At their June 3 meeting, the Northampton Borough tabled the creation of a stormwater fee study committee indefinitely due to a vacancy on the board and two absences. Solicitor Brian Panella stated that tabling the motion indefinitely is by no means eliminating the idea of creating a stormwater fee study committee; the item can be re-added to the agenda at the request of any councilmember. However, Michael Schwartz of Gilmore & Associates estimated that an equitable billing fee for all borough land parcels would be around $40,000, according to manager LeRoy Brobst.
Council also approved a request from the Northampton Area School District to have the fire police assist with traffic control during graduation on June 4 between 7 and 10 p.m., with rain dates on June 5 and 6. Traffic control was provided at the intersections of Smith Lane and Pany Drive and Kids Way and Laubach Avenue.
Fire Police Chief and Councilman Kenneth Hall expressed he was not very pleased with the short notice of the request since they knew about it well in advance and the fire police members have other planned events and families. Hall wished that more notice would be given for these types of events; councilmembers Judy Kutzler and Anthony Lopsonzski Sr. agreed with this sentiment.
In other business, council approved a request for a 15-minute parking zone for the newly-opened Cakes on Main at 929 Main St. Restrictions will occur Wednesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday between 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Robert Baer’s resignation from the Zoning Hearing Board was approved. Council will begin accepting applications for the empty seat; interested residents can pick up an application at the Borough Office. Additionally, applications for an empty seat on the planning commission will continue to be accepted. Borough resident Sandra Pudliner was originally going to be appointed to replace Robert McHale on the planning commission; however, the motion was tabled, and she will defer to the zoning hearing board commission.
Lopsonzski Sr. stated that another sink was broken in the Municipal Park restroom, which was the third time during the month of May. It seems that surveillance may be needed outside the restrooms to put an end to the vandalism through citations from the code officers.
He also wanted to express that residents cannot put chairs, fences, garbage cans, etc. in the street to “reserve” parking spots. There is no such thing that exists in the vehicle code; however, this does exist in the crimes code as placing garbage in the streets. Lopsonzski Sr. noted that these items will be removed by the road crew, and if the identity of the person who put the item out is known, they can and will be cited for putting garbage in the street.
The next Northampton Borough Council meeting will be held on Thursday, June 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the municipal building.
