Several residents appeared before North Catasauqua Borough Council at the Jan. 15 meeting to address some concerns regarding the new full-time operations assistant position that was filled by Roger Scheirer.

Scheirer was hired for the role during the Jan. 10 regular meeting. The position will support the borough’s main office. The concerns centered around the borough being able to afford the position and proper advertisement of the role before it had been filled.

Council assured meeting attendees proper advertisement was placed in the Catasauqua Press before the position was filled. Council President Peter Paone also explained the borough is able to afford the position due to the lack of the full-time treasurer role, which is now being served on a part-time basis by Annette Englert, who retired from her position last year.

Englert returned to assist the borough when the position was left unfilled at the end of 2023. The new operations assistant position will help bridge the gap for items Englert is unable to complete in her part-time role.

Residents also spoke about concerns regarding North Catasauqua Fire Department and lack of presence at the fire station, 1066 Fourth St. Council referred to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development study that took place in 2023 regarding the fire departments of Catasauqua and North Catasauqua.

The study recommended a regionalization of the two fire companies, meaning they operate out of one single fire house. The two departments have maintained their separate entities but have been operating out of the newly renovated Catasauqua Fire Department station, 90 Bridge St., for several months. This has reportedly resulted in a decrease in response time and an increase in success rates.

DCED defines regionalization as “combination of specific assets of two or more organizations, groups or municipalities to accomplish specific objectives and tasks. Each participating company retains its identity.”

The study results were made available for review in February 2023 at northcatasauqua.org under the news section.

In other business, Paone mentioned there is a new leak in the borough building’s roof. The borough replaced the roof in 2016 and applied patchwork on a leak three years ago. Recent weather conditions have reportedly caused another leak.

Paone would like to discuss the possibility of replacing the faulty parts of the roof, while also installing an elevator due to the exposure. The borough had a study done a couple of years ago that looked into making the building more accessible, and elevator plans were drafted during that study.

Paone said the roof replacement could create an opportunity to also install an elevator, and he would like to begin discussing this idea with David Kutzor, the borough’s zoning officer, and Keystone Consulting Engineers.

The borough is looking into state and county funding to help with the roof replacement and possible elevator installation. The long-term goal of North Catasauqua is to have a space that would double as a meeting and community room on the second floor of the building. More information is to come on this development.

During his report, Police Chief Wolfer requested the purchase of two door locks for the corporal and sergeant offices. He mentioned this at earlier meetings but discussed the purchase again because the locks were running on a sale promotion. Council agreed to purchase the locks in the amount of $330.

Fire Chief Scheirer mentioned the department recently had a fitness test, and all members successfully passed.

Council will next meet 7 p.m. Feb. 5 in the basement-level meeting room of borough hall. The agenda can be found ahead of time at northcatasauqua.org under the news section.