Coaldale borough has published notices seeking a new police chief. But Chief Timothy Delaney on Tuesday said he has no plans to retire, and council members would not answer questions on the matter lobbed by residents at a public meeting Tuesday.

Councilwoman-elect Angela Krapf asked if Delaney had resigned."This is a personnel issue that we cannot discuss at this time. OK? There has been no action taken. We ran an ad," said Councilman Thomas Keerans.When Krapf persisted, Keerans said that "Once again this is a personnel issue that we cannot discuss."Krapf asked when the deadline for applications was, and when council expected to hire a new chief."Well, he (Delaney) has to resign first. Well, once again this is a personnel issue and we cannot discuss it at this time," Keerans said.Delaney said that he has no plans to resign or retire."I haven't received a raise in three years. I was supposed to get a raise every year; isn't that right, (Councilman) Joseph Hnat?" he asked.Hnat said he had been told Delaney would get annual raises.Delaney turned to Keerans, who heads the police and finance committees."Have I been given a raise?" he asked."I haven't looked at your pay scale," Keerans said before he was cut off by a burst of laughter from the audience."I haven't gotten one in three years," Delaney said. "And the reason why I didn't get one is because when this started, I docked my pay to make sure that things wouldn't go on like this."Later, Delaney explained that he had turned down three years' worth of raises to try to prevent the Feb. 14, 2012 furlough of the borough's three full-time officers.The discussion continued as Fire Chief Richard Marek questioned council."Why, if the chief didn't resign or retire, are you advertising for a new police chief? As I understand, he is out on a work-related injury. I don't understand why the council would advertise to fill the position if there is no position to be filled. Can somebody explain?" he asked."This is a personnel issue and we can't talk about it," Keerans repeated."No, wait a minute," Marek shot back. "Personnel issues can be talked about, and not just by making decisions in your backroom meetings and executive sessions, hoping everyone will leave. Well, we aren't leaving tonight. If you make any decisions, we will be here."Marek warned the situation could lead to a lawsuit.Resident Brenda Hosler also warned that the borough was setting itself up for another lawsuit."I don't think that we were planning to hire anyone. We were just trying to get people who might be interested in applying for the position if Mr. Timothy decided he didn't want to be a police chief anymore," Keerans said.Hosler argued that a decision to advertise for a new chief should have only been made if Delaney were to retire or resign."I don't think you guys understand, you can't advertise for a position that was never resigned or retired," she said.