Catasauqua Borough Manager Eugene Goldfeder recently sat down with the Press to talk about what the borough accomplished in 2013.

"The most significant step we made was to acquire the former FL Smidth property," he said. The long, involved process divided council members and residents, as those in favor of the purchase advocated their points and those opposed presented their arguments.

"No matter how we got here, we now own it," Goldfeder said. "It's no longer the FL Smidth property."

According to Goldfeder, the borough has taken initial steps to start the project planning, following council approval late last year to work with Spillman Farmer Architects, Bethlehem, to develop a land utilization plan.

"I expect a comprehensive effort from them," he said. "I'm expecting an in-depth analysis of who we could reasonably expect would want to locate on the property. We want the best use options so we have something to show potential developers about what we want to see there."

The fees to Spillman Farmer will run the tab near the $900,000 mark without a single shovel of dirt being moved, a sore point with the project's opponents on council and in the community.

"People expect government to move quickly, but the process is set up so that we move deliberately," Goldfeder said. "It is not the company's money that we are spending or our personal funds. We have a responsibility to the taxpayers to spend their money wisely."

In Goldfeder's project timeline, he does not see Spillman Farmer's plan completed until May.

"Council could pass it in May or June and then we go out to see which developers are interested in working with us," he said.

Architectural drawings for a municipal center would not be ready until the end of 2014.

"Right now our most pressing need is to have something to house fire trucks," Goldfeder said. The thinking is the need for a fire department can be placed ahead of the other priorities, and garage space is easier to build.

"We might be able to build to meet the immediate need and show some results in 2015," he said.

The decision on how to proceed depends on the architect's cost estimates.

"We know how much of a mortgage payment we can make. We need to see how much money we can get with that payment," Goldfeder said. "An amount of money available for the project will depend on where the [capital] market is."

The borough increased taxes for 2014 to start building a reserve for the property. Goldfeder expects an additional increase for 2015.

"We would have about half a million in special reserves that we can use for the project. That is less money that we will need to borrow," he said.

Goldfeder is aware that if the costs come in too high, the borough will need to rethink its priorities.

"The most important thing that we can do now is to keep the spotlight on the property," he said. "Once people see what we have to offer, they will be more interested."

Editor's note: Part 2 of this interview will appear in next week's edition of The Press