The general fund budget for the Borough of North Catasauqua was approved with one dissenting vote at the Dec. 17, 2013 year-end council meeting.

Councilman John Yanek cast the opposing vote. He said $25,000 was taken from the preliminary budget for the borough police department. That amount represented funding for police cameras, he said.

At an earlier meeting not attended by Yanek, the camera money was moved into a miscellaneous line in the budget so it can be used either for the cameras, for the cost of a new roof for the municipal building or for a borough membership fee to participate in a yard waste recycling program, to be determined at a later date.

The vote to approve the $1,479,946 budget was 5-1, with Councilman William McGinley absent.

Also approved was a $548,650 sewer fund budget, with a 6-0 vote.

Borough resident Marty Hacker attended the meeting to express his alarm at the proposed leaf collection policy. On the meeting agenda was a vote on a new ordinance stating residents must stop raking the leaves to the curb so borough employees can pick the leaves up after Nov. 30.

Borough council decided to set a final date for leaf collection so public works crew members could prepare equipment for snow removal at that time.

Hacker said he has trees on his property that do not drop leaves until late in the fall season.

"How do you tell Mother Nature [the leaves] have to come down?" he asked.

Council members conceded there may be additional leaves to be raked in December but said the decision they made was to benefit the greater good for most residents.

Hacker also said he doubts proper enforcement will be possible.

"If my neighbor rakes leaves into the front of my house, am I going to be fined?" he asked. "Who's to say they're even my leaves?"

Councilman Shawn McGinley agreed it could be difficult to determine who should be fined for putting leaves out in December, especially where houses are close together.

"It will be hard to enforce unless you catch them in the act," he said."I don't even have trees, but I have leaves from the neighbors."

Hacker also complained that the borough required property owners to plant shade trees along the streets on their properties when the lots were developed years ago, so he feels the borough should be responsible for collecting the leaves that fall.

Councilwoman Cherie Gebhardt said she considers borough leaf pickup a courtesy.

"It's your responsibility as a homeowner to clean up your yard," she said.

Borough Solicitor William McCarthy spoke about the council's obligation with regard to leaf and snow removal.

"The idea for council is to do the greater good for the greater number of people," he said.

McCarthy responded to Hacker's concern about the size of the fines in the proposed ordinance. A first offense would result in a $100 fine, a second offense would receive a $300 fine and a third offense would get a $1,000 fine.

"The purpose is to correct the behavior," he said. "In a borough this size, if somebody gets hit with a $100 fine, he's not going to do it again."

The council voted 5-1 to enact the ordinance, with William McGinley absent and Shawn McGinley opposed.

Residents will receive information about the new leaf regulations in the envelope with their sewer bills.

A road crew supervisor will be hired soon. Council members are currently reviewing resumes which have been submitted and will be interviewing candidates in January.

Also at the meeting, Councilman Michael Seng reported a class he must take for a graduate degree at Wilkes University will be on Tuesday nights January through April. As council meetings are on Tuesday nights, he offered to vacate his council seat so someone else could be appointed to fill it.

However, council did not take him up on his offer to resign.

In his recreation committee report, Peter Paone reported the organization had donated $500 to the Catasauqua Community Food Bank along with food items that had been collected. Another $250 was donated to Matt Globisits toward the cost of his service dog.

An attempt to put the borough's pumper truck out for bids failed when no one submitted a bid by the deadline. McCarthy said he would look into whether a broker could handle the sale on behalf of the borough as long as the broker conducts a public auction or calls for sealed bids.

The new pumper truck with aerial apparatus is expected to arrive by the end of February.