The fire escape at the Lehighton Police Department building has become a safety concern.

Mayor Clark Ritter discussed the condition of the building with borough council on Monday.

“The biggest thing is the fire escape,” Ritter said. “That thing’s literally falling down.”

Council President Grant Hunsicker said that unfortunately, the funds aren’t there.

“We don’t have any money to do anything right now,” Hunsicker said. “Some of that stuff we can do by ourselves.”

Councilwoman Lisa Perry added, “We don’t have the money in the budget to make improvements.”

Councilwoman Autumn Abelovsky said she believes it’s a safety issue, and doesn’t feel comfortable for the safety of the police officers.

Borough engineer Bruce Steigerwalt suggested to council that it find out what the capacity of the building is to see if they can’t eliminate the fire escape.

Councilman Donnie Rehrig agreed the issue needs to be addressed, but said he believes the matter should be brought up at budget time.