The Bath Borough Council met Monday, April 3 to hear a presentation from Pennsylvania State Police Troop M Bethlehem Station Commander Lieutenant James W. Thomas, Jr. and to discuss regular agenda items.
Lieutenant Thomas reported that in 2022, PSP responded to 76,309 crashes with 1,978 of those responses being by Troop M Bethlehem station, and 74 of those crashes occurring in Bath. Of the 495 crashes with fatalities, only one occurred in Bath, and of the 16,612 crashes including injury/death, nine of them occurred in Bath. Additionally, out of the 3,931 DUI crashes that PSP responded to, only one occurred in Bath. Out of the 9,109 hit and run crashes, 12 of those were in Bath, out of the 525,905 citations, 82 occurred in Bath, and out of the 389,742 warnings issued, 29 of those occurred in Bath.
Lt. Thomas also presented that in 2022, PSP had 103,312 criminal investigations, with 84 of those for crimes committed in Bath, of the 64,244 criminal arrests made, 40 were made in Bath, of the 12,463 drug investigations, only two occurred in Bath, of the 26,463 crimes against a person, 20 occurred in Bath, and of the 39,162 crimes against property, 49 occurred in Bath, which makes Bath’s crime rate relatively low.
Following the shooting that took place in the 100 block of E. Main Street on Friday, February 3, PSP is still investigating the incident.
During an aggressive patrol on Monday, March 13, PSP apprehended an individual at Broad Street and East Main Street during a traffic stop where the individual was found to be in possession of drugs and prohibited offensive weapons at 8:36 p.m. Additionally, troopers patrolling the area observed a male run out of the Penn Jersey Gas Station and took to foot chase due to suspicious activity. It was discovered that the individual had stolen several items from the gas station.
During an aggressive patrol on Tuesday, March 14, the Supervisor Led Enforcement Detail throughout the borough resulted in 30 warnings issued, 13 citations issued, and one DUI arrest. Then, during a four-hour aggressive patrol from 10 p.m. on Friday, March 17 to 2 a.m. on Saturday, March 18, the borough had four alcohol related DUIs, two drug related DUIs, two drug related with drug possession DUIs, and one public drunkenness.
Lt. Thomas informed residents that PSP relies on citizens to call and be good witnesses, so if residents see something, they must call 911 for emergencies or 610-861-2026 for non-emergencies.
“[Bath] is in a pretty good situation because my troopers know to patrol here, but we don’t always have someone dedicated to Bath,” said Lt. Thomas.
Lt. Thomas expressed that there are some things his station is working on in terms of patrolling Bath due to some grant money acquired, but that there are only 59 personnel assigned to the Bethlehem station, which can make some response times longer for lesser priority calls. However, if residents are ever dissatisfied with responses, they can call and ask to speak to a supervisor.
“We don’t have resources to have officers walking the streets as a deterrent, but we’re doing what we can with the resources we have,” Lt. Thomas shared.
In other news, Mayor Fiorella Mirabito announced that Cinderella’s Closet, an event where residents in need of a prom dress could try on and take home the dress of their dreams from a secondhand collection of prom dresses donated by residents, was a “wonderful lovefest.”
Mayor Mirabito especially thanked Robin DeReamus for the idea for the prom dress event, her dedication to seeing it through, and for providing an unforgettable experience to all the girls and their families that came to the event. She also thanked Bucks and Babes Beauty Studio, Bath Nails, Hayes Flowers, and Mycalyn Florals for their gift cards, as well as everyone that made private donations for other gift cards that were given out at the event.
Next, council Pro Tem Barry Fenstermaker announced that the Green Mount Cemetery Board is looking for individuals to help spruce up the cemetery, which is deteriorating. If interested, residents can call Fenstermaker at 610-837-8448 to help volunteer.
Vice President Frank Hesch announced that starting next month, the council’s Zoom meetings will now be going to webinar so that residents are able to attend the meeting, but will no longer be able to participate only due to problems with people pranking the Zoom meetings. Questions that residents would like to ask can be submitted by Wednesday prior to the meeting and they will be addressed during the meeting.
Council then unanimously approved the following motions: Advertisement of the revised 2023 council meeting schedule; acceptance of the GCLGS letter of intent to complete a police services study as recommended by the Public Safety Committee performed by the state at no cost to the borough; adoption of the General Fund – Fund Balance Policy; adoption of the Account Reconciliation Policy; adoption of the Borough of Bath Purchasing Policy; adoption of the Credit Card Use Policy; the acceptance of the DriveLocker contract addendum; the appointment of Luis Figueroa as joint Emergency Management Coordinator with East Allen Township; the advertisement of an ordinance amendment to Chapter 625 Vehicles & Traffic amending uniform traffic regulations, repealing parking prohibitions between 2 and 6 a.m., revision of parking time limited at specific locations, and revision of Main Street two-hour parking; and a time limit extension for the Bathwick Hills Apartment Complex SALDO preliminary application.
The bi-monthly council meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 12 has been canceled. The next regular monthly council meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 1 at 6 p.m. in the borough’s office building, located at 121 S. Walnut St.
