The Northampton Borough Council met on Thursday, August 19 to update residents on the Canal Street Park situation. The Canal Street Park, excluding the trail, athletic courts, and parking lots, was closed at the August 5 council meeting after numerous residents raised complaints about the noise and mess created by out-of-town picnickers.
Councilman Tony Pristash reported that residents are enjoying the trail more, as it is a more peaceful environment now.
As for future plans, the borough will be working with a veteran horticulturist to help beautify the area after another community took the offer set forth by the Lehigh Valley Rose Society. Solidified plans should be presented to council sometime in 2022. Potential ideas for the area include a monarch waystation and an additional pavilion.
In other business, council welcomed Brian Sabo back as the Change on Main’s program director.
Sabo previously worked in this position from July 2018 to June 2020, but stepped down to open a new recovery center in Bethlehem.
He and a group of volunteers will be cleaning up Canal Street Park on September 10, just in time for the Uptown Street Fair the following day. Sabo worked closely with LeRoy Brobst and Judy Kutzler in the past to improve the borough, and plans to continue doing so. He also plans to work with police chief Bryan Kadingo on the police assisting recovery program.
Council approved Wheels on the Canal to hold their annual car show on May 21, 2022 with rain date for May 22. Proceeds of the event are split between the Blue Star Mothers of America and Mission 22.
Also, council appointed Jeffrey Odenwelder to the vacant planning commission seat; he would fill Robert McHale’s unexpired term, which ends on Dec. 31, 2023.
Brobst, borough manager, stated that the borough will be having a joint meeting with Allen Township and a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection representative on August 25 to discuss their Act 537 plans. The Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act, or Act 537, is meant to “help address existing sewage disposal needs, and to help prevent future problems through the proper planning, permitting, and design of all types of sewage facilities,” according to the DEP’s website.
The Northampton Borough Council will meet again on Thursday, September 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the municipal building on Laubach Avenue.
