PHILLIPSBURG — Phillipsburg will have a community Halloween party at the firehouse from 4 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 31. Trick-or-treat will then take place from 6 to 8 p.m.

“We’ll give them some food before they go out and get junk!” Council Member Donna Mullins joked at the Sept. 19 council meeting.

When park board members were uncertain as to when they could reserve the Hunt Club, usually used for the community celebration, Fire Chief Justin Saunders offered the firehouse. He promised chili, and there will also be hot dogs and some candy. Other plans are still in progress.

Saunders obtained approval for the hiring of Chris Long as a part-time firefighter and paramedic. He said Long also works part-time for the Brookville fire department.

Street and Water Commissioner Wendell Harleman asked if he was supposed to get estimates and start repairs on the furnace in the meeting room.

The municipal building has three furnaces, for different parts of the building, and the one heating the council room had a burner section malfunction last March. Repairs had been put off as the village didn’t need it for the air conditioner from that unit.

Mayor Rebecca said she thought the decision for estimates had been approved last spring, with a decision to put matters off until closer to winter.

Michelle Phillips said she had gotten tax payments from Montgomery County, but it would be a couple of weeks before she got Clay Township’s payment for the fire department. She warned the fire department funds would still run low.

Mayor Ford said, “Come January we’re going to have to make some hard decisions because the general fund can’t keep generating money for the fire department.”

Currently the fire department can only do fund-raisers for equipment and the money for operating the department comes from the general fund and the money Clay Township pays as its contract for fire protection for part of the township.

Ilona Yannekis again attended the meeting, complaining that she was unable to contact officials. Because officials have day jobs, the public is to leave a message at the town office or on the village email. People needing help outside of the village’s business hours should call 911 for emergencies or 225-HELP (225-4357), which is the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center non-emergency number.

Yannekis said she had done this and said Wysong and Ford did not return the calls, an assertion Ford disputed in her own case.

Yannekis said that the village was not dealing with the brush and trees in the alley at her house. Mayor Ford ruled that discussion would have to be tabled, as it was the jurisdiction of Zoning Commissioner Mark Wysong, who was unable to attend.

Ford said, though, that the trees at that area had recently been trimmed and when she walked through the alley, she had not seen any obstacles from brush, only tall grass.

The next council meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 17, in the municipal building at 10868 Brookville Phillipsburg Rd.