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The Home News Your Local News
MAY 7-13, 2015
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Fields resigns from Bath Borough Council by BILL HALBFOERSTER The Home News
A bombshell hit at Bath Borough Council meeting on Monday night. After opening the meeting, President Robert R. Fields made this statement: “Being born and raised in Bath and living here all my life, I never thought of living anywhere else. I served Bath as a volunteer firefighter and fire chief, assistant police chief for the former Borough of Bath Police Department. I served on the Borough Council for 15 years, the last five and a half years as president. I enjoyed every minute of it until the last one and a half years when too many things went on behind my back. I think it is time for me to leave. This letter is my resignation from the Borough of Bath Council, effective immediately.” With that said, Fields left the meeting room. The gavel was turned over to vice president Mark Saginario, who said he was surprised and shocked at the res-
ignation. “I wasn’t expecting that,” he said. Council then accepted the resignation with regret. At the end Robert Fields of the meeting, Council voted to elevate Saginario to president; Carol Bear-Heckman as vice president, and Michael Reph as president pro-tem. They voted to advertise for interview of candidates to fill the Council seat, and have up to 30 days to do so. Other Matters • Shirley Arnold reported a dumping incident within a short distance from the high-quality Monocacy Creek. Engine fluids were dumped by an individual. Fire Chief Ed Demchak said he had no information on the incident, but it was reported to Colonial Regional Police.
Ms. Arnold also was concerned about the state of playground equipment in local parks. Councilwoman Jennifer George said applications were made for a matching grant to put in new equipment, but further efforts to gain grant money were put on hold until a new borough manager is named. It was reported shortly afterward that Bradford Flynn has been hired and will begin his duties at the May 13 special meeting. Mrs. George said Council has had to prioritize where they are spending money and much of it had to go into road repairs. . • Catherine Zakos expressed her concern with the crossing at W. Main & Race Sts. To install a traffic light, it was estimated to cost $90,000. • Councilwoman Heckman reported that the Bath Farmers Market will open Friday, May 15 at Keystone Park. There was a discussion between farmers market manager Allison Czapp and
Banner program and police Cameras discussed at Naz. Meeting by DAVE SICA At the April 30 Nazareth Council Workshop meeting a variety of issues were discussed, including the banner program and the police surveillance cameras in the park. Stephanie Varone, Nazareth Borough Downtown Coordinator, discussed the future of the banner program. Issues with Met-Ed, the local electric company, have caused the council to put the banner program on hold until they get everything sorted out with the company. Met-Ed is seeking an updated list and information regarding poles with ban-
ners currently and poles that are being requested. Varone said that she needs to check every pole, and joked that she “knows too much about poles already.” Currently, Varone estimates that 22 to 24 businesses are requesting banners. She stated that although they focused on Main Street that other streets, such as Belvedere and Center Street can be available for banners. The Nazareth Farmers Market has grown exponentially since the idea first took root. It has 21 vendors now and will be open Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The market will be open through
October 31. Varone said that she is looking into the possibility of setting up community service students at the Market. She also said there is potential for concerts there in the fall. Councilman Brian Regn said the upgrade to the police camera system will be finished this week. Regn presented one motion that caused a bit of controversy. The cameras would cost $4,000 and would be issued to each officer. The day’s recording would be downloaded and backed up to a police server when the camera was docked at the end of each shift. Mayor Carl Styre suggested that
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Council on funding and access to checks, and the possibility of food stamps under the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, with reimbursements by the USDA. The market and its many vendors are under the Borough of Bath jurisdiction, and Ms. Czapp said there are no private farmers markets in the Lehigh Valley. At the May 13 meeting, the auditor will be brought into a discussion on a checking account. Ms. Czapp is working with a local bank employee, Mary Kositz. • Saginario reported on an email request by a resident for a 3-way stop sign at Easter Terrace & Mayfair St., along with speed bumps to slow motorists. Engineer Ryan Christman will check on costs and he and Flynn will confer on other locations in the borough. • Councilman Mike Reph had two bids that were accepted for work on the municipal building –– roofing work by JCK Roofing Continued on page 3 a policy should be put in place to make sure the officers cannot turn off the cameras at will. However, Nazareth Police Chief Thomas Trachta objected to not allowing the officers to have autonomy to operate the cameras. Regn and Councilman Charles Donello agreed with the mayor, saying the cameras would be pointless if the officers could disable them. Chief Trachta argued that it needed to be at the officer’s discretion, citing bathroom breaks and sexual assault victim cases. All parties agreed that they needed to do more research on the issue. In other news, the bids are in for setting up the Nazareth Pool Fence: Anchor Fence would do the work for $23,491, Triboro Fence will do it for a little over $22,000 and Promax Fence Systems will do it for $21,249.
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