The Northampton Borough Council met on Thursday, Feb. 17 to pass Ordinance 1220 and consider a short-term rental ordinance.
Ordinance 1220 amends 1218, which designated portions of Station and West Alleys as one-way.
Borough Manager LeRoy Brobst said this ordinance advertises for a right-turn only for east bound traffic on Station Alley as it intersects with Main Street.
The short-term rental ordinance was approved for advertisement. This ordinance was a draft prepared by Borough Solicitor Brian Panella, and will be approved at a later meeting.
In other business, Samantha Finnegan-Liggio was present at the meeting on behalf of the community garden. She thanked the borough and nearby organizations for their support, over the past two years especially.
Finnegan-Liggio went on to explain that the garden currently has 25 planting beds, giving them a total growing area of 800 square feet. The entire garden space is about 4,800 square feet.
There is an 8-foot perimeter line between the beds and the fence, and about 4 feet between each bed. She proposed adding growing beds of different sizes to maximize the space and allow use for an additional 480 feet of garden space. This would allow the plants to be spaced out more for easier weeding and decreased pests.
Other future priorities include a sturdy greenhouse for tropical plants and/ or seedlings, rain catchment, better composting equipment and bushes around the garden’s perimeter.
Finnegan-Liggio asked the borough for an additional $5,000 to $10,000 in funding to assist in reaching these goals. Brobst asked for a list of items to see what council could do.
In other news, the mirror for the intersection at Ninth and Dewey Streets, as suggested by junior councilperson Riley Tillotson, has arrived and is ready to be installed.
Finally, the borough has secured a $10,000 grant for the butterfly garden, and is in the process of getting the contract signed with Lori Metz; work on the butterfly garden will begin as soon as the weather allows.
The Northampton Borough Council will meet next on Thursday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the municipal building, located at 1401 Laubach Ave.
