The Nazareth Borough Council met Tuesday, Sept. 3 to vote on various resolutions, ordinance amendments and motions.
To begin, resident William Buskirk asked how the parking situation has been with the new school zone permit parking in place, now that the school year has officially started.
Police Chief Randy Miller noted that the first day of school was a bit rough with approximately 50 warnings issued, but since then, has been reduced to around two violations per day. Miller also stated that he intends to talk to the school to address additional problems that could help improve the flow of traffic.
Another resident brought up the borough’s consideration of an ordinance banning residents from keeping birds and fowl. Her suggestion was for a compromise that instead of a ban, there would be a limit to the number of chickens kept and a distance requirement to prevent the birds from affecting neighboring properties.
However, President Daniel R. Chiavaroli questioned how such a compromise could be enforced.
In other news, several public property resolutions were unanimously approved, including certification of the borough’s submission of a Statewide LSA Gaming Grant for rehabbing grandstands in the park and another for an undetermined project, certification of the borough’s municipal sponsorship of a Nazareth Regional Ambulance Corps grant submitted to the Monroe County LSA Gaming Grant Program seeking $75,000 in grant assistance for the purchase of a Ford T350 transport van and another $75,000 grant for the purchase of an ambulette.
Other public property motions unanimously approved include the following: the request of Action Karate for use of the park on Oct. 26 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. for a trunk or treat event; direction to advertise a request for bids for the library HVAC upgrades project through Oct. 3; to add painted lines and lighting to the bays of the ambulance building; seasonal bonuses for pool employees totaling $1,800; and the third payment of $49,301.01 for the basketball courts in the park to Livengood Associates.
Additionally, a young man named Oliver Pellegrino presented his Eagle Scout project proposal to council for consideration, which they unanimously approved. The project will add improvements and new equipment to the borough’s dog park including a teeter totter, dog walk, tire tower and tire tunnel that pups will be able to use to exercise and explore. Pellegrino shared his proposed timeline of the project, which will begin in October and end early next year.
Following, council unanimously approved the motions listed under finance, including the submission of a list of delinquent taxes, Refuse & Recycle fees and sewer charges to the Northampton County Assessment Office for the September 2024 upset sale, the 2025 police pension budget, the 2025 non-uniformed pension budget calling for a borough contribution of $6,563 above the approximate amount the borough will receive in pension aid, the opening of a new PLGIT sanitation account with a $120,000 deposit at a rate of 5.38% and the opening of a new PLGIT state fund account with a $350,000 deposit at a rate of 5.38%.
Under police, council unanimously approved handicapped parking spaces on South Main, South Church and Meeser streets, as well as the rescheduling of the canceled National Nite Out event, which will now be staged on Saturday, Sept. 14 starting at 5 p.m. in the park.
The monthly police report for August included 343 total police activity/calls for service, 29 crimes reported and investigated, 27 criminal arrests, three drug-related crimes, three Part 1 offenses, 110 traffic citations, 83 warnings issued, three reportable traffic accidents and 10 non-reportable traffic accidents. Additionally, there were 275 parking enforcement officer violations issued and 69 officer issued violations for the month.
Under fire, council unanimously approved the donation of $1,000 to the Vigilance Hose Fire Company to help with costs associated with the 2024 fire prevention week and another $1,000 donation to help with costs associated with the annual Halloween Parade on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Next, council unanimously approved the following law motions: advertisement of an amendment to the school zone permit parking ordinance for revision of the sections related to guest and contractor permit tags, so that there will not be any charges for visitor passes at this time, each household will be issued two visitor passes to retain and leniency provided for contractors; an amendment to the Food Truck Ordinance, which eliminates the permit requirement for food trucks operating on private property; and advertisement of an ordinance amendment effective Jan. 1, 2025 to ban the keeping of chickens, ducks or similar types of birds and fowl, including geese, turkeys, grouse, pheasants and any other game bird, migratory bird or wild bird as defined in the Pa. Game and Wildlife Code.
The borough does not currently have a limit on the number of birds permitted or distance regulations, which may be topics for consideration if council decides on a compromise rather than a full ban. However, opinions among council members were mixed, with some members agreeing with the ban and others being open to a compromise.
Councilman Christopher D. Crook stated, “You’re never going to be able to satisfy everyone with this matter.”
“There’s some room for a middle ground, but I’m very interested in having the public come and talk to us about this,” Councilwoman Kayla Green expressed.
Council encourages residents to reach out with questions, concerns and comments on the matter and residents interested in addressing council may also attend the Sept. 26 workshop meeting.
Under environmental steering and lighting, council unanimously approved an electronics recycling event and its advertisement. The event will take place at the borough’s Public Works garage on Saturday, Sept. 21 from 10 a.m. to noon and will be for borough residents only.
Last, council unanimously approved a resolution certifying the borough’s submission of a 2024 Lehigh and Northampton Counties LSA Gaming Grant for a new Chevrolet Silverado 5500 dump truck for the Public Works Department. The grant is seeking $100,000 in funding for a truck costing $108,397.
The next Nazareth Borough Council workshop meeting will be held on Thursday, Sept. 26 and the next regular monthly meeting will be held on Monday, Oct. 7, both at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers.
