During the March 4 North Catasauqua Borough Council meeting, Mayor William J. Molchany administered the oath of office to two new police officers - Samuel Safadi and Quentin Knecht.

The room was filled with attendees who had the honor of watching Safadi and Knecht join the borough’s department. Upon the closing of the official oath, the room cheered and many embraced Safadi, who is also a volunteer firefighter for Catasauqua Fire Department.

In other business, fire Chief Roger Scheirer said there are now seven members of his department who are participating in the firefighter second level class. This course will require 100 hours of class time. Once complete, the department will have 90% of the force at this firefighter level.

Scheirer also reported the department had an average response time of three minutes and 48 seconds from dispatch to en route and six minutes and four seconds from dispatch to arrival for February. On average, there are 10 firefighters on each call, and there were 11 calls for service in February.

Scheirer discussed the heating system at the borough hall. The system reportedly failed multiple times in the last few weeks, and council discussed bids for a new system during the last meeting. Scheirer was able to secure three bids, and council voted to accept the bid from WM Henderson for $22,470. WM Henderson offers heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical services.

Scheirer also mentioned the borough is looking to hire a full-time school resource officer. Applications are due by 4 p.m. March 22. Testing will follow April 20, and oral interviews will conclude the process May 1.

For more information, visit northcatasauqua.com under the news section.

Police Chief Chris Wolfer requested to purchase three more locks for the evidence storage and firearms rooms at the station. He explained he would like the department to be more disciplined with securing these items. Council approved the purchase of three locks, not to exceed $520.

After approval, Wolfer reported the locks were on sale, and he would be able to secure them for around $346.

He also noted police administrator Debbie Bailey completed municipal records management training and Cpl. Steven Santiago completed police executive training.

During the office report, borough Secretary Tasha Jandrisovits said the borough received a bid for the use of heavy equipment from Lorah Excavating. Council President Peter Paone reported the fees fall in line with previous bids and advised council to make a motion to accept the bid pending review from the solicitor. Council voted to accept the bid.

The borough is still looking for bids regarding the Almond Street repair. Council will move forward with a second round of bids. If no bids are provided, they will discuss the next steps regarding this project.

Council will next meet 7 p.m. March 18 in the basement-level meeting room at borough hall, 1066 Fourth St. To view the agenda ahead of time, visit northcatasauqua.org.