Whitehall-Coplay Press

At Coplay Borough Council’s workshop session Tuesday night, Councilwoman Janet Eisenhauer announced the date for budget approval as Dec. 19. A special meeting will be held 6:30 p.m. that evening.

The first look at the budget is scheduled for council’s regular meeting Nov. 8.

“It has been a long process putting this together. And we have a good approach,” Eisenhauer said.

Coplay-Whitehall Sewer Authority General Manager David Harleman reported on the status of the manhole refurbishing project during the board’s regular meeting Oct. 20.

“We included 250 manholes in this project. They are moving along quickly, and we have about 40 left,” he said.

With a hearing quickly approaching and no members on its zoning hearing board, Coplay Borough Council put out an appeal for candidates interested in the position. At its Oct. 11 meeting, council unanimously appointed Melvin Procanyn and Ronald Golley to the open positions on the board. Both men are active in the community and regularly attend council meetings.

Last month, Coplay Borough Council put out an urgent plea for candidates to fill open positions on the zoning hearing board. At council’s workshop session Oct. 4, borough Secretary Sandra Gyecsek announced that Melvin Procanyn submitted an application.

“It has been a long while since we had a zoning hearing board meeting. We found out that the attorney for the board retired.

“Retired attorney Jeffrey Matzkin recommended council consider William Fries for the position,” Gyecsek said.

Procanyn and Fries will be vetted and voted on at the next regular meeting.

The opening of a Chick-fil-A restaurant is not about a bunch of people standing around with big scissors to cut a red ribbon. There is ritual and tradition associated with a Chick-fil-A.

Want to score 52 free meals? You need to be part of the Chick-fil-A 100 Club. The first 100 people through the doors on an opening day get a free meal once a week for a year.

Opening day at the new Whitehall location, 2610 MacArthur Road, was Sept. 22. By 3 p.m. the day before, 30 slots were already taken.

At Coplay-Whitehall Sewer Authority’s (CWSA) regular monthly meeting Sept. 15, Darryl Jenkins, CWSA’s engineer, reported the Lehigh River Interceptor project is complete.

“There are a few minor items that need to be done, but the building looks good,” he said.

Board member Joseph Marx reiterated the comment.

Marx toured the facility earlier in the week.

“Everything is on line, and we are receiving reports,” he said.

Last year, Coplay Borough adopted a curfew for teens 17 and under. The curfew was opposed by then-Mayor Joseph Bundra and former Councilman William Leiner Jr. Bundra resigned when the curfew was implemented. When the curfew was made permanent at council’s meeting Sept. 13, there was no opposition.

“We think what we have done with the curfew has served the borough well, and we want to keep it,” said Councilman Stephen Burker before the meeting.

Frank Dickman contacted The Press when he saw a recent article on Coplay’s latest effort to increase the amount of recycling.

“When I was elected to council in 2004, I attended an event in Harrisburg on recycling. I was surprised and proud to see that Coplay was the first community to initiate a recycling program and was instrumental in getting the program adopted statewide,” he said.

The lowest bidder for Coplay’s Front Street project was a surprise to the Coplay-Whitehall Sewer Authority board.

At its session Aug. 18, the board announced the lowest bidder as Ankiewicz Enterprises Inc. The winning bid of $273,440 was well below the estimated cost of $370,000.

The bid was handled by PennBid, a computerized system that allowed board members to look at a comparison of line items submitted for each bidder. The biggest savings for Ankiewicz was in the material cost for the pipe.

At Coplay Borough Council’s regular meeting Aug. 9, Solicitor Lisa Pereira asked for an executive session to discuss litigation. The borough decided to take action against the property owner of 130 S. Ninth St. The property was cited for sanitary violations, and the owner appeared before council on several occasions asking for time to get the house in order.

Council presented several options to the homeowner. After the last failure to take positive action, council agreed to move forward with legal action.