At its regular meeting on July 14, Catasauqua Council debated a contract to hire a consultant to market property the borough owns on Pearl Street. The 1.6-acre site is divided into seven parcels of which six are buildable. In his written review of the proposal from NAI Summit, Solicitor Jeffrey Dimmich asked for more clarification on what would actually be done for the $15,000 fee.

Dimmich also asked for an updated appraisal of the property. The last appraisal was done in 2007 and returned a value of $375,000. When the borough went out to bid the property a couple of years ago, the highest bid was $100,000.

In its discussions, council believes the property to be worth around $250,000, although Councilman Brian Bartholomew cautioned a developer would need to add utilities and expand Pearl Street to serve the property. There are advantages. The site is already subdivided and it is lose to the elementary and middle schools.

Jay Haines, who represents NAI Summit, explained the details of what would need to be done to adequately market the property. He indicated that some marketing would be dependent on results from an initial inquiry.

"We will send a package out to 260 developers that we have on our list and get an idea of the interest in the property," Haines said. "This is an ideal project for a small Catty hires consultant story what you have on developer."

In addition to the marketing effort, Haines promised that NAI Summit would continue to market the property until it was sold.

As Solicitor Thomas Dinkelacker pointed out, the contract is not contingent upon the sale of the property and an appraisal would help determine an acceptable price. Bartholomew was joined by Councilwoman Jessica Kroope to delay approval until an appraisal was completed.

"We don't know if we are paying too much until we know what the property is worth," Bartholomew said. Dinkelacker proposed that council award the contract to NAI Summit and that the borough prepare a consultant agreement to address concerns expressed by Dimmich. Council agreed to the approach and passed the measure on a 5-2 vote, with Bartholomew and Kroope voting no.

Dinkelacker insisted on the appraisal because it would give the borough an option if the land does not sell.

"We need to address what will happen if we don't get an offer or something we consider too low," he said. Council agreed to pay for an appraisal. The borough is expected to receive bids on the parcels in August.

In other action, borough Manager Eugene Goldfeder indicated council will consider at its meeting on Aug. 4 a motion to establish an inter-municipal development authority to work with a new version of tax abatement. Howard Lieberman will present council with available options.

Councilwoman Christine Weaver expressed her thanks to all the organizers for the Old Home Week celebration. "The event far exceeded my expectations," she said. "Everyone I talk to wants to know when we do it again."