The Bath Borough Council met Monday, October 2 to discuss fixing the borough clock, a new junior council member, Spuds and Spurs, budget deadlines, a grant for a new dump truck, and upcoming events.
During public comment, a resident expressed concern regarding a box truck that is being parked on Easter Terrace due to the truck blocking driveways and posing as a safety issue from not being able to see around it.
When this was previously presented to code enforcement by the resident, it was determined that the vehicle is not considered a commercial vehicle since there is no signage on the truck. The resident suggested an amendment to the code to clarify ambiguity that would consider wheelbase size and weight to keep the community safe.
Borough Manager Bradford T. Flynn was given direction from council to move forward with utilizing the suggestions on wheelbase size and weight to draft an amendment, but procedurally, it will not be passed until January at the earliest.
During Mayor Fiorella Mirabito’s report, she shared that she received a phone call from a resident whose daughter, Lilah Goldfarb, is interested in doing some borough fundraising events. Mayor Mirabito felt that Goldfarb would make an excellent junior council member and asked if this is something council would be amenable to.
“I think it’s great that she’s showing interest in our borough,” said Mayor Mirabito.
Council stated they would love to have her and will hope to have her at next month’s meeting.
In other business, council approved a motion made by Vice President Hesch for the borough to send a letter of recommendation to list Bath’s Historic District on the National Registry of Historic Places for consideration at the Pa. Historic Preservation Board meeting, which is scheduled for Wednesday, October 11 at 9:30 a.m. in the Forest Room at the Keystone Building, located at 400 North St. in Harrisburg.
Hesch also proposed that the borough spend the $12,000 to fix the clock in Monocacy Creek Park due to the clock’s mechanism needing to be replaced.
Manager Flynn expressed that fixing the clock is proposed in the 2024 budget. However, Councilman James Lisiecki suggested postponing the item until 2025 due to other big-ticket items in the budget.
Flynn stated that council is not committed to the 2024 proposed budget yet, so they will discuss the item at the upcoming budget meeting and vote on the repair next month.
Next, Terry DeGroot from Spuds and Spurs, formerly Spuds and Suds, presented that the 2024 event will tentatively be on June 15 from 1 to 6 p.m. and requested the event return to being a street festival, which would be on Chestnut Street from Northampton Street to East Main Street.
DeGroot also shared that they are making the request this early because of how difficult it is to secure vendors, so Spuds and Spurs is trying to get them booked early. DeGroot also thanked the borough for how supportive they have been of the event in the past and asked if they would continue to offer support.
Flynn stated that the borough applied for a grant to help fund local festivities, which could also help support Spuds and Spurs and council provided a nod of support for DeGroot to move forward with planning the event for next year.
In other news, council unanimously approved a new budget deadline for all committees to submit their budgets by August 31 to avoid delays.
Council also unanimously approved a resolution to allow Flynn to apply for grants to purchase a new 10-ton Public Works dump truck, which costs around $270,000. Flynn is requesting the entire amount that would cover the truck, but also proposed possibly paying for approximately 15% of the cost with liquid fuels funds since a certain portion must be used for equipment if the grants do not cover the entire cost.
There is currently $86,000 in the liquid fuels account, so nothing would come out of the borough’s general fund account, but due to supply shortages, the borough would not see the truck until 2025.
The following upcoming events were discussed at the meeting: the Bath Firefighters and Bath Social’s basket social will be on Saturday, October 7 and Sunday, October 8 at the Bath Fire Social Hall; the annual Mayor’s Community Campfire will be on Saturday, October 14 from 7 to 10 p.m. at Firefighters Memorial Park with music by Uncle Smiley; the Bath Halloween Parade will be held on Tuesday, October 17 at 7 p.m. with a rain date set for October 18; Treats-With-A-Trooper will be on Tuesday, October 31 from 6 to 8 p.m. outside Bath Borough Hall; Trick-or-Treat will be on Tuesday, October 31 from 6 to 8 p.m.; the annual Bath Tree Lighting Ceremony will be on Sunday, November 26 at 6 p.m. in Monocacy Creek Park; and Yuletide in Bath will be on Saturday, December 16.
Additionally, there will be a final run through of the 2024 borough budget on Wednesday, October 11 at 7 p.m. and the electronics recycling and document shredding event will be on Saturday, October 28 from 9 to 11 a.m. at Fireman’s Field.
The next Bath Borough Council meeting will be held on Monday, November 6 at 6 p.m. in the borough’s office building, located at 121 S. Walnut St.
