40¢
71st Year, Issue No. 14 USPS 248-700
APRIL 5-11, 2012 A General Circulation Newspaper Serving The Community Since 1942
SERVING BATH, CHAPMAN, NORTHAMPTON, NAZARETH BOROS; ALLEN, E. ALLEN, MOORE, LEHIGH, BUSHKILL, LOWER NAZARETH & UPPER NAZARETH TWPS.
Bath Council discusses Parking at borough lot By BILL HALBFOERSTER The Home News
BRIAN GOLD receiving prize from George Ahart and the Easter Bunny. – Contributed photo
Bath Easter egg hunt Huge success
Another great turn out for the annual Easter egg hunt here in Bath. The weather was cold and wet but the egg hunt went off great. It started with the Easter bunny arriving on the Bath fire engine. The kids and parents were lined up around the parking lot ready to hunt for their eggs, and they had a great time. The scouts also did a good job of organizing the hunt.
Winners in the age groups were: Ages 1-3 #1 Brian Gold- #2 Tanner Heckman- #3 Brooke Dahlgren Ages 4-6 #1 Sally Milisits#2 Ezekiel Spenser- #3 Elias Spenser Ages 7-9 #1 Jarred Barno- #2 Anthony Arlisio- #3 Katie Kocher Ages 10-12 #1 Ricky Brieo-
#2 Dominick Heller- #3 Abigal Newcomb George Ahart would like to thank the Brownie Troop 8606-Junior Troop 8219-Cadette Troop 8542-Boy Scout Troop 33 and Cub Pack Troop 33. Also a big thank you to Deb Corey and the Easter bunny and to all the parents of the scouts who helped make it a wonderful Easter egg hunt. Ahart would also like to thank the local businesses that donated to the hunt: First Star Bank, First Northern Bank, Town and Country Restaurant and Bath Drug, and all the vendors that donated snacks and drinks and prizes for the kids. A big thank you to Mr. Ahart for donating the eggs, baskets, candy and prizes for the hunt.
Northampton man dies In head-on Rt. 248 crash
A Northampton man was killed on Tuesday, March 27 when his pick-up truck smashed head-on into a car on Rt. 248, a short distance
INSIDE THIS WEEK: CIU 20 Winners….5 Fire Victims….10
Bath Borough Council devoted much discussion to the parking lot on W. Northampton St. on Monday night. It was brought up because of a request by the new owners of a pizzeria for parking spaces for their customers. The business, Pizza Partners, LLC, is remodeling the former Fortunato’s Restaurant, which closed after flooding this past summer. While Fortunato’s had six spaces and others were available for parking, the new owners would like 20 spaces. Councilwoman Kathryn Roberts questioned why, when, as a neighbor across the creek, she said all the six spaces
were never filled. Councilman Mike Reph said all 20 spaces can be rented, even if for one business or anyone else. The annual rental fee is $225 per space. Councilman John Kearns said the pizzeria should be able to rent as many as are available. Ones that are not rented would be open to the public with a time limit of two hours. Councilwoman Jennifer George said all the lots should not be going to one business, but should be available to multiple businesses and the public. Council president Robert Fields pointed out that the parking lot was paid with taxpayer dollars.
Acting Borough Manager Gerald Gazda will check with the pizza people on what they may reasonably require, depending on the number of seats in the restaurant. That was a question posed by Ms. George, if zoning requires so many parking spaces per seats in the restaurant. Other Matters • Council okayed a resolution for the Historical Architectural Review Board (H.A.R.B.) on certificates of appropriateness for property modifications in two zones of the historic district. • Solicitor Blake Marles said there is $5-million “in the pot” for grants, money that could be available in the DCED’s Continued on page 7
Rails to Trails may be Abandoned in Lehigh Tp.
By BILL HALBFOERSTER The Home News
After an hour and a half of discussion that first enumerated benefits of a recreational trail and then evolved into numerous concerns by residents about it, the Lehigh Township Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, March 27 voted 3-2 to “stop any work on Lehigh Township railroad beds by the Rails to Trails committee until they have a written agreement with any landowners it would affect.” Voting for the motion were chairman Darryl Snover, Keith Hantz and Dell Grove, and against it, Supervisors
Sandy Hopkins and Cindy Miller. Introduced by the R-T committee chairwoman, Meg Schell, a committee member, Barry Shabbick, first of all set the record straight, that they’ve not been doing anything behind closed doors and that as a group of volunteers they have no right of eminent domain concerning people’s properties. He told the residents filling the meeting room that they want to use township-owned land and make it a place of leisure, and railroad beds which go in a straight line made it very suitable for a trail.
BARRY SHABBICK As an example, Shabbick told them to go down to Ironton and see that project. “It was developed over a period of time, and even though it goes through backyards, it is Continued on page 9
west of Indian Trail Park along Rt. 248 (Lehigh Drive). Lehigh Township Police were dispatched to the crash at 12:02 p.m. A grey GMC Sonoma truck driven by Robert Hodes, 74, of Northampton, that was headed east in the 3900 block of Rt. 248 traveled into the westbound lane and struck a purple Chevrolet Malibu driven by Candy Behler, 47, of Slatington, according to police. Hodes was pronounced Continued on page 13
SATURDAY was a dark and cloudy day, with sprinkles of rain, and as one mother said, “The weather kept the crowd down, but the kids are having fun.” In these two scenes, 12-year-old Gene Kiss of Northampton won a fishing reel and had some nice trout. Five cousins from Seemsville had three trout that measured 19 and 18 inches among their catches. The youngsters included Lilly Miller, 8; Emma Miller, 5; Calin Kish, 4; Michael Miller, 3, and Caden Kish, 2. – Home News photos