SMETHPORT — In what was the shortest meeting in many months, Smethport Borough Council voted Tuesday to meet the 2019 minimum municipal obligations to the General Employees’ Pension Plan and Police Pension Plan.

For the GEPP, that amount is $43,404, while $3,698 will go the PPP.

During the councilmen’s reports, Jeff Tanner, who chairs the council’s safety committee and is a member of the parks and planning committees, noted that Justin Lund, the county’s recycling coordinator has resigned. In his absence, county planning director Jeremy Morey is not the recycling coordinator, but is now closing the grant the county received from the Department of Environmental Protection for rehabilitation of the recycling center in Smethport, Tanner added.

This project, along U.S. Route 6 west of Smethport, includes a concrete pad under the recycling bins, parking area, a compactor at the site, and a security system and a camera and key card program. This equipment could be installed by the end of this month.

During public comments, David Seipp, representing the Smethport Rotary Club, requested council to consider appropriating funds in the 2019 budget for resurfacing or applying a new coating to the basketball court in Hamlin Lake Park. Seipp noted that the Rotarians, in a cooperative project with the borough, contributed a sizable amount of money raised through a grant and fundraisers for this cooperative project, which opened more than three years ago. “The court is certainly well-used,” Seipp said.