NEW BETHLEHEM – A drone unit that could help local police and firefighters during emergencies, and an idea to help the New Bethlehem area by creating a business co-op were among the projects highlighted by New Bethlehem Mayor Gordon Barrows during Tuesday night’s borough council meeting.

During his mayor’s report to the council, the Rev. Dr. Barrows said efforts were ongoing to establish an emergency drone unit that could offer assistance to local police and fire companies.

“That would be a first in Pennsylvania for a regional police department,” he said, noting that the unit would be in conjunction with the Southern Clarion County Regional Police Department.

Barrows said drones could be used in search and rescue operations, to provide aerial views of fires and to help first responders get a better look at emergency scenes where it’s not always safe to enter into without knowing what awaits them.

“An aerial unit would be of great use,” he said.

Barrows said work is underway to find funding for the project, adding that officials are meeting with companies now to explore options.

“We’re trying to get funding to push that forward,” he said.

Another plan being investigated, Barrows said, is creating some form of cooperative in the New Bethlehem community to not only help attract new businesses to the area, but to give local residents an opportunity to come together in a cooperative partnership to help revitalize the business district.

He said he was approached by Adele Smith of Hawthorn who was concerned about the number of small businesses for sale in the area, along with the number of vacant storefronts. She suggested forming some sort of community cooperative that would allow people to pool their resources to purchase businesses or to bring other franchises to town.

“I’m very positive about it,” Barrows said, noting that he has reached out to the Clarion County Economic Development Corporation and the Clarion Small Business Development Center to see if they can help get the effort off the ground.

“At this point, I don’t yet know how feasible it is,” he said, explaining that work needs to be done to see if the same kind of model is working in any other communities.

In his letter to the economic development and business center groups, Barrows said the idea would be similar to stocks, where people can buy shares or make “micro investments” to either purchase a business to keep it going, or to develop something new in the community.

Barrows asked the group for their help in providing input on the plan, and said that the next steps would be to develop an inventory of candidate properties as well as to form a steering group for those interested in taking part.

Barrows said efforts are also being made regarding vacant properties in the community.

“We are actively reaching out to various businesses,” he said, listing off restaurants, stores, national franchises and particular businesses such as Aldi. “We are making efforts to do that.”

Barrows added that he is open to any ideas and suggestions from local residents, who can contact him directly or the borough office.

Other Business

• Borough engineer Tom Thompson told the council Tuesday night that the bidding process for the Penn Street bridge replacement process was again delayed because of the time needed to incorporate project alternatives into the plan, but that the project would be advertised soon for bids. He said the council should have bids to review and approve at its November meeting.

• The council approved a new agreement with the Southern Clarion County Regional Police Department, which is concluding the third and final year of its current agreement. It was noted that the new agreement will increase the term to five years, and that Hawthorn Borough is exiting the regional department, which will now include New Bethlehem, Rimersburg and East Brady boroughs.

• Council members approved the purchase of four new tires for the borough maintenance department’s front-loader at a cost of $2,860 which includes on-site installation.

• Grant Kanish of Bureau Veritas was approved as the borough’s building code officer.