At Coplay Borough Council’s workshop session March 7, Sally McGinley took the podium to express her exasperation with the increased cat population in the borough.

“They are all over my property, digging in the flower beds. And one got into my house this weekend,” she said.

McGinley’s name was added to the list of other residents who have complained of the problem.

McGinley was advised to take a stray cat to Peaceable Kingdom.

“I don’t have a trap for the cats. [Peaceable Kingdom] wants me to pay to have them fixed, and I’m not going to pay,” she said.

Borough officials said they used SPCA at one point, adding, though, the facility euthanizes the animals and charges a heavy annual fee.

McGinley said she called the borough’s Feral Cat Committee, but there was no answer.

“I think we have to consider the Feral Cat Committee as closed,” Councilman Charles Sodl said.

Councilman Mark Molitoris confirmed the suspicion.

“I went to the last meeting they had because I wanted to address this problem with them,” he said. “No one showed for the meeting.”

The borough will discuss the matter and take some kind of action. No one on council had a different idea on how to address the cat problem.

According to borough Police Chief Vincent Genovese, dogs are protected under the law.

“If we get a stray dog, we need to pay to get him spayed,” he said.

The borough uses a no-kill shelter for stray dogs.

In other business, Sodl asked his counterparts to address the debris allegedly coming from the Giant Food Market. Councilman David Royer noted customers congregate along the sidewalk above Community Plaza.

“We get a lot of debris blown into the plaza,” he said.

Royer suggested a netting of some sort at the rail.

Sodl countered that the problem is even worse at Saylor Park.

“The park area was littered with advertising circulars,” he said.

The litter puts Genovese in a quandary.

“We can’t really do anything unless we see someone littering,” he said.

The borough offered to auction property it owns at 38 S. Fourth St. The auction discussion quickly delved into options the borough has with its present municipal building.

“We ought to have a plan on what we are going to do with this (municipal building) before we get rid of the property. Another council thought it was important, but nothing was done. We have the people on council that can work together and get something done,” Sodl said.

Options available to council are to repair the existing building or construct a new building.

According to Sodl, the borough can get funding for a new building.

“We need to develop a plan to get something done; otherwise, we will continue to put Band-Aids on the maintenance problems we have,” he said.

Most on council see the glimmerings of a plan, but council took no formal steps to start the process.