal Authority for a five-year term. According to a borough release addressed to the Mifflin County Commissioners, “Dave brings more than three decades of leadership, technical expertise, and community-minded stewardship.”

The release stated that the council nominated Becker to the authority and noted that he retired in 2025 after a successful 34-year career at Philips Ultrasound. Becker joined the company, formerly Echo/ATL, in 1990 as a development engineer in the Transducer R&D team. The borough release added that Becker has served in a wide range of roles at the company and is a leader well-suited to the authority.

Before Council President Matthew Moore adjourned the meeting, he stated that the borough is working on a snow removal plan to complete snow removal within the next few days.

Council will meet at 4:30 p.m. Monday, for its regular meeting at the Municipal Building in the council chambers.