A Coaldale patrolman escorted a belligerent resident from a borough council meeting Tuesday after he refused to stop shouting and bullying the mayor as he railed against borough police for following drivers on Route 209 after they leave drinking establishments.

The resident, David Pribila, of 103 Ruddle St., turned his ire on the officer. "I'm not finished with you yet," he yelled as he left the room.Pribila, who complained bitterly about police officers patrolling the highway, demanded that the borough lay off patrolmen and put the remaining ones on foot patrol."How much gas are they using?" Pribila asked. "I want to see these bills."He was upset that patrolmen sit at a local convenience store along the highway to watch for impaired drivers and follow drivers as they leave drinking establishments."Why is it, every time a person pulls out from an establishment, the patrolman always happens to follow the car?" he said. "You never go into any other town where you're always followed by police. That's taunting." Pribila said the borough faces lawsuits because police pull drivers over on false pretexts."If we have so much time on our hands for these police to sit down there on 209, I think we could save the borough a hell of a lot of money by laying them off," he said. Pribila said police should be "walking the beat.""I'm against that," Mayor Richard Corkery responded. "They'd have to run back to their police car to resolve the problem. No."As Pribila spoke, his voice got progressively louder and more insistent, arguing that only one patrolman is needed on each shift.Corkery asked him several times to speak more quietly. Finally, his patience worn thin, Corkery told Pribila to sit down. Pribila refused."Sir, stop yelling at me," Corkery said, his own voice raised.Pribila persisted."I'm going to ask you to sit down and be quiet. Please," Corkery said.Pribila refused. "What are you gonna do about it?" he demanded."I'll ask an officer to escort you out of the building," Corkery answered. He asked Patrolman Joseph David to see Pribila out.Pribila demanded the officer's name. David calmly told Pribila he'd give him the information outside."I'm not done with you, either, " Pribila said to the officer. "And YOU ...!" he told Corkery as David led him out of the building.Pribila had also complained about officers following closely behind drivers in order to see registration stickers. Corkery agreed that was hazardous, increasing the possibility of a collision should the driver being followed stopped suddenly, and told the officers to cease the practice.In other matters Tuesday, council:*Agreed to renew its contract with engineers Alfred Benesch & Co.;*Learned that solicitor Michael Greek plans to research an ordinance governing Marcellus shale operations. He advised council to have an ordinance in place so as to be ready should companies decide to drill for the material in the borough;*Listened as Greek explained that he would take legal action if Municipal Energy Management, the Lackawanna County company that promised to facilitate the borough owning rather than renting its street lighting equipment, fails to respond to yet another round of contacts. MEM was supposed to have made a payment on Dec. 1 on a loan the borough took out under its contract with the company, but failed to do so, Greek said;*Agreed to require residents to apply for handicapped parking permits every three years. Currently, the permits are open-ended.*Advised residents Steve and Michelle Tentylo of East Water Street to seek reimbursement from the borough insurance carrier for damages resulting from a water main break that poured raw sewage into the couple's basement. The Tentylo's homeowner's insurance won't pay because it categorized the damage was flood-related.Steve Tentylo, the son of Councilman Steve Tentylo, said his basement has been flooded several times because of storm water infiltrating the sewers. He told council it should consider a long-term solution to the problem;*Considered solutions to the problem of students vandalizing the property of Paul Coppie of East Street. Coppie said the damage is being done to his home and truck by middle school students who get the #5 school bus in front of his house. He suggested having the bus pick up the students as its first stop rather than its last. That way, the students would wait on the opposite side of the street, he said.