At Catasauqua's recent council meeting, council set aside a drafted ordinance to establish an entity to work with Whitehall Township and Coplay Borough to jointly form a development authority to help revitalize brownfield properties.

The joint municipal authority would apply to the state to establish a tax relief zone known as a Community Revitalization and Investment Zone (CRIZ), similar to Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone surrounding the new hockey arena.

Catasauqua did not agree to join the CRIZ when it learned the state implemented rules that require a municipal agency to be established 30 days before the application submission date.

"We could not meet that deadline," borough Manager Eugene Goldfeder said.

Howard Lieberman, executive director of Whitehall Township Industrial & Commercial Development Authority that is spearheading the joint application, further researched the requirements to set up a CRIZ and spoke to The Press about its status on Friday.

"It isn't quite dead," Lieberman said. "We found a provision in the implementation details that would allow the three municipalities to apply for CRIZ."

Catasauqua and Coplay are teaming up with Whitehall Township because the boroughs are unable to meet the requirements, aimed at larger cities, if applying to the state individually.

"We are working with [State] Sen. [Judy] Schwank in Berks County to expand the zone to include more municipalities," Lieberman said.

He met with Whitehall Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. Friday to finalize the application.

"We didn't get everything accomplished in our calls to state staff members so the plans to make the application are not definite yet," he said.

The CRIZ board will meet again this week to discuss options and discuss how to move forward with its programs.