Karen Shields, of 130 S. Ninth St., Coplay, addressed council on the continuing problems with her property.

Shields’ house was cited for unsanitary conditions and problems by the borough’s building code officer, Ronald Helman. The original complaint dates back more than two years.

Her appeal on May 3 was slightly different. In her last meeting with council, Shields agreed to get her place back to a livable condition in 60 days. Council gave her 90 days.

The length of time that the property has been under repair orders mandated a new Certificate of Occupancy (CO) inspection. At the last meeting, Shields was not sure what areas needed to be repaired. Helman agreed to conduct a preliminary CO inspection. Part of the agreement was to have utilities connected to the property. Shields failed to comply.

“It was my error, and I missed it. I came to see if you will extend the deadline,” she said.

After some discussion, council decided to seek the advice of the borough solicitor.

“This seems to be just procrastinating,” Councilman Mark Molitoris said.

Shields did reveal that she had applied for a loan to help get the property in shape, but the loan was declined.

“I can still fix the place up … I have the right number of cats in there now. I never had 50 cats … probably only nine at a time … but I nursed at least 50 back to health and adopted them out,” she said.

Shields asked council members if they would extend the time she had to make repairs.

“I need to know where I am because I don’t want to put money into something if I’m going to lose it,” she said.

Council indicated that it will address the matter at the next regular meeting, set for May 10.

In other business, Councilwoman Janet Eisenhauer asked council to consider an authorization to negotiate a new rate on the borough municipal loan. Commercial bonds mature every five years, and interest rates are reset. With the borough’s remaining balance near $700,000, Eisenhauer wants to negotiate the next five-year interest rate now.

“The existing rate is scheduled to climb to 5 percent, but our present bank is willing to give us 2.5 percent for the next five years,” she explained.

Council will review the details and is expected to vote at the regular meeting.

Eisenhauer reported the library received a $7,500 grant from the Trexler Fund.

“It is the first grant we received,” she said.

Funds will be used for building repairs.

Police Chief Vincent Genovese asked council for approval to hire Nicholas Hartman, presently with the Walnutport force, as a part-time officer. One existing officer accepted a full-time position, and the slot became available.