The Northampton Borough Council met Thursday, February 16 to vote on a new member to fill the vacant seat on council, discuss various requests, and present committee reports.
The borough received three applications for the vacant council seat in the Fourth Ward. The applicants were Jason Donahue, Joseph Kolar, and Sandra Sayuk. Council held two rounds of nominations with Joseph Kolar and Sandra Sayuk receiving nominations.
During the second round of nominations, Sandra Sayuk, a retired nurse, previous Ambulance Corps member, and firefighter who has lived in the borough her whole life, won by a 5-1 vote with Councilman Anthony S. Lopsonzski Sr. being the dissenting voter. Mayor Anthony Pristash swore in Councilwoman Sayuk and she took her place amongst council.
Next, Mayor Pristash announced that he has proclaimed Feb. 16, 2023 as Virginia Sakers day in honor of her 100th birthday. Sakers resides at the Renaissance Senior Home where they held a celebration for her birthday. Sakers was married to her husband Robert for 50 years and has two daughters and three grandchildren. She attributes her long, happy life to dancing and eating well.
During reports, Councilwoman Judy Haldeman shared that the Northampton pool will have some upgrades this year with the repainting of the bottom of the pool, two new diving boards, and a new slide.
President Julia Kutzler reported that for the month of January, the Northampton Borough Police Department had 497 dispatches with 132 incidents, 11 accidents, 35 traffic citations, six non-traffic citations for disorderly conduct, harassment, and public drunkenness, 72 parking tickets, and 11 arrests, which included three DUIs, one aggravated assault, and two resisting arrest and simple assault.
Councilman Trevor Stone reported that the Zoning Hearing Board recently heard two appeals. The first was from John Aiello and Frank Grigoli requesting a variance to place two billboard signs on the west side of a garage facing Mario’s Pizza on a building they own. The board denied their request.
The second appeal was from First Northampton LLC and Abra Development 6 for a variance request on the planting of shade trees and the number of parking spaces for their proposed development at 1204 Main St. The board unanimously granted the request.
Additionally, the Zoning Hearing Board and the Planning Commission are both urgently looking to fill one vacant seat each. Residents interested in applying may stop by the borough office for an application.
In other business, the borough received a notification from UGI that in conjunction with their construction on East 10th Street, East 11th Street, and East 12th Street, they plan to mill and pave the entire road surface in the area where they will be replacing the utilities.
Next, council unanimously approved a request from New Journey Community Church to conduct a community-wide Easter egg hunt on Saturday, April 8 in the Municipal Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with no fees.
Council also unanimously approved the request from the Nazareth Area Chamber of Commerce for the use of the borough’s portable band trailer on Saturday, June 17, Saturday, July 29, and Saturday, October 21, the request from The Greater Northampton Area Chamber of Commerce for the use of the portable band trailer on Saturday, June 24, and the request from South Whitehall Township for the use of the portable band trailer on Friday, June 9, Friday, July 7, Friday, July 28, and Friday, August 25.
In other news, council unanimously approved the request from Police Chief Bryan Kadingo to allow Officer Aaron Koehler to attend the International Mountain Bike Association class in June at the Allentown Police Academy at a cost of $250, so the borough will have five bike patrol officers. Council also approved Chief Kadingo’s request for Officer Joseph Britt to attend a first responder grant writing class at the Whitehall Township Police Department in May at a cost of $499.
Council then approved the request from the borough’s tax collector Judith Ackerman to request that PPL place a street light on Portland Street due to inadequate lighting in that area.
Following, council unanimously approved a request from the Northampton Fire Department for the use of the borough’s portable restroom facility on Saturday, February 25 for their annual purse bingo, as well as the request from the Tri-Boro Youth Soccer Club to utilize the Atlas Sports Complex beginning March 18 through June 11 at a fee of $125.
Next, council granted permission for Borough Manager LeRoy E. Brobst to prepare and advertise the bid specifications for road materials cooperatively with Northampton Borough Municipal Authority and the Borough of North Catasauqua.
Last, council unanimously approved a request from the Northampton Exchange Club for permission to conduct their annual Community Days celebration in the Municipal Park beginning on Wednesday, July 19 and ending on Saturday, July 22.
The next Northampton Borough Council meeting will be held Thursday, March 2 at 7 p.m. in the Northampton Borough offices, located at 1401 Laubach Ave. For residents that cannot attend in-person, the meetings are now live streamed with a link on the borough website’s home page, www.northamptonboro.com.
