At Coplay Borough Council’s workshop meeting March 1, Bruce Confer and Wendy Madouse, who live on South Ruch Street in Stiles, Whitehall Township, voiced complaints over flooding on their property.

“This has been an ongoing problem for years … decades. Every major rainstorm we get a wall of water that destroys our backyard and landscaping … it’s like a tidal wave,” Confer said.

Although Confer and Madouse have been in front of Whitehall and Coplay officials before, they allege nothing has been done to resolve the problem. Confer said after the meeting there is enough capacity to handle the rainwater that comes down the hill and across St. John’s Cemetery, but the water is laden with debris and quickly clogs sewer openings - and then the water backs up. He explained to council that action was taken to increase the capacity of the line, but the improvements were minimal.

“We want to start a dialogue to see how we can get the problem resolved,” he said.

Borough public works Director Paul Boyle indicated that his department was aware of the problem but said the lines were clear. Council President Louis Bodish reported that the lines were video-scanned in 2013 and had no blockages. The comment about debris blocking the inlet was not discussed.

The two vowed to continue their efforts to get government officials to work cooperatively and get the problem resolved.

“We had the original subdivision plans reviewed, and the detention system was not properly installed,” Madouse said.

Confer and Madouse said they also learned that government officials are not liable for the errors.

At the next regular meeting, council will vote on allowing the Coplay Fire Department to use the building at 1 Bridge St. for training. The borough purchased the property for use as a public works hub. The buildings on site were last used by General Supply for storage and will not be repurposed for public works.

“We get a chance to practice some of our skills on the building that is close to a situation we might encounter,” said Fire Chief Matthew Buskaritz, who added there might be smoke bombs used, but the building will not be set on fire.

Council also received an appraisal for property it owns at 38 S. Fourth St. The building was appraised at $128,000. Municipal-owned property needs to be sold via a sealed bid.

Councilman David Royer suggested setting the minimum bid as the appraised value. The measure will be voted on at the next meeting. Selling at or above the appraised value eliminates anyone who needs to get bank financing to complete the purchase. The property carries a mortgage of about $80,000.

Council also will vote on a new 10-year lease for Balliet Stadium. The lease between the borough and American Legion will ensure that legion baseball will continue at the stadium. The lease also ensures that Coca-Cola can play a major part in revitalizing the stadium and its grounds.

“This is the first step in bringing top sporting events back to Coplay,” Councilman Stephen Burker said.

April 30 is opening day for Coplay Sports.

Police Chief Vincent Genovese reported that all Coplay police officers are carrying Naloxone to assist in calls of heroin usage.

“Naloxone is administered with a diffuser. We chose it over NarCan because it brings addicts out of their narcotic-induced sleep at a slower rate,” he said.