SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Residents concerned about the recent assault of three Penn State Schuylkill students filled borough hall Wednesday night during the council's work session.
"It has to stop and it has to stop now," said Steve Poncelet, Schuylkill Haven.
He and others expressed their frustration to the council for about 57 minutes regarding quality-of-life issues that incidents like the one that occurred Sunday pose to the borough.
On Sunday night, a group of about 15 people entered an apartment complex along Dock Street in the borough and attacked four Penn State Schuylkill students, three of whom were seriously injured. Two men have been charged in the attack and police say they are still investigating, although they say the attack was in retaliation for a pickup basketball game between students from the Philadelphia area and the New York City area.
Council members said nothing Wednesday except for council President Marlin Berger Jr., who thanked residents for their comments. Solicitor Mark Semanchik said he received information from Penn State within 24 hours of the Sunday night incident.
"Certainly, nobody has overlooked it, disregarded it, tried to put it under a carpet and make it go away," he said.
Stephen Couch, interim chancellor of Penn State Schuylkill, attended Wednesday's council meeting along with other Penn State employees.
"We at Penn State Schuylkill are very concerned about the events that included violence against a number of our students this last weekend. We want to work with you, the leaders of Schuylkill Haven Borough, and other citizens to get to the root of the problems that have been brought here," Couch said.
He went on to say that several steps were taken regarding the issue, among them involving the borough police, following a judicial process for those involved, increasing university police patrols of the campus and postponing events to avoid a large gathering of students.
Also, a Campus/Community Climate Committee will be formed composed of borough officials and residents, Couch said. The committee will be charged with providing recommendations to him to address "the roots of these problems" and to assure the safety of the community as a whole. Initial recommendations are due by Feb. 1, he said.
Some residents said they were scared or knew of people who were and questioned what the borough could do.
"No matter what Penn State does, no matter what Schuylkill Haven does, we're dealing with human nature and we cannot regulate that," said borough police Chief Jeff Walcott.