In an about-face that occurred in a meeting room packed with Hellertown police officers and their supporters Monday, borough council voted to approve funding that will allow two full-time officers to keep their jobs through Dec. 31.
A motion to approve a formal memorandum of understanding between the borough and the Hellertown Police Association passed 7-0.
The two officers were to have been laid off effective June 1 as a result of a 2016 PA Supreme Court decision that stripped the borough of the casino grant money it had been relying on to pay for the officers’ salaries and benefits. The court invalidated the law that provided for impact-based grants to municipalities like Hellertown.
Council president Tom Rieger said that on Monday there was movement by the state legislature to rectify the situation–in the form of a bill that could provide for the restoration of funding by 2018–but criticized legislators for being slow to act.
The legislature needs to “get their act together,” he said, adding that residents should contact State Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-18) and State Rep. Bob Freeman (D-136) to urge them to press for a resolution to a funding crisis that could potentially affect public safety.
The memorandum reportedly stipulates that the officers will be laid off at the end of the year if funding isn’t restored.
“We can’t do this without you,” Rieger said.
He thanked the police department and borough staff for working hard to find a stop-gap solution that will ensure the two full-time officers–Christopher Pfancook and Nicholas Szmodis–have their jobs, at least through the end of the year.
“I think one thing we can be proud of is working to find a solution,” he said.
Resident and former council member Gail Nolf, who at the meeting was sworn in as a Dewey Fire Company fire police officer, also thanked council for their decision to keep the police department’s staffing “status quo.”
