At their July 2 meeting, Northampton County Council approved a 10-year lease for a new DUI Center in Bethlehem Tp, next to the Skateaway at 4552 Easton Avenue. The monthly payment is $2,500 to Ridge Ventures, one of many companies owned by Abe Atiyeh.
This seems like no big deal, except that NorCo was leasing the Coolidge House in Bethlehem Tp as a DUI Center. That is also home to a Bethlehem Area Public Library branch.
It could be that the DUI Center was getting to be a bit much for Bethlehem Tp, which actually filed an eviction proceeding against the county on July 1 for the recovery of the property. A hearing had been scheduled for July 27, but that has been postponed until August 18.
14 comments:
So being by Skateaway where loads of kids are dropped off to skate everyday is any better?????
Abe Atiyeh was one of Zrinski's biggest donors. Interesting enough he and his wife also donated tens of thousands to Lamont McClure's campaign.
The County will pay in rent what is equivalent to two times the cost of the building they are renting. Pays to line the right pockets.
The Northampton County DUI Center should be in a County owned property , Emrick Blvd would be an ideal site since the DUI Center in only open during evening hours and wouldn't conflict with daytime service operations. Hopefully Zrinski can staff the new Center and police officers won't have to take drunk drivers to the hospital for a blood draw because the "Dui Center is closed".
Wonder if Sandra McClure presiding over the eviction will be seen as a conflict since her husband was executive and works as County Solicitor.
Wow, anyone talking about “conflict of interests” these days?
If there ever was a hearing, which obviously won't happen now, I am sure McClure would recuse herself.
when is the last time you roller skated? OH NO the kids might see a police car drive bye, oh I am so upset and dont know what to do. STFU ya whiner
I don't know the square footage, but 2.5k/month is not facially or obviously above market rate
That’s an interesting location. I wonder if that use is permitted by zoning and if the building is up to code for overnight occupancy.
You sound broke. County could have just bought the property and saved half the lease value., or spent a few thousand dollars to retrofit a space on one of the many existing county property.
Very likely to happen unless County pays up in the meantime. DUI center has not yet vacated the Library location. New location needs some work before it is ready for customers.
I dunno Just because they signed the lease doesn’t mean that they moved out
I have not looked closely, but ncpub.org shows the property as residential. I question whether the use is a permitted use.
To the moron at 12:04 PM - First of all, you know nothing about me. I used to compete in rollerskating (dance, figures, hockey). How about you? It has to do with these types of people being near kids just like being away from a school zone for drugs. Not right.
The county could have just put it at the west end work release facility that sit there empty for 30 some thousand dollars a month
I'm certainly not well-off, but I suppose a big financial brain like yours could educate me on the owned real estate costs, such as maintenance, capital upgrades, carrying costs, etc, in an owned v leased setting? And don't forget to roll in the pension costs that will be incurred by an expanded government workforce to maintain an owned facility. Please, show me your spreadsheets? I am here to learn...
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