North Catasauqua Borough Council held its first regular meeting of the month Nov. 2.

Treasurer Annette Englert presented council with the newest revisions to the 2021 borough budget, which she made alongside council President Peter Paone.

The new budget, which has been balanced with costs and revenue of roughly $1.8 million, will mean a tax rate increase of 1.5 mills for borough residents, bringing the tax rate up to 13.7 mills from 12.2.

Paone cited two major costs as the biggest contributors to the increased budget, those being the five new vehicles being leased from Enterprise Fleet Services and the fact that 2021 has an extra pay period meaning all borough employees will be paid more than they were in 2020.

Next year will also see the beginning of multiple large-scale projects in the borough with further construction of the D&L Trail, the storm sewer project and the Main Street beautification project, all slated for 2021.

Between those three, there will be more than $1 million in grant funding passing through the borough offices in 2021, so the administration has decided to hire a part-time assistant to the treasurer. They hope to fill the position by February 2021 and keep the new hire on staff until August 2021, which is when they expect the bulk of the transactions for those projects will be complete.

Borough Secretary Tasha Jandrisovitz announced the first certificate of occupancy has been granted to a newly sold property in the North Catasauqua section of the Willowbrook Estates development, and another one is on its way to completion.

Councilwoman Jessica Cope raised safety concerns about the intersection of Fourth and Buttonwood streets where a neighbor’s car was recently totaled in an accident. There is only a two-way stop at that intersection, but it’s a common site for accidents because cars that stop on Fourth Street will often pull out too early, thinking the cross traffic on Buttonwood Street must also stop, it was reported.

Adding stop signs on Buttonwood Street would require a traffic study, but Councilman Joseph T. Keglovitz suggested installing signs on Fourth Street that say “cross traffic does not stop” or a warning that is similar. Roger Scheirer, emergency management director, added there are multiple intersections in the borough with similar problems, so they should all be profiled and addressed together.

Paone updated council on the results of smoke testing conducted throughout the borough’s sewer system to determine where ground water was leaking into the sewers. They concluded the concrete lining of the stacks that connect the underground sewers to the manhole covers above was the source of the problem.

North Catasauqua pays Catasauqua Borough for water treatment, and when groundwater gets into the sewers, the borough’s bill for water treatment goes up needlessly. Stopping the flow of groundwater into the sewers will save the borough thousands of dollars annually in water treatment costs. Paone suggested North Catasauqua invest in relining the sewer stacks to save more money in the future.

Police Chief Chris Wolfer declared the 2020 Halloween trunk-or-treat event a success and plans to continue the event as an annual tradition. Paone and other borough officials commended the chief and police department for doing an “outstanding job” with the giveaway.