Officials are concerned that Coaldale’s police department is overwhelmed with zoning-related house and yard violations in the township.

“There are houses with holes, and yards that are not being taken care of,” Mayor Herb Whildin said.

Angela Krapf, president of the Coaldale borough council, said the township has had a hard time hiring a person for the position. Krapf also said hiring an official for the job is an added expense which is why they have not replaced the last one.

Recently, Coaldale officials have designated local police to enforce zoning violations and Krapf says they have been able to do so because it’s the job of the town’s police force to enforce ordinances.

“They’ve been able to do it, but we’re swamped,” Krapf said. “We can’t even get a zoning officer here for more than once a month.”

Vice President Claire Remington suggested that they contact the surrounding mayors to see if anyone would be interested in sharing the position with Coaldale to help keep ordinances enforced.

Whildin said he would reach out to other mayors and get back to the council with the information.

Camera enforcement

Members of the board are also in the process of creating an ordinance that has Coaldale residents register their private outdoor cameras with the township so police can have access to the footage in case of a nearby incident.

Krapf gave the hypothetical of an incident or home invasion occurring near her home, and said the police would have on record that she owns a private camera.

In this case, police officers would be able to watch the tape back to see if the offender was captured on video at the time of the incident.

Board members were pleased with the idea and gave their support for it.