Nesquehoning is still talking about Lake Hauto’s fire hydrants needing an upgrade three years after one of the borough’s fire chiefs brought up his concerns.

On Wednesday, solicitor Robert Yurchak told borough council that he reached out to Carbon and Schuylkill Emergency Management coordinators about the fire hydrant lines being inadequate in the private development.

He said that he spoke with Mark Nalesnik, the Carbon County EMA coordinator, and reported that Nalesnik planned to send a letter to the Lake Hauto Club and the Lansford-Coaldale Joint Water Authority suggesting they do something about the lines.

Councilwoman Mary Fox added that she noticed quite a few fire hydrants in Lake Hauto that were very rusty and appeared to not have been opened in years.

Yurchak said that he heard back from Lake Hauto’s solicitor, who said that the club was agreeable to meeting with the borough regarding the matter, but to this date the two entities could not agree on a meeting date that worked for everyone.

Councilwoman Rosemary Porembo said that the borough should go on record that officials have met with club members and the water authority and the borough is doing what it could to make sure everything gets into compliance, but have been having trouble getting this accomplished.

The issue with the fire hydrant system in Lake Hauto began in October 2015 when Nesquehoning Hose Company fire Chief John McArdle aired his concerns over the lack of adequate fire hydrants in the gated community.

At that time, McArdle said the community’s dry hydrants are the main source of water for fighting fires in the development because the current fire hydrant lines are half the size needed to adequately provide enough water to firefighters during an emergency, while still providing water to the rest of the development.

In other matters, John McGuire of Dimmick Memorial Library approached council to provide officials with some information about the library that serves the borough, introduce the new director and thank the borough for its donation to the library over the years while stressing the importance of continuing that support.

The new director at Dimmick is Kara Edmonds, who said the library serves approximately 7.7 percent of the Nesquehoning population.

McGuire said that the library board of directors wants to create new partnerships with its members and said that Nesquehoning’s previous board member recently retired and the spot is still available.

It takes approximately $150,000 a year to operate the Jim Thorpe-based library.