Coplay Borough Council, at its Jan. 10 meeting, approved the appointment of Joseph Britt as the borough’s new fire chief. Brandon Bechtel, the previous chief, had submitted his letter of resignation, which council accepted.

Emergency services committee Chairman Charles Sodl indicated he and council members Janet Eisenhauer and Michael Dreisbach met with Britt, who is a Northampton police officer, most recently. They noted his experience and references and recommended Britt for the position.

Council unanimously approved the motion to appoint.

Council also approved the appointment of Mark Schuster as deputy fire chief and Jacob Wertz as assistant fire chief.

A motion was made to approve the borough pay for the police bodycams out of the general fund. Once the grant money is received for the body cameras, the general fund will be reimbursed.

Approval was also granted to make Tiffany Benson a Right To Know officer. Benson is now the secretary and treasurer for the borough.

The Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley had submitted a request to waive the $175 fee to use the Coplay Parkway pavilion Sept. 9 for its annual 5-K walk/8-K run. Council voted and approved this request.

Council approved waivers for a length-width ratio and plan scale for the subdivision of the borough-owned property located at 26 N. Fourth St., based on Acela Engineers’ letter of approval with conditions.

Councilman Rick Kern confirmed the date borough committee members will meet with the borough grant writer, VGG Consulting LLC, will be Feb. 3. In addition to meeting with each committee, council will meet with the grant writer as a whole body first for an information-gathering session.

On Jan. 4 and 5, the borough held its first police training session in the newly refurbished multipurpose classroom in the Fourth Street building. Coplay Chief of Police Ryan Emerich organized the training, which was attended by borough police officers, neighboring borough and municipal officers and Pennsylvania State Police officers.

The next borough council meeting - a workshop - will be held 7 p.m. Feb. 7.