Several officials of the Borough of Coplay met with Coplay senior citizens at the Commitment to Family and Community center March 5.

"The purpose of this meeting is to send a message to senior citizens that we're here for them," said Councilman Stephen Burker.

Coplay Mayor Joseph Bundra started off the meeting by welcoming all the senior citizens, and thanking them for coming out.

"We'll keep this short so you can play bingo," Bundra joked.

Coplay Police Chief Vincent Genovese discussed several items, including phone and Internet scams telling residents that they have won money, but first have to pay a small fee.

"They don't ask you for money if you win," Genovese said.

He stated if someone were to randomly show up at a house claiming to be a contractor, residents should make sure they call the police department immediately. The department will send someone out to determine if the contractor is legitimate.

Another topic of discussion was directed more towards seniors who reside alone.

Genovese explained they often receive calls from friends or neighbors who have not seen or heard from someone in several hours.

The problem occurs when a police officer is dispatched to the house and there is no way of entering the residence.

"Sometimes our only access point is to break the window or door," Genovese said.

He said that while they don't like to break property, it is necessary if they think there is something wrong.

Genovese proceeded to display a key safe, which is a device that can be purchased at a home improvement store that stores keys and requires a numeric code to open. If a resident were to have one of these, then there would be no need to break in via a window or door. If residents do purchase a key safe they are asked to call the borough police to give them the numeric code so it can be kept on file.

It was also stressed that citizens should keep a detailed list on a refrigerator of all prescribed medications which will allow the police or EMS crew to notify medical personnel of all medications if a resident is transported to the hospital.

When asked if there were any questions or comments, resident Dale Simon complained they have had to cancel events at the CFC due to limited parking. This has been occurring frequently in the past few months due to residents parking their cars in the CFC lot during snow emergencies, taking all the available parking.

Councilman Charles Sodl explained that this problem came up at a previous council meeting, and that they are discussing ways to fix the problem. The possibility of using the far end of the lot by the fire department has come up in discussion.

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