The Nazareth Borough Council met Monday, February 6 with a brief agenda.
Under Public Property, council members unanimously approved the request of Nazareth Junior Blue Eagles Softball for use of the softball field in the park from the second week of March through the second week of November, the request of the Vigilance Fire Hose Company for use of the park for Bike Fest on September 23, and permission for Holy Family School to place two signs in two locations within the circle for a four-week period from late February to late March for their Tricky Tray event.
Council members also voted unanimously to direct the borough engineer to prepare a bid spec for the pouring of the floor in the firehouse and to prepare a bid spec for the demolition of the current basketball courts and the total reconstruction of the basketball courts in the park.
Next, council unanimously approved the following 2023 pool party rates: Daytime (1 to 3:30 p.m.) 25 people – $200, 50 people – $250, and evening (6 to 8:30 p.m.) 25 people – $250, 50 people – $325, with overages remaining at $2 per person. Council also approved the official Nazareth Borough Pool opening on Saturday, May 27, which will remain open May 28 and May 29 for the Memorial Day weekend. The pool will reopen the following weekend and then open daily from noon to 7 p.m. when school officially ends pending the announcement of that date by the Nazareth Area School District. The pool will close for the season on Labor Day, September 4.
Council also voted to approve the public works superintendent to get estimates to do repairs and/or for the replacement of the Public Works garage roof and to secure price quotes for a metal roof for the large pavilion in the park.
Additionally, council voted to approve a new one-year lease with Joy Supinsky and Steve Shiffert and their joint LLC for rental of the refreshment stand for the 2023 pool season. Rent will be $4,600 in total.
Under Fire, council members unanimously approved the following motions: the Fireman’s Carnival in the park from June 7-10 with an additional five days blocked off for cleanup and setup; the Fireman’s Money Raffle on Saturday, September 9; the Fireman’s Fireworks Show on Nazareth Day, July 15; the Fireman’s Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday, April 2 in the park with a rain date of Saturday, April 8; and the 2023 Halloween Parade to be held on Saturday, October 21 at 1 p.m.
Councilwoman Laureen Pellegrino provided the Vigilance Hose Co. 2022 response statistics. In 2022, the fire department responded to 262 calls with an average turnout time of six minutes and 54 seconds. Of those calls, 185 were for Nazareth and accounted for: 67 fire alarms, 27 motor vehicle accidents, 19 EMS assists, 16 wire problems, seven gas leaks, seven tree problems, six dwelling fires, six pump details, five carbon monoxide alarms, five high occupancy fires, four odor investigations, four spills, four burn complaints, three agency assists, two traffic control requests, one vehicle fire, and one structure fire. The remaining 77 of those calls were for: mutual aid responses to 18 fire alarms, 18 dwelling fires, 14 motor vehicle accidents, six commercial fires, four traffic control requests, three gas leaks, three high occupancy fires, three odor investigations, two agency assists, two stand by, one vehicle fire, one industrial fire, one brush fire, and one animal rescue for a cat.
Councilwoman Pellegrino also provided the Vigilance Fire Co. January report with a total of 19 service calls. Of those calls, 17 were for Nazareth and accounted for: six fire alarms, two wire problems, two motor vehicle accidents, two dwelling fires, one EMS assist, one police assist, one high occupancy fire, one traffic control, and one gas leak. The two remaining calls were mutual aid assists for one fire alarm and one agency assist.
In other business, council members unanimously approved the following motions under Law and Environmental Steering: Resolution No. 2-23 for the updated fees, fines, and licenses schedule for the borough; to accept with regret the resignation of Heather Haas from the Planning Commission; the appointment of Laureen Pellegrino to the Planning Commission to serve the remainder of Haas’ term through Dec. 31, 2023; to advertise for an ordinance amendment to the Motor Vehicle Code establishing a “No Parking” area on the south side of East Chestnut Street between Pine and New streets; and the appointment of Brian DeMarco as the Upper Nazareth Township representative to the Nazareth Borough Municipal Authority with a term ending on Dec. 31, 2024.
Next, council unanimously approved the employment of B & L to perform the preliminary phases of design and the permitting of a recycling center addition with a preliminary expense cap of $150,000 for the new facility with parking to supplement the recreation facilities, which will be paid for by grants from DEP and EPA.
Last, Mayor Lance E. Colondo presented the January monthly police report. There were 294 total police activity or calls for service, which accounted for 16 crimes reported and investigated, seven criminal arrests, two drug-related crimes, one part 1 offense, 77 traffic violations, 46 warnings issued, four reportable traffic accidents, and nine non-reportable traffic accidents. Parking enforcement had 308 parking enforcement officer violations and 55 officer issued violations for 363 total parking tickets issued for January. In total, Nazareth collected $15,260.67 for fees, fines, permits, receipts, tickets, and rentals during the month of January.
Nazareth Borough Council will have a workshop meeting on Thursday, March 2 at 6 p.m. and the next regular monthly meeting will be held Monday, March 6 at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers.
