North Catasauqua Borough Council held the first meeting of the month Feb. 7. Council Vice President John Yanek led the meeting, as President Peter Paone was absent.

Most of the members of North Catasauqua Fire Department were present at the meeting to witness the commendation of service to Fire Marshal Francis Hadik, who has served as a volunteer firefighter in North Catasauqua for 50 years. Fire Chief Roger Scheirer thanked Hadik for his service.

“This man has put a lot of time and effort into this department over the years to make it what it is today,” Scheirer said.

Mayor William Molchany made an official proclamation to honor Hadik’s many years of service and officially mark them in the borough record.

“I can’t do it for 50 years without guys like this,” Hadik said, in reference to all the firefighters who were in attendance. “Hats off to these guys and those that came before them.”

In other business, Marc Hillenbrand, with North Catasauqua Betterment Committee, requested approval from council for the dates of the group’s 2022 car cruises and carnival. Borough council approved the car cruises for the first Monday of every month May through September, with rain dates planned the second Monday of every month.

Council also approved the betterment committee’s carnival, to be held June 15-18.

Borough Treasurer Annette Englert presented council with a contract for weeding services from Weeds Inc. at the cost of $841 for weeding at North Catasauqua William J. Albert Memorial Park and $1,615 for weeding at the municipal complex. The contract was accepted.

Council granted permission to borough Secretary Tasha Jandrisovitz to advertise changes to Ordinance 434, the rental ordinance that was finalized last year. After receiving feedback from landlords and the renting residents of the borough, some revisions were made to the original ordinance.

One of the most significant changes will see rental properties needing to be reinspected every two years, as opposed to the original frequency of each time a tenant changes or every four years. All rental properties in North Catasauqua were inspected in the second half of 2021, so the new cycle for reinspections will not start until 2023 and 2024.

Yanek opened the singular bid, from Lorah Excavating, for the borough’s 2022 heavy equipment rental. The contract includes a bulldozer, backhoes, excavators, a skid-steer loader, dump trucks, a tractor-trailer and some other heavy equipment and vehicles.

Public works Supervisor Travis Brett vouched for the company and assured council the prices are fair, adding the department has been happy with the company’s service in the past.

Borough council accepted a request from resident Susan Paone to join North Catasauqua Recreation Committee.

Police Chief Chris Wolfer requested permission from council to initiate a pilot program to test a 10-hour shift schedule for officers, as opposed to the current eight-hour shift model. With two new full-time officers, the 10-hour shifts will enable Wolfer to have the borough covered by two officers at the same time for 18 hours a day, seven days a week.

Wolfer said this will be the most officer coverage the borough has seen since he has been with the department.

Council approved the pilot program, which is set to begin Feb. 14, and will last for 90 days, ending in the middle of May.

Wolfer also read the breakdown of 911 calls in the borough for the month of January, reporting a 128-percent increase in calls in January compared to January 2021. These included the highest number of domestic violence calls ever in the borough in one month.

Scheirer reported the borough’s report from the Insurance Services Office came back, and North Catasauqua has been bumped up from a Class 5 to a Class 3, meaning borough residents’ fire insurance will be “greatly” lowered. Insurance Services Office ratings are typically done every five years, but Scheirer said the borough’s was last done 10 years ago.

Scheirer also reported fire department members recently took CPR training, and they have a HAZMAT operations refresher course coming up in March. They will be in Catasauqua Feb. 12 for an eight-hour forceful entry training, which is run by the state.

Speaking as head of the public works and sewer committee, Yanek read a note from a resident in the borough regarding temporary road fill patches on Main Street. With storm sewers being installed on Main Street, coal fill patches have been used to keep the roadway usable while construction occurs. However, those patches often sink due to inclement weather, creating sharp bumps in the road.

Brett said they have had to refill those patches twice already, but the areas just keep sinking because of the weather. He said he will tell the contractors responsible for the construction the patches are an issue.

North Catasauqua Planning Committee is in need of a volunteer from the borough to fill a vacancy, so it can operate in 2022. Any interested residents can contact the borough office by phone at 610-264-1504 or by email at ncboro@rcn.com.

Wolfer took a moment at the conclusion of the meeting to thank Officer Steven Santiago for taking a borough squad car to attend the funeral of two New York Police Department officers who were killed in the city last month.

Wolfer explained to council he strongly feels the borough police department should have a presence at any officer’s funeral within 100 miles. At the request of Yanek, council passed a motion officially approving similar actions in the future.