At Coplay Borough Council’s workshop session Feb. 7, council looked at the borough’s fee schedule.

Health officer fees are expected to increase along with towing fees and pavilion rentals. The justification for the fee increases is that other nearby municipalities have higher fees for similar items.

The full complement of fees will be finalized and voted on at council’s regular meeting Feb. 14.

Police Chief Vincent Genovese gave an annual report on crime statistics for 2016. There were 2,776 calls dispatched and 113 crimes reported. The crime numbers are on par with the 2015 report. Of the crimes reported, fraud - predominantly check and credit card - stand out as the largest contributors to the figures. The numbers for fraud are increasing, while the other categories remain the same or slightly decrease.

“Since we instituted the curfew, we are not seeing juvenile traffic like we used to,” Genovese said.

According to the police chief’s report, there were eight curfew violations in 2016 and no juvenile crimes. In 2015, 13 juvenile crimes were reported.

“We count that as a success for the curfew program,” he said.

Denise Continenza opened the session with a report on the status of the Communities That Care program. According to Continenza, the program’s director, 80 active communities in Pennsylvania participate in the program. Whitehall-Coplay is the only program in the Lehigh Valley.

A part of the program objectives is to combat the use of drugs. Questions are put to students anonymously, and the answers fuel a myriad reports. In her presentation, Continenza showed alcohol use has dropped off dramatically. In 2011, when data was first tracked, more than half the high school seniors said they used alcohol in the past month. In 2016, the comparative number dropped to 30 percent.

Similar results were reported in other areas; marijuana use dropped from 30 percent among high school seniors to 17 percent. Drug use among older students dropped slightly but was up with students in the sixth grade.

“The program seems to be working, and we are meeting our goals of reducing addictive behavior. Students respond to the caring atmosphere provided and knowing that their community cares about them,” Continenza said.

Highlighted areas pegged for further analysis are the increase of incidents in middle school, which showed a significant increase; meanwhile, high school violence decreased. In the 2011-12 school year, there were 100 reportable incidents. In the last school year, the number dropped to 26.

The other area Continenza addressed was hunger.

“We started the Hunger Initiative, and that has grown into a separate program,” she said.

Data shows the number of youth worried about running out of food continues to increase. The Hunger Initiative provides snacks and food to supplement a student’s diet.