During the Oct. 18 meeting of North Catasauqua Borough Council, a resident of Fourth Street spoke about a written proposal he had sent to North Catasauqua regarding recurring floods in his basement. The home is near the intersection of Fourth and Chapel streets and, during heavy rain, the resident said, water collects over a handicap-access ramp on the sidewalk, then floods into the yard and basement.

Unfortunately, the borough has no easy or immediate solutions. There aren’t any nearby sewer inlets because there isn’t a system to connect to in that area, so the borough can’t simply add a new inlet. It also cannot reslope the road because it is designed to crown at Chapel Street so the rainfall runs in the right direction.

Council President Peter Paone suggested the best immediate fix may be to build a small retaining wall between the home and the road, as previous owners of that property have done in the past.

In other business, borough resident Randy Kibler, attending the meeting virtually, voiced his complaints about the property at 519 Chestnut St. and a vacant lot next to it, which he described as an “eyesore.” Co-director of Emergency Management Roger Scheirer responded to Kibler’s comments, saying the vacant property at Chestnut and Currant streets is already on his radar for properties in need of inspection, but he can also look at 519 Chestnut St.

Scheirer gave a list of several properties up for inspection this week, including 1122 Front St., 1151 Front St., 1432 Third St., 506 Green St. and 1124 American St.

Councilwoman Jessica Cope informed council the new trees for the park have arrived at the nursery and are ready to be planted. Scheirer and Police Chief Chris Wolfer raised some concerns with the type and placement of some of the new trees.

The inclusion of two Washington hawthorn trees, which will be planted along Sixth Street at the park, was questioned by Scheirer, who pointed out those trees feature long thorns, which could potentially be hazardous.

Separately, Wolfer took issue with the placement of three trees alongside the access road from Grove Street into the pavilion. That access road is the main entrance to the park for police and fire vehicles in case of an emergency and for special park events.

Originally, the plan was for the trees to go on the field side of the access road, so borough officials discussed the possibility of planting them on the other side to keep access to the field open.

As head of the committee on public property and parks, Cope explained the placement and selection of trees was decided upon earlier this year in conjunction with public works Director Travis Brett. Those specific details, she said, were a part of the Lehigh Valley Greenways grant, which was used to purchase the trees, so making broad changes may not be so easy.