Updated: NorCo Council Ponders $1 Million Grant to Da Vinci Center

Without a business plan or feasibility study in hand, Northampton County Council is nevertheless considering a $1 million grant for the Da Vinci Science Center project in Easton. Payments would be made in $100,000 increments over the next ten years. The money would come from hotel taxes, not real estate taxes. Hotel taxes may only be used for projects that promote regional tourism. The proposal is similar to a grant that helped fund Steel Stacks and PBS-39 in South Bethlehem.

While $1 million is a lot of money, it's far below the $15 million sought by Da Vinci Center Executive Director Lin Erickson. Council member Peg Ferraro, a strong supporter of the aquarium, said at the November 16 meeting that she would be offering an amendment. This means she wants to award more than $1 million. She invited fellow members to call her, but an issue like this really should be discussed in full public view.

Pitched as a science center that will promote STEM education, DaVinci's big draw is a 500,000 gallon aquarium with large view panes to be located at the site of the Easton Days Inn, located near the junction of the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers. Easton will demolish the existing hotel and from its ashes, a 170,000 sq ft facility will rise. In addition to the marine vivarium, it will include a restaurant and event center with seating for 500, an immersion theater, a creativity studio or "Fab lab," classrooms and offices.

Its projected cost is $130 million, and Easton has pledged $30 million. Mayor Sal Panto has told Council that City has already spent $6 million on this project. It intends to borrow $24 million through a bond issue, to be paid by the amusement tax on 400,000 visitors per year and income taxes paid by 200 permanent workers.

Northampton County has already contributed $50,000 in hotel taxes for a $1.2 million feasibility study. As of late last month, Da Vinci still needed $100,000 for this business analysis.

In addition to the difficulty of building in a flood plain, other serious problems with the location include a lack of parking, a dearth of hotel space and possible competition from a similar project under consideration in Monroe County.

Executive-elect Lamont McClure has said at the Executive debate that he supports DaVinci, but more work was needed to determine how much NorCo should contribute.

Incoming Council members have also expressed reservations.

Ron Heckman warned that developers dazzle you with charts and then give you a bill.  Tara Zrinski said she has three children and they all liked shiny new toys. "I don't know if we should be spending taxpayer dollars for a shiny new toy," she said. Noting that the aquarium is in a flood plain, she always instructed her children not to leave their toys out in the rain.

Lori Vargo Heffner objected to there being a "county ATM on all the projects for everyone."

Council will vote on this proposal at their December 7 meeting, before these new Council members are seated.

Earlier in the evening, Council tabled some appointments to authorities on the grounds that incoming Executive Lamont McClure should be able to weigh in on the measure. By that same reasoning, this ordinance should be tabled as well. Let the new Council decide.

Blogger's Note: This story has been updated from the original story posted 11/16/17 at 12:01 am.

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma: Wake-Up Calls to Easton's $130 MM Aquarium

Hurricane Harvey produced more rain - over 50" in some spots - than has ever been recorded in the continental United States from a tropical cyclone. So much rain fell that the earth's crust was pushed down two centimeters in Houston. Hurricane Irma, which is pounding its way to the Florida coast with sustained winds of 185 mph, is the most powerful Atlantic storm since satellite observations first began. The storm is actually larger than the state of Ohio. It has actually triggered seismometers, which are designed to measure earthquakes. Its eye - measured at 1,300 square miles - is the size of metropolitan Detroit. Though this is hurricane season, climate change has warmed the Atlantic Ocean enough to make these monster storms far more likely. This should be a wake-up call to hurricane-prone cities like Houston, which amazingly has no real zoning in place. It should also be a wake-up call to Easton, which is planning to build a $130 million aquarium smack dab in the middle of its flood plain.

According to Northampton County's Hazard Mitigation Plan, "Flooding is the most significant natural hazard in the Lehigh Valley." In Northampton County, it occurs during all seasons. In Easton, 433 residents and 21.8% of the City are already in the flood plain. Yet there are only 79 flood insurance policies in place. The hotel at which the Da Vinci Science Center has been proposed has been identified on the county's hazard mitigation plan as the most at-risk property, with 43.7% structure damage and 56.8% content damage in the event of a flood. The plan strongly recommends restrictive rezoning in the river corridor, along with enhanced floodplain requirements.

Between 1955 and today, Easton has experienced eight floods. Four of these have occurred since 2004. Three of the last four flooding events have been 100-year floods. Quite obviously, climate change is having an impact locally.

When she was Easton's Planning Director, Becky Bradley coaxed the City into moving voluntarily into a 500-year floodplain. Thus enables the City to regulate property that is 15-30 above what us called the base flood elevation. In addition, the sewage pumping station was elevated two floors.  Finally, a mobile station has been set up for public works, the one department the City needs most in the event of a flood.

Are these positive measures enough? I think not. Hurricane Harvey actually bent the earth's crust, and the storms in this area are simply more intense than they were 20 or 30 years ago. With just 18 inches of water, cars begin to float and can cause damage. Just an inch or two of water can sweep a person away.

The $130 million DaVinci Science Center is planned near the junction of both the Lehigh and Delaware river, that is most likely to be inundated and damaged in the next major flooding event. Even if the property can be raised through fill and freeboards, it will send water cascading onto other properties. I am hard pressed to think of a worse location.  

Just wait a few years. It will become an aquarium without having to spend a cent of public money.

Easton Mayor Sal Panto has already committed $30 million to this project, and Northampton County is being dunned for $15 million.

I could go for this if there were sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads. Otherwise, no.