During a meeting Tuesday, Coaldale council members and residents discussed sewer issues, including pending repairs, delinquent bills and the use of maintenance fee monies.

Former Mayor Claire Remington, who also served on Coaldale council, suggested that council publish a list with names of people who are delinquent in paying their sewer bills. She pointed out that Lansford recently took out an ad in the Times News that did so. Remington has raised the issue at two previous meetings."I want you guys to address it," Remington said to council. "Let's do it."Solicitor Robert Yurchak cautioned against such action. Secretary Liz Hosler said that she thought the worst offenders were landlords who own multiple rental properties in the borough. After some discussion, council decided to refer the issue to its finance committee for further review.Resident Skip Miller said that although the sewer maintenance fee in the borough was raised from $25 to $75 for 2015, there is no money in the sewer maintenance account. Council President Thomas Keerans said the monies have been used for projects such as one on High Street which was completed last year, and also is used to replace three inlets each year.However, Keerans also said monies have been taken from that account to cover other bills as needed, especially early in the year before the tax bills have been paid. Miller said if that has happened, the money should have been returned to the sewer maintenance account.Councilwoman Brenda Hosler said, "Maybe we can move forward and cross our fingers."Coaldale treasurer Anissa Nunemacher updated council on some clerical omissions from previous years which she has recently discovered.Berkheimer Tax Collection Agency sent the borough a bill for $3,850, which is the total of local service taxes that should have been paid. The LSTs weren't paid because Coaldale borough had not filed quarterly reports to the agency since the third quarter of 2013. Berkheimer also billed the borough $765.82 in penalties for the late quarterly filings, but Yurchak said the borough may be able to recover that money through its Errors and Omissions insurance.Councilman Mike Doerr expressed his concern over the pending sewer repair project along Route 209 in the borough. The borough's engineering firm, Alfred Benesch & Co., is developing specifications for the repair, and the borough doesn't yet have a price tag for the project.Doerr said he wasn't sure if the borough was going to be able to afford new vehicles. The 2015 Coaldale budget includes two major equipment purchases, a police vehicle and a road crew truck. The new police vehicle will be a Ford Explorer costing $37,568. The new truck is a Ford F550 costing $76,000. Both vehicles will be purchased from Kovatch under the Co-stars program and financed for six years at 4.5 percent interest.Neither purchase has been finalized. The truck is on back order, and Kovatch hasn't received the requested police vehicle model. Councilwoman Angela Krapf said council shouldn't keep paying to repair the old vehicles, such as the police SUV the borough currently owns, which was damaged in an accident. Council voted to fix the damaged SUV, with only Krapf voting no, but took no further action on the pending vehicle purchases.Council hired Bob O'Gurek of Summit Hill to maintain the borough's website. O'Gurek will update the website three times per month. O'Gurek currently maintains the websites for Lehighton, Summit Hill, Towamensing Township and Lower Towamensing Township. Last year O'Gurek received the Shamrock Award as the Panther Valley region's Irishman of the Year.