Members of Evans City Council unanimously voted to expand the borough’s staff during their first meeting of the year on Monday, Jan. 5.

Evans City hired Joseph McCombs to serve as the municipality’s new part-time director of operations, a 24-hour-a-week role that was already accounted for in the 2026 budget. He will make about $18,966 over the course of a full year.

McCombs has decades of experience working in Evans City. He previously served as an officer and police chief. Those roles made him an ideal candidate to guide the borough’s decision-making moving forward, council President Cheri Deener said.

“He knows a lot about the borough and has worked for us for more than 30 years,” she said. “He’s organized and can follow through on things that we may be missing and keep things flowing.”

Deener said that McCombs was already managing Evans City’s police department schedule, a responsibility that he will continue to perform when he starts later this month.

She also noted the two will work on developing a regular meeting schedule in the coming weeks that will allow them to go over finances, stormwater projects and other relevant matters.

In other business, council members approved several grant applications to Pennsylvania’s Local Share Account program for a series of infrastructure projects.

The borough is seeking $1 million each for a new salt shed, stormwater improvements and a culvert project on Jefferson Street.

Evans City also requested $748,786 for the Route 68 culvert project that requires additional funding to complete.

According to the state’s website, those grant awards are typically announced in the late fall or winter of the year after applications are submitted.

Council also approved hiring Code Enforcement Agency to serve as the borough’s building inspector.