New Signs in Lehigh Twp. Page 9
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JANUARY 5-11, 2017
Focus on Folks 60+ Page 2
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McKeen House Fundraiser Page 8
76th Year, Issue No. 1 www.homenewspa.com
USPS 248-700
50 cents
PennDot Recommends Changes to Wal-Mart Development In Lehigh Township
By JUSTIN SWEITZER The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is asking Lehigh Township to consider two main requests pertaining to the development of a Wal-Mart within the township, including a roundabout at the supercenter's main entrance. The Lehigh Township Planning Commission addressed PennDot’s recommendations at their Dec. 28 meeting, showing little favor for the idea of a roundabout at the intersection of Washington Street and Route 145 as an alternative to a traffic light. In a letter sent to the WalMart Real Estate Business Trust, PennDot requested a roundabout at the location, calling it an “ideal location” with “no valid disadvantages” associated with its implementation. Members of the planning commission, however, were not favorable to the idea. Vice Chairwoman Cynthia Miller was critical of the roundabout idea, as well as the diagram put forth by Wal-Mart’s engineers. “My concern is how wide is this going to be to accommodate trucks?” Miller said. “Quite honestly, I want a better schematic than this. I’m not making a decision on this, I’m not going to Continued on page 3
Nazareth YMCA’s tenth Annual Pumpkin Pie 5K Run.
– Contributed photo
Bath Borough Municipal Authority adopts 2017 budget By KERI LINDENMUTH The Bath Borough Municipal Authority, which provides water and sewer to the Borough of Bath, East Allen Township, and Upper Nazareth Township, adopted its 2017 budget on December 13, 2016. No rate increase was included in the budget for the new year, although a different billing structure was introduced. Under the new billing structure, the minimum bill was adjusted to include 5,000 gallons of water and sewer per quarter, compared to 2016’s 6,000 gallon minimum. However, residents will see no rate increase from 2016. For the Borough of Bath, the minimum bill will remain at $80.07 for 5,000 gallons of water and sewer usage. As George
Gasper, chairman of the Bath Borough Authority Water & Sewer Department explains, this decrease takes into consideration the borough’s smaller households who may not use as much water. Households in Bath that use more than the 5,000 gallons of water and sewer will also not see a rate increase in their quarterly bill. After 5,000 gallons per quarter, the water rate will remain at $2.12 per thousand gallons, while sewer will remain at $5.40 per thousand gallons. The new billing structure for 2017 also includes a $10 per customer surcharge for maintenance costs of the pump stations in Redcliffe (Upper Nazareth Township) and Jacksonville (East Allen Township). Only those who use the pump stations will be
charged. “Pump stations are hard to maintain,” says Gasper, explaining the new surcharge. “They cost money to operate and maintain.” As the new year begins, the Municipal Authority is also looking forward to moving ahead with plans for a new sewer treatment plant. A five-year loan was granted to the authority in 2013 by the United States Department of Agriculture. Planning and construction of the plant will proceed under new engineering consultant Benesch Engineering from Pottsville. Gasper and David Stack, the authority’s business manager, hope that the plant can be built and in-operation by 2018. The authority’s 2017 budget can be viewed on page 14.