Catasauqua Area School District Superintendent Robert Spengler informed school board members May 13 that 15 acres of land located across from the district administration office is no longer needed by the district.

Spengler told members of the board the land located on North 14th Street was initially procured in 1990 in anticipation of a 1,700-unit residential complex being built and the construction of a new school to accommodate the student population increase.

Plans for the complex and school, however, never advanced past the discussion stage.

"It's undeveloped property," Spengler said of the 15 acres. "This can create much-needed housing stock in our community, along with additional revenues."

Spengler said he did not have figures available as to how much the land is worth. He added a Realtor in the area further confirmed the difficult nature of placing a price on the land without first determining its specific use.

The board agreed at the meeting to open bids in the future for the purchase of the land.

"The bid process is very early," said Spengler. "We still need to develop the specifications for the bidding, along with discussion about possibly consolidating the several parcels that comprise the entire acreage."

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In other business, CASD Athletic Director Tom Moll reported on this past year's revenue from athletics.

To date, Moll said, the district has brought in $62,329.71, which is more than the district's estimated revenue of $52,300.

"It was a really good year," Moll said. "Pretty much most of that [revenue] is attributed to football."

Moll added the district will receive additional revenue from spring sports physicals, scheduled for next month, which he estimates at around $2,000.

Also during the meeting, the board approved the appointment of David Troxell to serve as Catasauqua High School head girls basketball coach and extra-curricular positions for the 2013-14 school year.

Initially, board member Christine Naegel cast a no vote.

Naegel later changed her vote to yes.

"Change mine to yes so we can get this done," she told board members.

Board member Don Panto again shared with members of the board his position on ensuring coaching salaries in the Catasauqua school district correspond to other schools.

"For the record, I think we should index our coaching positions to the mean at the district level so we don't lose them [Catasauqua coaches]," Panto emphasized.