At Coplay Borough Council’s workshop session Jan. 3, borough Secretary Sandra Gyecsek relayed a report from Lehigh County that bids are in place for the Coplay-Northampton Bridge construction. The project could start in as few as 90 days.

Councilman Charles Sodl is meeting with the apparent contractor of record. The contractor would like to use the recently acquired borough property on Bridge Street as a staging area.

“They would like exclusive access,” Sodl said. “The bridge project is expected to last 30 months. That is far too long for us to wait to get our public works department down there.”

Face-to-face negotiations are expected to start this week. Sodl plans to bring an agreement to council by the next regular meeting, set for Jan. 10.

In a related subject, the borough applied for a grant from the state to assist in building a garage for the public works department.

In other business, council reviewed ordinances on streets and sidewalks.

Most of the existing rules stay in place, but curb height was a specific item that generated some discussion. Coplay has a higher spec at 24 inches; surrounding communities are between 21 and 23 inches.

Council will vote on increasing fines for multiple violations. At the existing level, there have been no fines leveled, but council opted to up the fines for the most grievous offenses from $600 to $1,000.

Councilman Stephen Burker commented he did receive a note from the borough’s feral cat committee. At a prior meeting, Burker said he received resident complaints that the feral cat population was increasing and creating a far greater menace than in previous years. Coplay’s approach to feral cats has been documented as successful throughout the Valley. The committee responded that the members are not active during the winter months and also added there is a lack of volunteers to assist homeowners in trapping feral cats.

In other news, council President Louis Bodish asked homeowners’ cooperation to make sure there is a 16-inch-wide path open on sidewalks after a snow.

“Let’s make sure that our sanitation workers have a path to trash on collection days,” he said.

Fire Chief Matthew Buskaritz reported on the fire department’s year-end stats.

“We had a total of 110 calls during the year. The volunteers logged nearly 1,500 training hours,” he said.

Two Spirit of Christmas stories were relayed during the meeting.

Dennis Beck, owner of DunRite Electrical Services Inc., Whitehall, and his crew illuminated the caboose on the Ironton Rail Trail. He and his employees have volunteered thousands of hours on trail work. Beck is an active recreational user.

Councilwoman Janet Eisenhauer relayed a story of a young boy who was in Giant Foods and distressed because he missed the school bus. His parents had dropped him off. A Coplay police officer was called and successfully calmed the boy. The officer took him to school.

According to Police Chief Vincent Genovese, that officer was Gary DeAngelo.