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| Palmer Police Chief Larry Palmer |
1. West Easton and Upper Mount Bethel Failed To Seek Grants. - These two municipalities passed up an opportunity to apply for free money. Neither one of them is rolling in the dough. Both could use new road equipment, or might have other, more pressing, needs. Their failure to take the time to apply is an indication that both of them are in trouble.
2. Many Smaller Municipalities Failed to Send Grant Advocates. - Thirteen municipalities, most of them boroughs and smaller townships, failed to send advocates to pitch their projects. I was particularly shocked that Chapman Borough's delegation was missing.
"If you need the money, come here and talk to us about it," advised Board Chair Jay Finnigan.
These smaller communities need more active involvement from the County.
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| Roseto Boro Council member Jenn Newland |
4. Northampton County has a dedicated corps of volunteers. - A nine-member board meeting in the middle of the Summer to review 35 grant applications for $1.5 million, and none of them gets a dime? Not only did they meet, but they paid attention and asked pertinent questions.
5. Both Council and The Exec Are Paying Attention. - I have to compliment both the Exec and Council for their approach to the Gaming Board. They both send liaisons, in the form of Bob Mateff (Exec) and Ken Kraft (Council). Both provide a lot of background information. Last night, Council members Scott Parsons and Bob Werner were in the peanut gallery as well. I told Parsons he could not speak unless he could prove his residency.
6. Municipalities See Wisdom in Regional Police Forces. - Plainfield Township, along with Wind Gap and Pen Argyl Boroughs, have come together with a joint application to help with the start-up costs of a regional police department. Scott Parsons, a former Wind Gap Council member who said the process started 15 years ago, said it's "finally moving forward." Based at the Plainfield Township station, the new department is slated to start in January.
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| Tatamy Police Sgt Keith Snyder |
8. Lehigh U Does Work With Bethlehem to Protect Students. - Thanks to Lehigh University, Bethlehem already has 28 surveillance cameras along the Third and Fourth Street corridors. Bethlehem wants three more along Fourth, and Lehigh will help with the cost. .
9. East Bangor Wants to Convert Municipal Building Into Emergency Shelter. - Because you never know.
10. Freemansburg Officials Go Extra Mile. - Freemansburg has only 2,700 residents, and those are largely seniors or people of very modest means. But yesterday, Borough manager Judy Danko and two Borough Council members made sure they were present to advocate for their grant, even though Mayor Gerald Yob is on the Board. That's exceptional. Of course, it helps that Council member Jim Smith is originally a cracker from Shenandoah, where there's a bar and church at every corner so you can get drunk, but go to confession so you can get drunk again.
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| Upper Nazareth Police Chief Alan Siegfried |
12. Lehigh Township Owns Three Bridges. - Lehigh Township owns three bridges on its own, including the Ash Road Bridge.
13. Lehigh Tp. Police Cant's Talk to Lehigh County, Carbon County Cops. - Sure, they all speak English or Pennsylvania Dutch, but they are all on a different radio frequencies. That's a problem because Lehigh Township borders both of these counties. Bob Mateff had an answer, but lost me about three seconds after he said "multiband."
14. Lower Mount Bethel Still Using a 1986 GMAC Truck. - I think last Winter did it in, but maybe they should try to get two or three more years out of it. See, the sludge must improve its lifespan!
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| Washington Tp Officer Scott Miller |
16. Six Tatamy Police officers share one computer work station. - With the Chrin Interchange coming closer to reality, Sgt. Keith Snyder thinks it's time for an upgrade. D'you think? I wonder who sets the screen saver.
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| Freemansburg's Judy Danko |
18. Washington Tp Police Used Zoning Vehicle Last Winter. - Scott Miller, Officer-in-Charge in Washington Township was asked why he wants a Ford Expedition for his police department instead of some less expensive model. He told everyone that there are thirty miles of roadways, some of them dirt, and the Expedition has a lock-in four-wheel drive. Things were so bad last Winter they were using a zoning vehicle to patrol. Washington Township has a mutual aid agreement with seven municipalities, and 11% of its calls are mutual aid requests.
19. Charlie Chrin Still Donating to Williams Township? - This township is in the process of acquiring property across the street from its park, which it wants to turn into additional park space and temporary parking. The township hopes to put GeoGrow under the grass, and Chrin is the name mentioned as a possible source of matching funds.
39 comments:
Excellent article Bernie. Thanks for covering it. West Easton and UMBT have unfit governments if they didn't apply for this money. West Easton's mayor moans how their citizens are their tax base, because there is no industry. West Easton is faced with having to buy a large (ie expensive) truck for snow removal, and here they don't even apply for $50,000. LOSERS. Their citizens should be outraged at this incompetent leadership. Are they paying attention?
Facts are facts. I believe a lot of these smaller governments miss out at the grant table bc they lack the staff to know what is out there, let alone apply. WE really needs to evaluate whether they are doing right by the people they represent. They have some great people like Tom Nodoline, and even Mayor Gross is a good person,but they've been distracted, and it is affecting them.
UMB lost a twp manager. Bob Cartwright was plugged in there and needed a little time to acclimate, but I think he'll be fine.
Numerous smaller municipalities, including Nazareth, didn't show up.
This is the problem of these small governments. The County should make an effort to work with them, even if it means lending some manpower to complete applications. That is community and economic development.
There are bright exceptions like Freemansburg, which really has its act together, and Roseto, East Bangor, Walnutport, Stockertown, Tatamy, Bangor and Hellertown. But the boroughs in particular have a hard time.
Bath, Chapman, Allen Tp, Forks, Glendon, Moore, N. Catty, Nazareth, Wilson Boro and Portland were no-shows.
The funny thing is that I actually walked out of there feeling that most communities really care. East Bangor, for example, thinks about being able to convert its municipal building into an emergency shelter. And I loved the little stories from the different communities.
Bernie, Was the City of Easton eligible? If so, do you know if they submitted an application? And were they represented at the meeting? I wonder if Bethlehem was even represented? Funny weird? Or wicked awesome?
I saw you again at the meeting tonight. And as usual you wouldn't dare look me in the face. I was practically breathing down your neck and you wouldn't dare look up because you were intimidated by being wrong and cxalld out on it for so many times. Just to let you know I was invited to that little meeting to organize a way to silence you. But I wouldn't attend because you were not and still are not worth it. You always sabatoge yourself. My preminition was that you were going to screw yourself with your big mouth and holier than thou attitude. And I was correct. Like always, you aren't worth the time and space you take up. You are always wrong and never amounted to anything fruitful in life. Why bother? Just end the farce. Why would anyone care to listen to a loser disbarred has been and never amounted to anything drunk? This is my last time coming on here and wasting my time. If you want to be enlightened come over and listen to our latest ensemble. Even you can use this kind of knowledge.
Its disgusting to see all those municipal officials in there groveling for casino sin money. What is more disgusting are the individuals that sit in judgement of the lowly municipal officials. The whole system in NORCO is broken and needs to be fixed. It is not a secret that anyone seeking money out of that Board needs to be liked and their community popular. Politics at its best. No wonder some communities just sit on the sidelines and watch the circus. Many of them know that it is just not worth it to apply. What else is disgusting is that the County and Bethlehem City sit there like hyenas and do whatever is necessary to make sure that they get any scrap money.
Great article. Some of these boroughs should be consolidated or merged back into the townships from whence the came.
Glad Bangor's new chief of police could attend. Boro council had a business meeting to take care of last nite. Is it begging for scraps? A valid viewpoint and I can't argue. Gambling is here to stay and we all need help protecting our residents. Any help is welcomed..any port in a storm.
It is not that Chapman does not care. We have tried in the past and gotten nowhere. We have no employees to do the foot and paper work, so as volunteers, most with full time jobs, we have made the phone calls and been told that we do not fit the requirements and if it is a matching grant, we cannot afford our portion of it.
Right now the Commonwealth has owed Chapman over $35,000 on a refundable amount of a required sewage plan study for 2 years. We have been told that we are not getting anything back. We did the study WE paid our portion. they changed the funding parameters AFTER we applied for our funds. With a $62,000 budget, our last grant left us with more than 1/2 our budget in the red. Harrisburg says their hands are tied
We are still working on that amount more locally, and have been told that it is the state who has to pay that by law and no one at county seems to feel we have a chance there.
"Bernie, Was the City of Easton eligible? If so, do you know if they submitted an application? And were they represented at the meeting? I wonder if Bethlehem was even represented? Funny weird? Or wicked awesome?"
The answer to all your questions is YES. That's kinda' the point of my story. Larger municipalities are always well represented and smaller ones are not. That's how they lose out.
Donald Dal Masso, I barely remember what he looks like, though I think I can pick him out. The people who were right behind me were Pen Argyl representatives. I took three photographs of the audience and he was not in it. This is an impersonator.
"Many of them know that it is just not worth it to apply."
Only two municipalities did not apply. This sounds like an excuse by one of them for what really was a disservice to the people you represent.
Dottie, All Hail Chapman Borough!
Thank you for a very informative post. Was Bushkill Twp. present; if so, for what are they looking? Thanks again.
Bushkill Tp,which wants $5ok for its fleet, was absent.
Thanks for the reporting, Bernie. t's a shame to see how stretched thin some of the smaller municipalities are in our area, both financially and staffing-wise. Unfortunately, that leads to a vicious circle of not having enough money and not having the means to go after grants like this.
I know Lehigh Township PD could use some of that cash to hire a new officer.
Thanks much for the reply. Do you know which Bushkill fleet, road maintenance or police? They have more cop vehicles than a Steve McQueen movie.
12:39, I am unable to answer your question bc there was no explanation of the grant request beyond what I have said.
"t's a shame to see how stretched thin some of the smaller municipalities are in our area, both financially and staffing-wise. Unfortunately, that leads to a vicious circle of not having enough money and not having the means to go after grants like this."
This is where the county DCED could be more proactive. It has long been recognized that our old boroughs are in a jam. We can see the problem in West Easton, but most of them have similar issues. Judy Danko put it well. They have an aging population and residents who live on fixed incomes. Not a lot of money, and not a lot of people. During the last Executive race, boith Brown and Callahan stated it is time to reach out to these smaller communities. I think serious consioderation should be given to that objective. Perhaps county officials should offer to prepare grant requests for municipalities under 5,000 or 6,000. This is also an area in which the COGs could get involved, or RenewLV or even LVEDC.
FT = FIRE TRACHTA
FT = FIRE TRACHTA
FT = FIRE TRACHTA
FT = FIRE TRACHTA
FT = FIRE TRACHTA
FT = FIRE TRACHTA
Bernie any updates on the Borough council moving to fire Chief Trachta? Sadly I believe since they didn't apply for any applications, they must have enough money in the bank to continue allowing Chief Trachta his cup cake antics. Many law suits have been filed already. How many more can we afford? Of course if they fire Trachta they would save nearly $76,000.00. Just saying!
I hope to have a Nazareth update very soon.
"Perhaps county officials should offer to prepare grant requests for municipalities under 5,000 or 6,000. This is also an area in which the COGs could get involved, or RenewLV or even LVEDC. "
That's a great idea, Bernie.
That's bc it's not mine. I heard both Callahan and Brown speak along these lines during the Exec race. Let's face it. The bigger municipalities have the staff to take care of these things. Smaller places don't, but they may have greater needs.
Does this mean The Chapman Dome project is tabled? Perhaps covering the quarry for use as a stadium can be funded with a commuter tax?
Dottie tells me the Chapman Dome is ahead of schedule, and should put the Allentown arena out of business.
For those municipalities relying on volunteers to prepare and advocate their grant applications, the timing of these Gaming Authority meetings is poor. Scheduling them at 5:00 PM on a weekday is not going to work for those who have traditional work schedules. Furthermore, how many of these applications were submitted in support of volunteer fire companies? Since the majority of the VFC's are not political subdivisions of municipalities, they cannot pursue gaming grants independently. I believe the grants awarded are very disproportionate. For an entity that's supposed to be apolitical, it's anything but.
Please. The meetings are at 5:30 pm, after quitting time. That's an improvement over boroughs like Nazareth, which schedule committee meetings at 4 pm so the public can't be there.
Also, many of the applications are submitted on behalf of fire companies, with the municipality serving as pass through agency. The state law as written does not permit direct awards to volunteer fire companies, but many of the applications last night were directly related to their needs. They included radios, breathing apparatus and a firetruck. So far as I know,
The volunteer fire companies are not elected officials and have no accountability. I would not favor changing state law to let them apply independently. If that were to happen, municipalities would eliminate contributions currently being made to make up for lost grants.
Your thinking is shortsighted and your argument is divisive. If anyone has a political agenda, it appears to be you. The Board is following state law.
The COGs are involved, NAZCOG and Slate Belt each have a member attending the meetings and reporting back, Some of those grants were made to participating COG members. As non contiguous
municipalities most of our members have a much smaller cash pool to apply for, but some do well, and good for them.
Isn't there a Borough ordnance in which meetings are to be held at a certain location and time? If so, what are our legal rights as citizens to take legal action against council members as individuals?
If I may add - Thermal Imaging devices are a spin off of military technology. First used on M-60 tanks then progressed . The poster about this subject may not even know that the Sheriff had he had one can detect firearms under garments at the courthouse for example. In military applications with dogs they are useful in detection of IED's
"This is my last time coming on here and wasting my time."
Who the hell held a knife to your throat? You aren't even close to being on topic, and just posted to air a person gripe. Good riddance, whoever you are.
"Many of them know that it is just not worth it to apply."
How does it feel to be ignorant? Did you read the article? Are we supposed to believe that 2 (two)is "many"? That West Easton and Upper Mt Bethel are leading the train, and didn't fall off at a previous station?
This is gambling money, being given away for the taking.
Regarding fire protection, the municipalities are ultimately responsible for ensuring adequate provisions. Since the majority of the municipalities choose to use independent volunteer fire companies, it behooves the administrators to communicate with fire company leaders and assist in the preparation of grant applications for fire company purchases. In your article, Bernie, you did not mention there were applications submitted on behalf of volunteer fire companies. Both your article and related pictures led me to believe that law enforcement were the political subdivisions vastly represented in this round of grant applications. The last time I read about a grant application for a fire apparatus, I believe the municipality allowed a fire chief to speak on their behalf, and the chief described the need for an aerial truck. That was a waste of an opportunity, as the chief should have focused on the connection of the aerial truck to mutual aid agreements with the city (and thereby providing additional coverage to the casino). Failure to cement that connection led to the rejection of the application--not to mention the fact that a representative of the affected municipality sits on the Gaming Board. Ultimately, I view such situation as a breakdown in communication between the municipality and their fire service providers.
I'm not advocating a change in state law to permit direct gaming grant awards to fire companies. I'm encouraging the leaders of both the municipalities and their fire companies to effectively communicate and increase their chance of being awarded grants.
My half-hour discrepancy in noting the Gaming Board meeting time is negligible, as that's still a poor time for most folks working traditional hours. Nazareth's meeting time is off-topic.
Your suggestion that my post in political and divisive is entirely your perception, and not based in reality. I fully support the law enforcement community. I think the other disciplines of the emergency services should be adequately represented too.
I know who you are. You are the idiot who showed up to one meeting and told the Commission you'd be attending them all. You're the expert who hurts the fire companies for whom you advocate with divisive rants like the one you initially posted. You first claim to want fire companies to be able to submit their own applications, and then claim you don't favor changing the state law. You accuse the board or municipalities of being political, when it's obvious that the only "apolitical" board you's approve is one that limits itself to shiny fire engines. You claim to support the law enforcement community, but your remarks give you away. You even slam the one fire company that presented at the meeting you did attend bc the chief did not emphasize what you wanted emphasized. You are divisive, argumentative and give firefighters a bad name.
" The poster about this subject may not even know that the Sheriff had he had one can detect firearms under garments at the courthouse for example"
I am so aware, peter. I was a gun chief on a self-propelled howitzer, and spent time in tank school, looking at and using thermal imaging scopes. I always wanted to borrow one to see how much i could see.
"Isn't there a Borough ordnance in which meetings are to be held at a certain location and time? If so, what are our legal rights as citizens to take legal action against council members as individuals? "
It's called the Sunshine Act, but there is only 30 days in which to sue over a violation. If meeting times are changed, and the meeting is not properly advertised, that could lead to a lawsuit.
8:11 said: "...The last time I read about a grant application for a fire apparatus, I believe the municipality allowed a fire chief to speak on their behalf, and the chief described the need for an aerial truck. That was a waste of an opportunity, as the chief should have focused on the connection of the aerial truck to mutual aid agreements with the city (and thereby providing additional coverage to the casino). Failure to cement that connection led to the rejection of the application--not to mention the fact that a representative of the affected municipality sits on the Gaming Board...."
The grant for the aerial truck was not denied because of the person or persons chosen to speak on its behalf. It was denied because it was too large of a request, and would significantly reduce the number of other, smaller, projects that could be funded.
And if I might add, it was an excellent presentation. The fellow who slammed him should try to be more "apolitical", and made very clear who he is.
"News reporters are becoming extinct. - Neither daily newspaper sent a reporter to cover a meeting concerning $1.5 million in grant money."
Yeah, but you will surely see the monthly front page story about Sands Revenue and news flash about paving the employee parking lot.
Bernie-
Most disturbing to me is that neither paper sent a reporter.
VOR
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