Catasauqua Borough Manager Eugene Goldfeder opened council's workshop session Monday with a report on a traffic study prepared for Allen Township for the proposed FedEx hub in neighboring municipality.

"The study is 760 pages and you might only want to pick out a table or two to print," he said. Goldfeder proposed that Catasauqua pay Newton Engineering $3,000 for a traffic study to determine how much of the traffic would flow into Catasauqua. Goldfeder said borough officials had met with Allen Township officials to discuss sewer allocation for the site.

Councilman Brian McKittrick indicated a local study is not needed.

"They [Allen Township officials] aren't going to delay the project because of what happens here," he said. "They probably already have the money from the project spent."

Council President Vincent Smith suggested the borough use the expected increase in traffic as an incentive to get PennDOT to improve the intersection at Lehigh Avenue, Front Street, Second Street, and Race Street.

"Some of that traffic is going to go down Race Street," he said.

McKittrick asked Police Chief Douglas Kish about stopping heavy trucks using the borough's roads.

"You need some probable cause to stop someone, first of all," said Kish. "Most of the roads that are heavily trafficked are state roads. We could not restrict traffic there."

Councilman Brian Bartholomew detailed his past efforts to reduce heavy truck traffic through the borough.

Goldfeder, along with managers of all communities surrounding the proposed FedEx hub, was invited to attend a meeting with the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission on April 1 and will report on the topics covered at council's regular meeting.

Howard Lieberman will attend council's regular meeting on April 7 and brief council on new tax legislation that making its way through the state legislature. He will also discuss local tax incentives, which might be necessary to help develop the brownfield property the borough owns along Front Street.

Goldfeder included expanding the water/sewer lines along Church Street as part of this year's Community Block Grant Program (CDBG.) "We can add other projects to the list, but we need to make the improvement along Church," he said. The replacement cost is estimated at $137,000 and the project is expected to take most of the year.

"It's going to be inconvenient," he said. "We will only open a part of the road at a time."

Council agreed to expand the Shade Tree Commission and will vote on the proposal at the next meeting. Cindy Leonard, Penn National's local manager, expressed an interest in joining the commission. Councilman Eugene Schlegel announced that anyone interested in donating a tree should contact the Shade Tree Commission. Dedication is scheduled for the borough's Arbor Day celebration on April 26.