The Bath Borough Council met Monday, July 8 with a busy agenda.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, Mayor Fiorella Reginelli-Mirabito asked audience members for a moment of silence upon the passing of Borough resident and active community member, Mary Tully.
Mirabito offered the following sentiment: “On behalf of the administration and staff of the Borough Of Bath, I extend my sincere and heartfelt condolences to the entire Tully family. Mary was a wonderful woman, dedicated to her faith, family, friends and her community. We are very grateful for her years of commitment to the Bath Volunteer Fire Fighters and Ladies Auxiliary. May she rest in eternal peace.”
Following, Project Specialist Lauren Fosbenner from the Nurture Nature Center provided updates to the borough on the CREATE Hub Municipal Resiliency Plan as the two-year project comes to a close.
The project involved six municipalities, including Bath, was funded through the Community Funding Program and focused on improving local response to climate and weather-related hazards and environmental risks in the Lehigh Valley region.
Fosbenner explained that the hub will offer a citizen science reporting platform to engage residents in observing environmental conditions, create a physical in-person visitors’ exhibit at the center to accommodate evolving information, provide preparedness kits for municipalities to distribute to residents and develop artist-designed maps that creatively illustrate the assets and priorities of municipalities.
The plan addresses flooding, extreme heat, weather-related hazards (such as wind, winter storms, drought, hail storms and lightning strikes), environment-related hazards (such as radon, wildfires, invasive species, sinkholes/subsidence and landslides) and human-centered hazards (such as pandemics, land-use changes, water quality issues and air quality issues), and identifies goals, action steps and assets to leverage when building resilience for each type of hazard.
The next steps for Bath will be to modify the plan if necessary and consider formally adopting it before sharing it with residents, as well as disseminating information and emergency preparedness kits to residents.
Bath was provided 50 emergency preparedness kits that include hazard educational resources, first aid items, a can opener/multitool, a dust mask, hand sanitizer, an emergency heat blanket, shelf-stable food/snacks, garbage bags, a flashlight, an emergency whistle and a USB flash drive to backup important documents, which come in a red bucket.
The Nurture Nature Center also provided Bath with educational materials on emergency preparedness in the event of hazards, which will be available at the municipal office.
In other news, council unanimously approved a structural inspection of the Monocacy Creek pedestrian bridge due to corrosion, which will cost approximately $4,000.
Next, Council President Frank Hesch provided information on this year’s Old Home Weekend. Thursday, Aug. 8 will be the business night with The Bryant Brothers from 6 to 9 p.m. at borough hall and businesses will be open later with art, business specials and demos; Friday, Aug. 9 will be entertainment night with comedian Scott Henninger from 6 to 6:30 p.m. at Ciff Cowling Field and the Brian Dean Moore Band from 7 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, Aug. 10 will be activity day with a community picnic and annual softball tournament at 12:30 p.m. at Ciff Cowling Field; and Sunday, Aug. 11 will be organization day with a Bath Borough community organizations meet-and-greet at 6 p.m., The Won Tons from 6 to 8 p.m. and a free outdoor movie showing of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” at 8 p.m., all at Ciff Cowling Field. The concession stand will be open and residents are encouraged to decorate their homes in red, white and blue and bring their own chairs.
Following, Hesch presented a lengthy letter from the borough’s 250th Celebration Committee on the project they have decided to focus their efforts on, which is to fundraise and improve the West Main Street and South Chestnut Street intersection.
The committee feels that although the scope of the project is big, it will be a good way to give back to Bath and the community as a lasting gift. However, since the project involves phase 3 of PennDOT’s 248 realignment project, the borough manager and borough engineer will have to discuss the project with PennDOT to get their approval.
Plans for the intersection include the extension and widening of South Chestnut Street’s western sidewalk, clear pavement markings, a gateway sign that emphasizes local pride in Bath’s history, clearly striped parking spaces, parking meters, seating options, additional streetlights, low-maintenance landscaping, a historic sign marker and a blinking red or yellow light
The committee plans to look into grant opportunities and begin fundraising for the project soon, but wants the public to know that the funds could potentially be used for a different project if PennDOT does not approve the intersection improvements.
Later in the meeting, council unanimously approved the following motions and ordinances: authorization for the MS4 Committee to continue research and statistical analysis for further development of a tiered structure storm water utility fee; authorization for the MS4 Committee to begin the official process of forming a local Storm Water Authority; for the initial formation of the Storm Water Authority Board to consist of at least three members of the MS4 Committee serving one, three and five-year terms, as well as public advertisement and recruitment of two members of Bath’s general public to serve on the board for two and four-year terms, with one member up for reappointment by council each year; placing all borough bi-monthly meetings on an as-needed basis going forward; and advertisement of an ordinance removing a handicapped parking zone on Washington Street.
The next Bath Borough Council meeting will be held on Monday, Aug. 12 at 6 p.m. in the borough’s office building, located at 121 S. Walnut St.
