Pennsburg Borough Council discussed options Tuesday on how to best deal with its partner community on the Upper Perk Police Commission regarding its solicitor.

        "This is going to get sticky," council President Kris Kirkwood said during the meeting.

        According to Mayor Vicki Lightcap, borough officials will continue working to replace Phil Gazan as the commission's solicitor.  "We intend to keep the pressure on, ask questions and make an issue of any problems we see," Kirkwood said. "We have the right to do it."

        However, Lightcap isn't sure how that goal will be accomplished since the commission is split 3-3 with East Greenville on the issue. A vote last month to remove the solicitor failed along municipal lines.

        Following a long discussion with council, Kirkwood stated that Pennsburg will refuse to pay a $112.50 bill, submitted by Gazan, at the April commission meeting.

        After Tuesday's meeting, Kirkwood said the police commission will seek to recover the entirety of a bill totaling $757.50 "for the good of the taxpayers."

        In April, Gazan explained that those funds covered the cost of providing research and informational materials for Robert McCluskie, an East Greenville council member who became chair of the commission in January, who wanted to educate himself about chairing the commission.

        Kirkwood argued previously that he should have been copied on the emails. He said they previously operated on an agreement in which any communication from the solicitor to Lightcap or Andrew Rock, the former chair and vice chair respectively, was copied to each other.

        In April, Gazan told Kirkwood he was not copied because the information was strictly procedural. The solicitor eventually agreed to withdraw the bill. However, he reserved the right to make his case next month on why the bill should be paid in full.

        On Tuesday, Kirkwood reiterated his objection.  "I don't feel like we're getting equal services," he said during the meeting. "We need to get a solicitor both communities can work with. How do I not know East Greenville and the solicitor are not conspiring against us?"

        Chuck Garner, Pennsburg's solicitor, told the council its commission members had the right to access all of the solicitor's relevant correspondence since the municipality is a member.

        "The chair and vice chair of the commission should always have the same information," Garner said during Monday's meeting. "It appears that is not happening."

        During the next police commission meeting, Pennsburg officials will request that the solicitor present all of his bills at least a week in advance of the meeting, according to Kirkwood.

        He also stated that the Pennsburg commission members would refuse to pay those bills if all its conditions were not met.

        Garner suggested that Pennsburg officials alert Gazan of their plan before withholding any money.

        Kirkwood told the audience he met last year with Rock and Tim Huff, two former members of the commission from East Greenville, to discuss replacing Gazan. The Pennsburg council president also said the three decided to table the issue until this year.

        "I give Andrew and Tim a lot of respect," Kirkwood said. "They were trying to do the right thing."