Beach Party at Northampton Senior Center, Page 16
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SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2017
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PAW PRINTS ON THE CANAL
Celtic Classic Highland games Page 4
Left to right: Councilman Bob McHale, Event Founder/Coordinators Tom and Julia Glick, Officer Michael Buchanan, Councilman Anthony Lopsonzski, Jr, Event Founder/Coordinator Candi Lynn. Presentation of cashier’s check in the amount of $7,028 of funds raised from Paw Prints on the Canal Event to Officer Michael Buchanan for the Northampton Boro Police Dept. K9 Unit. (Story on Page 8)
Borough of Bath votes to go with State Police services
By KERI LINDENMUTH On Tuesday, September 5, the Borough of Bath Council voted unanimously to hire the Pennsylvania State Police to take over for the Colonial Regional Police Department at the conclusion of the latter’s current contract with the borough. The decision came after months of discussion, panels, and interviews with the CRPD, borough residents, neighboring police forces, and the borough’s Citizens Police Advisory Panel. “I think they are very professional…[and] will live by the law and code,” said Council President Mark Saginario. The borough council voted in July to withdraw from the Colonial Regional Police Commission and end its services with the CRPD at the conclusion of its current contract. Throughout
the process, council continued to stress that the decision was financial, and not reflective of the quality of Colonial Regional’s services.
----------------------It was a rough road, a tough decision…but I am confident that the state police will take care of residents’ welfare. Mark Saginario ----------------------“It was a rough road, a tough decision…but I am confident that the state police will take care of residents’ welfare,” continued Saginario. When asked whether council feels comfortable with the police service that will take over after
the borough’s current contract runs out, all members of council said yes. In addition to its vote on police services, council also heard a presentation from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission on its ongoing multimodal safety and parking analysis. This analysis, which will conclude in December, will help the borough prepare for future growth, in addition to helping improve both parking and traffic safety. The LVPC is not making changes to roads or parking, but only giving suggestions. After a survey with borough residents and detailed studies, the commission has thus far found that the borough will see roughly 30 percent more vehicles on its roads in the next 20 years, an increase of 8.5 hundred more vehicles per day.
The commission also did an in-depth analysis of parking in the borough. It found 255 public, on-street parking spaces, and 502 public and private, off-street parking spaces. However, only 59 percent of parking spaces are utilized during the day, which means that the belief that parking is unavailable in the borough is “not entirely accurate.” One of the recommendations the commission made to council is that it revise borough parking ordinances and change wording to allow for more realistic parking allocations. The commission also recommended striping onstreet parking spaces to better delineate where parking is available. The commission also looked at the amount of traffic on Continued on page 2
Creative Corner Page 5
Police report Page 10
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