Lehigh Valley Planning Commission provided a presentation on the River Central project to North Catasauqua Borough Council during the Feb. 6 meeting, sharing details and goals as the project begins development.

A representative for the planning commission explained the project has six overall goals that each aim to enhance the community life of River Central, which currently houses 26,113 residents, according to research.

The area is expected to grow by 3,100 new residents by the year 2045. To meet the need of this population growth, it has been estimated that 1,500 new homes will need to be designed and constructed.

Since River Central spans several townships, including North Catasauqua, Catasauqua and Northampton boroughs and Hanover and East Allen townships, a single steering committee with members from each township was assembled to collaborate on traffic matters, housing, municipal services and maintaining and preserving the historic farming culture.

The heart of the presentation discussed the comprehensive plan that outlines the vision of new developments in the community and the steps needed to reach those goals. As the plan moves toward adoption, a 45-day public review and comment period will be made available, likely to take place in March or April.

The River Central presentation has been uploaded to the North Catasauqua Borough website under the council meeting announcement, found on the homepage. The draft plan can be found at planrivercentral.org.

For any comments or questions, contact Jill Seitz at jseitz@lvpc.org or 610-264-4544.

In other business, police Chief Chris Wolfer discussed a rise in calls of service from the year before, stating there has been about a 1,000 call increase, in categories such as burglary, domestic violence and assault, from 2021. He also stated his team has completed yearly training and will continue to have routine sessions, including use-of-force training twice a month.

The police force will also be getting an upgrade to its equipment, specifically a transition from 45 mm to 9 mm Glock pistols. This was made possible thanks to Wolfer’s dedication to clearing out the community’s impound car lot. The expected cost is $15,228.60, which will still leave the department with a balance after selling the impounded vehicles. The department is expected to make the change immediately and will become more uniform with other neighboring townships that have also transitioned to the 9 mm Glock pistols.

A motion was also passed for the police department to organize the annual Community Night Out, with an anticipated date of May 11 with an expected rain date of May 12.

The event will take place 5-9 p.m. and is expected to be similar to last year’s event. More information is to come as planning begins.

Also at the meeting, council passed resolution 370, which will adopt the planning goals and recommendations for the trail feasibility plan. Council also passed resolution 371, which will adopt Act 44, concerning municipal pension plans. This was discussed earlier in the year when an unexpected expense appeared on the budget regarding pensions. The item will now be accounted for with the passing of the resolution.

Council took an executive session to discuss personnel matters and a potential legal matter. Specific details on the legal matter were not disclosed immediately; however, following the executive session, a motion was approved concerning employee paid time off and insurance policies.

Council voted to combine personal time off and sick time, supplying 10 days off, which includes the addition of one day to cover floating holidays.

An insurance benefit was also added for nonuniform employees to include 90% coverage for family costs. This benefit cost adds an additional line item to the budget; however, the lack of family coverage had made it difficult to onboard new employees.

Council will next meet 7 p.m. Feb. 20 in the basement of borough hall, 1066 Fourth St. To view the agenda ahead of time, visit northcatasauqua.org.