Palmerton has once again been asked to accept a plaque and place it on a bench in the borough park in memory of a deceased squirrel.

Joined by several supporters, Clark DeBear asked borough council on Thursday if it would be possible to gift a plaque in memory of “Butters the Squirrel” to the borough.

However, council President Terry Costenbader said there were a couple of issues as it pertained to the request.

“One, we changed our rules for public meetings,” Costenbader said. “That is not on the agenda to be voted on.”

Borough solicitor Jenny Cheng-Serfass said the Legislature previously amended the Sunshine Act, and that agendas have to be posted ahead of time.

Cheng-Serfass then suggested that council could look to put it on its next meeting agenda for potential action.

Borough Manager Donna McGarry said that council can put the matter on its Jan. 27 meeting agenda.

Councilman Andrew Hollywood told DeBears the matter was settled two years ago.

Further, Hollywood told DeBear, “We can’t accept it unless we vote on it.”

Butters, who was the subject of a popular social media fan account called “Butters the Squirrel,” was known by a group of people in town for her unusually social nature.

Ed Condon, of Palmerton, started a Facebook account for “Butters the Squirrel,” and met with the squirrel every day, capturing photos of her eating peanuts, climbing his pant leg and sitting in trees.

Pictures Condon took of Butters even graced the pages of the magazine Town & Country Gazette. And back in January 2019, the 27-year-old and the squirrel were the subjects of a television report, where Condon was nicknamed the “squirrel whisperer.”

But in October 2019 - just barely over a year after Condon and Butters met - Condon found she had been hit by a car and killed. He buried Butters in his Palmerton backyard and announced her death in a posting on Facebook.

In an effort to remember Butters, Condon asked if a plaque could be placed in the park in Butters’ honor. But when he pitched that to borough officials, Condon said, he was shot down.

McGarry said at that time the borough only recently started allowing memorials for humans, let alone animals, and that while she sympathized with Condon’s loss, if the borough were to grant his request, it “could open the door to a lot of requests for these types of memorials, and it’s just not something that we believe the park was intended for.”

McGarry said at that time Condon might be able to plant a tree for Butters, but not a plaque.

Condon started an online petition in December 2019, calling for a feeding station to be placed in the park at Palmerton’s center in memory of Butters.