During the Nov. 1 meeting of North Catasauqua Borough Council, Marc Hillenbrand, on behalf of the North Catasauqua Betterment Committee, presented an idea to purchase and place a live Christmas tree under the band shelter at North Catasauqua William J. Albert Memorial Park, 701 Grove St., to be decorated by community members and park visitors.

Hillenbrand said he had discussed the plans with Councilwoman Cherie Gebhardt, of the recreation committee, to be sure the event would not conflict with the borough’s Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.

Gebhardt detailed more information about the recreation committee’s tree lighting, which is set for 6 p.m. Nov. 28. The Catasauqua High School band will be there to perform, and Santa and Mrs. Claus will collect food and toiletry donations for the Catasauqua Community Food Bank.

The North Catasauqua Police Department will also be present to collect toy donations for Toys for Tots.

Hillenbrand mentioned the betterment committee considered the 2021 Autumnfest event to have been a success. He reported 167 cars were present at the car show and said the crowd had “a lot of positive feedback” about the event.

Hillenbrand thanked the borough road crew for their work to make the festival possible.

Officer Brian Douglas of the North Catasauqua Police Department announced the Fill a Cop Car Thanksgiving food drive will be returning this year and is planned for 3-5 p.m. Nov. 20 at the park. Those items will then be assembled into meal kits and distributed to families in need on Thanksgiving.

Donations will also be accepted in the lobby of the borough hall, 1066 Fourth St.

Treasurer Annette Englert informed council the monthly rental price for the portable toilet at the park has increased from $100 to $175. This is on top of a price increase late last year from $90 to $100.

Council President Peter Paone said he would look into alternative vendors for a park port-o-potty to see if they can get a better price anywhere else.

Borough Secretary Tasha Jandrisovitz reported the new phones for the borough buildings have been installed and programmed by RCN. She said all the phones seem to be working really well, including a new phone that was added to the snack stand at the park.

Police Chief Christopher Wolfer announced plans to develop a wellness program to improve the fitness and nutrition of officers in the police department. He said he intends to slowly develop the program over the course of the next year as he sends Officer Leighton Purcell to receive various trainings on how to improve the mental and physical health of police officers.

Paone concluded the meeting with an update on the state of the old Lehigh Canal feeder gate along the D&L trail. The stone wall above the feeder gate was damaged during floods in the past few months, and the borough has had to reach out to historical architecture specialists to determine how best to deal with the issue.

The specialists, Hunter Research Group, have responded to the borough’s request with an estimated cost of $7,547 for them to come to the site and conduct an initial analysis. While that price is steep for analysis alone, Paone reiterated to council that doing nothing to address the damaged structure could leave the borough vulnerable to greater liabilities down the road.

Council passed a motion to move forward with the project and find the funding to have Hunter Research Group conduct the analysis.

Borough council will meet again Nov. 15.