During the Feb. 17 Catasauqua Borough Council meeting, council members unanimously approved the police chief contract for Officer John Wiseman. Wiseman has been serving the Catasauqua community as the officer in charge for nearly a year since the former police chief, Douglas Kish, retired in February 2024.

In related police business, council heard from David Madrak and Craig Rudisill from Law Enforcement Accreditation Services, which provides professional consulting to law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania. Madrak and Rudisill noted they have been meeting with Catasauqua Police Department representatives to see if they would be a good fit to help the department achieve accredited status.

It was noted David A. Faust, a retired police chief, has been working part time with the police department since 2021 to work toward accreditation. Mayor Barbara Schlegel lauded his efforts and said he has gotten approximately 80% of the policies done.

Borough Manager Glenn Eckhart reported the borough had received $102,000 in grant funds to use toward getting the department accredited. These funds are reportedly not able to be used by the department directly but can be used to hire a services company such as LEAS. The grant funds are set to expire Sept. 30.

Council President Howard Cunningham said he wanted to bring a resource to the attention of the community. He said the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting System is available at ucr.pa.gov.

Council discussed issues with the garbage bills. According to Eckhart, there were 189 people who did not pay their refuse bill in 2023 and 150 in 2024. He noted this is problematic because the bill to the refuse collector still needs to be paid, so the borough and other taxpayers have to foot the bill.

“Somebody has to pay it,” Eckhart said.

It was reported the borough tried to keep costs down by choosing the lowest bid for garbage collection services, but there is only so much the borough can do. Refuse costs have also risen for neighboring municipalities.

The borough is seeking members to join the borough authority. Additional members are needed before a meeting can be held, which could slow up progress on some borough projects.

Solicitor Chuck Smith shared clarification on the intergovernmental agreement with Allen Township for sanitary sewer services approved at the Jan. 20 meeting. Instead of a one-time upfront reservation fee for the EDUs, Allen will pay an increased annual capital reserve contribution during the five-year agreement. The township will pay approximately $62,000 more each year, just for capital. This does not include operating costs.

There was also a question about capacity since Allen Township is reserving more than 930 EDUs. Borough Engineer Vanessa Nedrick reported there is still plenty of capacity for Catasauqua projects.

Smith also reported he heard from a resident asking if they can dispose of their own garbage instead of using the official municipal collection. Smith reported the borough code says residents need to use the borough-provided collection for regular garbage.

Exemptions are only for “irregular and unscheduled” garbage disposal, such as if a resident was doing renovations.

“It’s for a one-off collection,” Smith said.

It was reported the borough received a $100,000 Greenway Trails and Recreation grant for the pocket park planned at 14th and Poplar streets. This will reportedly be the first park on the borough’s south side.

Nedrick recommended council approve awarding the Bridge Street streetscape project to Gaver Industries, doing business as Barker and Barker Paving, in the amount of $239,719.50. It was reported this was the only bid that came in under the grant fund amount, so there will be no borough taxpayer dollars spent on the project. Streetscape improvements will include sidewalks, storm drains, handicap ramps and more. Council approved the award.

Council also approved a change order of a $179,377 credit, and the final payment certificate of more than $227,000 was approved for the 2024 inflow and infiltration project. Nedrick noted the project came in under the grant funding amount received for the project.

Planning continues for the Walnut Street paving project, and they are pursuing grants for stormwater and sewer grants.

Eckhart reportedly reached out to Lehigh Valley International Airport to discuss drainage issues and get assistance to help with a grant application. There are reportedly no stormwater facilities on site, and neighboring areas often have a flooding and drainage problem.

Council members approved two resolutions. The first adopted the River Central Multimunicipal Comprehensive Plan, and the second amended the fee schedule for meter reading requests.

Cunningham reported Redevelopment Authority of Lehigh County and VM Development continues to negotiate terms for the agreement of sale for the Iron Works site. The borough is coordinating with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation grant management about the details for the Front Street improvements.

There are openings on the planning commission, code board of appeals and shade tree commission.

Cunningham noted he wanted to bring attention to the borough’s unfunded liabilities. According to Cunningham and Eckhart, there are approximately $1.1 million in unfunded liabilities in one department and about $900,000 in another department.

The next Catasauqua Borough Council meetings are the committee and workshop, set for 6 p.m. March 3, and the business meeting, planned for 7 p.m. March 17. Meetings are held at the municipal complex, 90 Bridge St.