The Nazareth Borough Council met on Tuesday, January 2 for their reorganization meeting and regular monthly meeting.
During the reorganization portion of the meeting, Mayor Lance E. Colondo administered the Oath of Office to Councilpersons Carl A. Fischl, Laureen Pellegrino, Michael Kopach, Kayla Green and Daniel Chiavaroli for four-year terms and Jeffrey Corpora for a two-year term.
Chiavaroli was reappointed as president and Carl R. Strye Jr. was appointed vice president, while Alfred S. Pierce was reappointed as borough solicitor and Michael Shallock from Keystone Consulting Engineers was appointed as borough engineer.
During regular monthly business, council unanimously approved a resolution to commend and honor former Borough Engineer Albert Kortze upon his retirement, stating that he will “leave behind a legacy of trust, hard work, dependability and unquestioned efficiency while performing the duties of his position,” and that he meant so much to the borough’s day-to-day operations, streets, facilities, parks, pool, Refuse and Recycling system and to the administration of its bidding and compliance processes.
The resolution also detailed that Kortze “performed the duties of his position with the utmost integrity and trust, and did so in a manner that made all of us on Council confident that our best interests were being served by a man who we all came to admire and respect,” and thanked him for his many years of exemplary service.
In other news, under public property, council unanimously approved Cindy Corpora to a three-year term and Christopher D. Crook to a one-year term on the Library Board.
Council also approved the 2024 pool daily admission rates, pool pass rates, pool party rates and pavilion and gazebo rental rates, which are as follows: daily admission rates for adults on weekdays $12, weekends and holidays $14, juniors ages 4-17 weekdays $8, weekends and holidays $9, senior citizens ages 62 and older weekdays $7, weekends and holidays $9, children under 4 are free, free pool admission on July 4 for all veterans and active military personnel and $1 pool admission for everyone on Nazareth Day (Saturday, July 20); pool pass rates for a family of four $275 and $30 for each additional family member with proof of family affiliation and no residency requirement, adult pool passes will be $175, junior pool passes will be $150 and senior citizen pool passes will be $100 with no pre-season incentive discounts; and large pavilion rentals will be $125 for each of two quadrants, small pavilion rates will be $125 for the entire pavilion, park gazebo will be $75, Kiwanis Park pavilion $50 and Essroc Park pavilions $50.
Other public property agenda items that were unanimously approved include the rejection of the two bids posted on PennBid for applying the epoxy coating to the new firehouse floor and a motion to re-bid the project.
Under finance, council unanimously approved the following items: the yearly resolution prohibiting member contributions to the Police Pension Plan; to hire Campbell, Rappold & Yurasits to do the real estate tax collector audit of tax collector Carole Bowers for 2023, which cost $2,800 the previous year; to hire Campbell, Rappold & Yurasits to do the annual borough audit for 2023 and submit it to the Pa. DCED, which cost $15,200 the previous year; to name Alfred Pierce as the borough’s delegate to the Northampton County Tax Collection Committee and Paul Kokolus as alternate; a refund of the $100 deposit of the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce from the Christmas in Nazareth event and the $100 refund for their tree lighting event; and a resolution adopting the provisions of Act 57 of 2022, which mandates that the borough direct the tax collector to implement the act’s provisions and waive additional charges for real estate taxes in certain qualifying situations.
Under police items, council unanimously approved the full-time status of Officer Steven Violett and advertisment for part-time police officers on the Pa. Police Chiefs website at a cost of $200.
Under fire, council unanimously approved the following agenda items: the Fireman’s Money Raffle on Saturday, September 7 at 1 p.m.; the Fireman’s Shamrock 5K race/walk on Saturday, March 24 at 1 p.m.; the Fireman’s Road Rally on Nazareth Day, Saturday, July 20 at 4 p.m.; the Fireman’s Fireworks Show on Nazareth Day at 9 p.m.; the Fireman’s/Kiwanis Carnival in the Park on June 5-8; the annual Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday, March 24 at 1 p.m.; the annual Shamrock 5K race in the borough on Saturday, March 16; the Halloween Parade on Saturday, October 19 at 1 p.m.; the appointment of Jessica Teel to serve a five-year term on the Ambulance Board; and the appointment of Mark Morella to a one-year term as the borough’s emergency management director.
Next, council unanimously approved the following law items: the appointment of Becky Butz and Laureen Pellegrino to serve four-year terms on the Planning Commission; the re-appointment of Ryan Wheatley to serve a three-year term on the Zoning Hearing Board; the appointment of Barbara Fischl to a one-year term on the Vacancy Board; the re-appointment of Harry Lance to fill a five-year term on the Nazareth Borough Municipal Authority; the times and dates for workshops and general business meetings and their advertisement; direction for the secretary-treasurer to send a notice to residents with handicapped parking spaces reminding them of their obligation to annually submit a renewal application on or before June 1 with the $10 fee or they will lose their space; an ordinance revising the borough’s parking ordinance to establish parking setbacks of 22 feet on each corner of Belvidere and Whitfield Streets intersection; and a resolution that formally appoints members of the various boards and commissions for 2024 and lists their terms.
Last, council unanimously approved the retirement of full-time Public Works employee Robert Stoudt following a 43-year career. Stoudt will be honored at the February business meeting.
Nazareth Borough Council will hold a workshop meeting on Thursday, January 25 at 6 p.m. and the next monthly meeting will be held on Monday, February 5 at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers.
