An alley adjacent to Hickory Grove Greenhouse was once again on the agenda at the May 27 meeting of the North Catasauqua Borough Council, as council members continued to discuss what to do about a complaint by borough resident Jim Jones.

Since it was never taken over by the borough, the alley is privately owned by all of the property owners along its length.

Jones had contacted the borough office to complain that the owner of Hickory Grove is using part of the alley, which is unpaved, to stack pallets of greenhouse supplies.

Discussion about the complaint continued from a previous meeting, at which the council had asked borough Solicitor William McCarthy to research the situation and make a recommendation to the council.

During the course of the conversation, it was pointed out that the complaint had come to the office verbally.

Council President Joe Keglovits pointed out the borough does not have to respond to verbal complaints.

"If you've got a complaint, you must put it in writing."

Councilwoman Cherie Gebhardt commented that Jones should at least have attended a council meeting to register his complaint "if it's that important to him."

After further discussion, it was decided McCarthy should send letters to both parties indicating first, that the council would not take action on a verbal complaint and second, it considers the dispute to be a private civil matter and not one in which the council should be involved.

In other business, Councilman Bill Nothstein reported a joint meeting of the borough's recreation committee and fire department, betterment committee and We Sing Chorus was held recently. Representatives of the groups discussed working together, sharing equipment and sharing their plans for the year to better coordinate their activities. Some of the outcomes of the meeting are:

· Equipment, including tents and signs, will be shared by all organizations.

· Events and plans of the other organization will be announced in the fire company newsletter.

· The recreation committee agreed to share the food stand with the other organizations.

· They will meet annually in the early spring to coordinate their events calendars

· When the borough's website is up and running, their events will be listed there, as well.

"We cleared the air on a number of issues," Nothstein said. "It was a very positive meeting."

Gebhardt, who is also a recreation committee member, announced employees have been hired to work at the North Catasauqua Park, including head teachers and assistants, to run the summer craft and whiffle ball programs.

Also at the meeting, Keglovits proposed purchasing eight or nine maple trees at the Foliage Farm in Maxatawny Township for planting at the park. A number of trees had to be removed following storms in the last couple of years.

Council voted to approve the purchase of up to 10 trees at a cost of $400 each. The vote was 6-0, with Councilman John Yanek absent.

In other business, council cast a divided vote, 4-2 to delay repairs to the front wall of the borough municipal building.

Damage to the lower part of the wall, especially due to rock salt applied to nearby areas in the wintertime, is to be patched and covered over with a vinyl brick-patterned strip along the base of the wall, at a cost of about $1,400.

In favor of making the repair now were Keglovits and Councilman Mike Seng. Voting to wait until later in the year were Gebhardt, Nothstein, Michele Hazzard and Peter Paone.

Keglovits said he thinks of the repair as simply a maintenance item, not something that should be postponed until it can be a line item in next year's budget.

Those in opposition said since the project was not budgeted for this year, it should wait until later in the budget cycle to make sure money is reserved for unknown emergency costs that might come up later this year.

"We're talking about a fairly large expense," Paone said. We've already seen a pretty big expense with snow removal."

An expense of $1,600 to $1,800 was approved, however, for the replacement of a grass strip with concrete on the borough hall property, making it easier to remove snow. The area had become a safety hazard during the winter because there was a buildup of ice and snow in the grassy area.