At the May 15 Catasauqua Borough Council meeting, Chad Helmer made a presentation on the current costs concerning the Iron Works project. The area in discussion is located on a vacant brownfield along Front Street. Supporters of the project see it as a renaissance for the abandoned manufacturing site and Catasauqua.

Per Helmer’s presentation, the total cost of land acquisition, including FLS and Butow property, is $884,712. Abatement costs, thus far, are at $1,157,703. The plate shop/furnace foundations are at a current cost of $279,800. The soft costs, which include site planning, legal and environmental fees and more, are at a current total cost of $567,300.

These expenditures add to a total of $2,889,515. This is the total borough expenditures to date for this project.

Helmer reported $1,148,077 is expected to be reimbursed, making the total amount of unreimbursed spending $1,741,438.

This $1.7 million will need to be paid by the taxpayers, meeting attendees were told.

Borough Manager Glenn Eckhart was asked if the failure to obtain reimbursement by the state was due to the cancellation of the project.

He answered, “No.”

There was no further explanation nor discussion about the unreimbursed costs.

The current council has suggested during meetings the previous council is the source of the budgeting deficit. Reached after the meeting, Vince Smith, who was council president at the time of the Iron Works project start, said he believed the costs being shared with meeting attendees are inaccurate.

Smith said the claims of a $3 million budget overspending in 2021, including $2.4 million in Iron Works demolition efforts and more than $500,000 in various budget categories, are misleading. The $2.4 million was spent from a grant anticipation loan, with the borough recovering the money from an ISRP Grant award.

He reported grant funds are not disbursed until the work is done, and the receipt is submitted to the state for reimbursement. Because the money was spent in 2021, the borough would have never received the reimbursements by the end of the year - thus, showing a deficit in the 2021 audit. Those funds should have come in 2022 or 2023, he said.

Smith said, therefore, it should not have been reported by the current council that “the borough overspent on the budget by $3 million in 2021.”

Smith continued, saying there was no grant expense to the borough for the demolition and abatement services. The matching portion of the grant responsibility was covered by the soft costs from the municipal complex and the land acquisition of the 440 Front St. building for the bridge extension.

Smith reported there should be no expense to the taxpayers, unless the borough did not follow through with the required paperwork for reimbursements or if the scuttling of the project negated the terms of the grant money.

“Either way, it’s not the responsibility of the ‘old council,’” Smith said.

In other business, Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong attended the meeting, reporting Yorman De La Rosa was hired to be the liaison between the county and the borough.

De La Rosa is now the contact person for issues and will mediate, should any problems arise at the county executive level. De La Rosa previously worked for the Peace Corps and was highly praised by Armstrong.

Mayor Barbara Schlegel said the borough was in the process of hiring three full-time officers. To date, the candidates had the polygraph tests and required background checks completed.

She also said the “Ghost Hunters” episode about the historic George Taylor house was aired at a public viewing held at American Legion Post 215, 330 Second St. Schlegel reported the event was a success.

Councilwoman Jill Smerdon asked if the current budget was shown to be out of line with what was expected, specifically inquiring if numbers could be redistributed to show that there was not an imbalance nor a misuse of funds.

Eckhart relayed it is open to all to see what is being spent and that redistribution would not be necessary.

Councilman Eugene Schlegel expressed frustration with a paid political advertisement, placed in the Catasauqua Press, calling for his removal for agreeing to raise taxes.