Water / Sewer / Refuse
Water: $27.09 per quarter + $.0045 per gallon thereafter
Sewer: $110.00 per quarter
Garbage: $84.00 per quarter
Water, Sewer and Garbage Bills
The Borough will distribute one newsletter per year (January). The newsletter will be placed in an envelope with the January water/sewer/garbage bill. The April water/sewer/garbage bill will be mailed in an envelope along with the Consumer Confidence Report. Water/sewer/garbage bills for July and October will be mailed on postcards (not in envelopes). If you do not receive your bill, contact the Borough Office at 610-966-4777. Late penalties will not be waived due to lost bills. Payments can be made via U.S. Mail, at Borough Hall during regular business hours, or by placing your check or Money Order (no cash) in one of the two drop boxes located at the front and rear entrances of Borough Hall.
Garbage/Recycling
Garbage is be picked up one time per week and recycling is mandatory. Pickup days are every Friday for garbage and every other Friday for recycling. Remember: Garbage should not be placed out at the curb until after 5:00 p.m. the night before.
Flushing Fire Hydrants
The Maintenance Department will be flushing fire hydrants on October 10 to October 12. If you notice any discoloration of your water, you should run the cold water. We recommend that you do not use your washing machine during these three days. If you have any questions, please call the Maintenance Department at 610-966-9661. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.
Tax Collection
Tax Collector: Eric Hansen
- The tax collector is responsible for the Borough of Alburtis and East Penn School District real estate taxes.
- Borough real estate tax bills mail on or before April 1st. The net period is April 1 – May 31st.
- For County real estate bills, contact Lehigh County Fiscal Office at 610-782-3112.
- The East Penn School tax bills mail on or before July 1st. The net period is July 1 – August 31st.
- Taxes are due and payable, whether or not a tax bill is received.
- To qualify for the discount or payment at face(gross) period, payments must be postmarked OR received at the tax collector’s office by the last day of the period.
- All bills are sent to the homeowner. If your taxes are paid by your mortgage company, it is your responsibility to forward the bill to them.
- Cash, Money Orders, and Cashier Checks ONLY after Dec. 15th.
- Credit Card checks will NOT be accepted after Oct 31st.
- Final acceptance date is December 31st. After that date all unpaid taxes are turned over to Tax Claim.
- Drop Box Available Anytime
Answering Machine: 610-966-0728 leave a message.
The tax collector’s office is located at 94 Windsor Road. Turn right at the Fire Department onto School street. 1st left on Chestnut. 1st left on Windsor. 2nd house on the left.
Parks & Recreation
The Borough of Alburtis has a Parks & Recreation Committee.
For more information, please contact the Borough Office.
Currently, the Borough of Alburtis has several areas for sports and fun:
The Playground of Adventures II
The Playground of Adventures II was funded with grant money through the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). The Playground is handicapped accessible with picnic areas and
is located behind the Borough Maintenance Building on Stone Alley.
Basketball and Tennis Courts
The Borough’s Basketball and Tennis Courts are located on Cobblestone Court and are available year round.
Baseball
The Borough of Alburtis owns the baseball field located at School & Walnut Streets. This ball field recently had a drainage system installed which was partially funded by the Emmaus Rotary Club. When not in use by the Alburtis Area Community Center for league teams, this ball field is available for games to anyone in the Borough.
Volleyball
A Volleyball court is located next to the ball field at School & Walnut Streets.
Lock Ridge Park
Lock Ridge Park, located between Church and Franklin Streets is open daily from dawn until dusk. Enjoy the bluebells, festivals, trails, fishing and history! The Park is owned and operated by Lehigh County. To reserve a pavilion, please call 610-871-0281.
The Lock Ridge Furnace:
Iron Ore, Iron Horses, and Ironmen
Iron transformed Alburtis from a sleepy farm village into an industrial giant. The railroad, the iron horse, steamed into town in 1864, bringing together nearby raw materials needed for ironmaking. By 1868 Lock Ridge Furnace lit the skies, turning iron ore into the iron essential for a growing America.
In the late 1800s the Lock Ridge Furnace plant was a smelly, dirty, noisy inferno. Trains loaded with anthracite coal to fuel the furnaces roared up to the stockhouses. An endless stream of rattling wagons hauled heavy loads of local iron ore, as well as the local limestone used to extract the iron from its ore.
Ironmen, including many Irish and German immigrants, worked in twelve-hour shifts. “Bottom men” shoved heavy wheelbarrows full of iron ore, limestone, and anthracite coal onto elevators. Above, “top men” waited to dump these regional riches into Lock Ridge’s twin furnace stacks. Nearby stoves heated air, and roaring engines blew it into the furnaces. This fiery blast made the furnaces hot enough to burn anthracite coal.
Day and night Lock Ridge’s furnaces flamed, separating iron from iron ore and shaping it into bars. Four times a day, sweating “casters” pulled the plug at the bottom of each furnace. Wearing protective wooden shoes, casters guided the red-hot melted iron into bar-shaped channels in the casthouses. When the iron cooled, casters swung crowbars to break the bars apart. Loaded onto train cars, the bars left for market.
Then the iron industry began moving west. Western Pennsylvania’s softer bituminous coal could be made into coke – the best fuel for ironmaking. Unable to compete with furnaces nearer this new fuel, Lock Ridge closed in 1921. Today, local preservation efforts have saved this relic of industrial might for future generations.
| Borough Council Approved Minutes 2010 2011 |
| 01-04-2010 01-12-2011 |
| 01-13-2010 01-26-2011 |
| 01-27-2010 02-09-2011 |
| 02-10-2010 (no mtg) 02-23-2011 |
| 02-24-2010 03-07-2011 |
| 03-10-2010 03-30-2011 |
| 03-31-2010 04-13-2011 |
| 04-14-2010 04-27-2011 |
| 04-28-2010 05-11-2011 |
| 05-15-2010 05-25-2011 |
| 05-26-2010 06-08-2011 |
| 06-09-2010 06-29-2011 |
| 06-30-2010 07-13-2011 |
| 07-14-2010 07-27-2011 |
| 07-28-2010 08-10-2011 |
| 08-11-2010 08-31-2011 |
| 08-25-2010 09-14-2011 |
| 09-08-2010 09-28-2011 |
| 09-29-2010 10-12-2011 |
| 10-13-2010 10-26-2011 |
| 10-27-2010 11-09-2011 |
| 11-10-2010 11-30-2011 |
| 11-22-2010 12-14-2011 |
| 12-08-2010 12-28-2011 |
| 12-29-2010 |
