Catasauqua Borough Councilman Brian McKittrick recently introduced a measure to change the addresses of certain homes in the borough.

The change has been under consideration for some time and all the homeowners were advised of the change and approved the measure.

"We have a system set up that uses a basic grid and there are a number of houses that do not follow the standard," McKittrick said at the Sept. 2 meeting.

According to McKittrick, there is a small problem with mail delivery, but the larger problem is with emergency services.

EMS crews use the standard grid to locate a building. There are no recorded instances of negligence because EMS crews did not reach the correct house, but the potential is there.

Council unanimously passed an ordinance to make the street number changes.

All of the changes are in a cluster of homes on South 14th Street, Sherman Street, and Cleveland Street.

The list here gives the old address first and then the new address.

· 135 S. 14th St. becomes 134 S. 14th St.

· 155 S. 14th St. becomes 154 S. 14th St.

· 175 S. 14th St. becomes 174 S 14th St.

· 58 S. 14th St. becomes 133 S. 14th St.

· 65 S. 14th St. becomes 157 S. 14th St.

· 64 S. 14th St. becomes 171 S. 14th St.

· 62 S. 14th St. becomes 177 S. 14th St.

· 30 Sherman St. becomes 143 S. 14th St.

· 35 Sherman St. becomes 810 Sherman St.

· 41 Sherman St. becomes 830 Sherman St.

· 44 Sherman St. becomes 845 Sherman St.

· 50 Sherman St. becomes 825 Sherman St.

· 942 Sherman St. becomes 943 Sherman St.

· 44 Sherman St. Rear Lot 1 becomes 845 Cleveland St.

· 44 Sherman St. Rear Lot 2 becomes 865 Cleveland St.

· 864 Cleveland St. becomes 825 Cleveland St.

With these changes, the addresses conform to the grid pattern established for emergency services. Everyone should anticipate that it will take time for the owners to make all the necessary address changes for their personal correspondence.

In related action, council authorized the borough engineer to prepare specifications for the reconstruction of Second Street at the intersection of Race Street. The right lane on the hill coming down Second Street is in poor condition. Local drivers know the condition and often swerve into the left lane to avoid the washboard-like ruts in the pavement. The bid prepared by the engineer is designed to fix the problem.