At Catasauqua Council's regular meeting Oct. 1, proponents of the borough's proposed Front Street development project were disappointed when council did not vote or debate details of the agreement between the borough and the developer.

"According to our solicitor, there are certain sections of the agreement that have been presented to us that we can't comply with," explained Council President Brian Bartholomew.

The solicitor and members of council will meet with the developer, Weston, to work out their differences, he said.

Bartholomew made no commitment as to when the agreement would be available for a vote, but a meeting between the interested parties was scheduled for Friday, Oct. 5. Preparing the agreement has taken more than a year and Bartholomew is reluctant to commit to a date when council will actually vote to approve or disapprove it.

Speaking as a resident, Jeff MacHose, the borough's director of public works, questioned council concerning problems at a rental unit on Second Street. These problems have been brought to council in prior sessions.

MacHose, who lives in the Second Street area, asked why council is not taking action against the tenants.

"Police were walking around the neighborhood with weapons drawn because they thought the tenants had guns," he said. Although MacHose said he had no objection to the police taking necessary precautions, he indicated that a police patrol is not a condition he expects in the borough.

MacHose went on to question why the borough has an ordinance against unruly tenants if it cannot be enforced.

"The borough can't evict someone," said Borough Manager Eugene Goldfeder. The ordinance simply provides a property owner with legal justification to evict a tenant.

According to Goldfeder, the borough can revoke the landlord's rental license for all his properties in the borough so the landlord cannot rent to anyone, but the landlord must prepare the eviction paperwork. More than 40 complaints have been filed about the Second Street property, according to Mayor Barbara Schlegel's records.

Police Chief Douglas Kish noted that a number of arrests have been made at the apartment.

Bartholomew challenged the solicitor and Goldfeder about keeping the ordinance on the books if it cannot be enforced.

Goldfeder noted that the latest police reports would not be received by the property owner until later in the week.

"Even if he starts the eviction process tomorrow, it will be months until they are evicted," said Goldfeder.

Bartholomew asked Kish for a copy of the police report to confirm rumors that the place is filthy.

"If the report confirms that it's filthy, we need to get the health officer over there," said Bartholomew.

Kish confirmed that a report by the responding police officer would be justification for an inspection by a health officer and Kish will submit a summary report to the borough for action.

In a procedural vote, council unanimously approved changes in a major rewrite of the Civil Service Rules and Regulations. The new rules now go to the Civil Service Commission for approval. Once the regulations are approved, the borough can move forward to fill vacancies on the police force.

The rules require that candidates for police officer positions are graduates of the police academy or are willing to pay for the training. Occasionally, the state will reimburse municipalities for training police officers. In the event funding for training is available from any source, council can waive the training requirements for police candidates.