Bloodless Coup in Bethlehem Tp

Top row (L to R): Marty Zawarski, Tom Nolan

Bottom row (L to R): Phil Barnard, Mike Hudak

In a bloodless coup, Tom Nolan stepped down as President of Bethlehem Township's Board of Commissioners at their April 21 meeting. Almost immediately following that announcement, Martin Zawarski was elected to replace him as President in a 4-0 vote with no discussion. Michael Hudak retained his position as Vice President. Pat Bresslin was absent.

"My time is really being spread thin," Nolan complained in a brief statement before his resignation. "Sorry to hear that, Tom", responded Hudak, who praised Nolan's years of service. But the writing was on the wall. Resign or be voted out. Nolan admitted as much after the meeting. "I chose to take the high road," he explained. "I'll do the same thing regardless whether I'm President."

The decision to replace Nolan may have come after his recently appearance before the Parks and Recreation Board to pitch a garden project at Housenick Park. Commissioner Phil Barnard had just said, days before, that the Board has yet to decide how that park should be used. Nolan's plan, which appears to have been an end run around Commissioners, was rejected. It involved seven different organizations and included cutting down a 40' high oak tree. The project was also located in an area that the Township insurer wants roped off for now.

Hudak had scheduled an appointment an hour before the April 21 meeting to discuss things with Nolan. After that, Nolan could be seen in the lobby, speaking individually to Commissioners Zawarski and Barnard.

After those individual discussions, Nolan announced his resignation.

 Nolan has served the Township for 35 years as Commissioner, Planning Commissioner and most recently, as its representative on the Gaming Authority.

The garden project at Housenick came up again during the meeting. "We cannot have all these people in our park doing what they want," noted Hudak. "We're just not there yet" Hudak added. "I would prefer they are Township residents" pointing out that the Township's Autumn Club is waiting to start these kinds of projects. "It's just not safe," he reasoned.

President Zawarski agreed, claiming this garden project was "too soon, too fast."

Nolan noted that one of these seven groups was a boy scout troop, and that most involved are Township residents.

"It is up to this Board to send a message, positive or negative. They sent a very negative message. {The Scouts] will not be back."

In other Housenick Park news. Hudak announced he received two estimates for replacing the slate roof and associated items at the Archibald Johnston mansion. A new slate roof will cost $335,800, while a substitute will be only $209,000. But Hudak added that no rood replacement is necessary, and the Township's bi-annual maintenance is adequate to keep the building watertight.

Tom Nolan Finds Nemo

Bethlehem Township Commissioner Tom Nolan is seeking reelection to a $4,125 part-time position as the First Ward's voice. From the Planning Commission to the Board of Commissioners, he's served in one capacity or another for over thirty years. He's the Township's voice on the Gaming Authority. And for the past year, he's volunteered to serve on the library board. But colorful developer Abe Atiyeh, who is pretty much pissed at everyone in the Township, from his own neighbors to zoners to commissioners, has a posse of candidates getting ready for a takeover. His own wife, Nemo, is taking aim at Nolan.

Now I'm not so sure about his neighbors, but Abe has every right to be angry at Township officials. Commissioners spurned him when he pleaded for homeless shelter money. Atiyeh made a contribution himself. Zoners continually rejected a special exception for a treatment center in an industrial park, near nothing except a few dead skunks. He was forced to go to court at least three times.

So Abe organized a team of candidates, from his own wife to Martin Zawarski, to clean up.

There's nothing wrong with that, either. He has every right to use the electoral process. It's the American way. Even those gigantic green and white signs, touting Nemo Atiyeh, are fine. They make "Finding Nemo" easy.

But in a recent mailer complaining about increased traffic in the Township, Atiyeh goes too far and actually blames Nolan for a development that he actually opposes. Developer Michael Perrucci has proposed a 420-unit apartment complex off Route 191, right next to Housenick Park. Nolan is one of two Commissioners who has publicly stated he opposes the plan. Yet in the Atiyeh mailer, Nolan is blamed for that project as well as another development that is only in its early planning stages.

Abe is entitled to express his opinions about Commissioners, but he's not entitled to his own facts. Atiyeh complains Bethlehem Township is "stuck in traffic, thanks to Tom Nolan." He laments "out of control development," but thought nothing of proposing four three-story apartment buildings in an institutional zoning district in Bethlehem. When that was rejected, e pulled a LULU (locally unpopular land use), and switched to a 4-story, 125-bed, inpatient detox center and psychiatric center, just as stone's throw from Bethlehem Catholic High School.

True, Becahi has been having trouble fielding a good football team for the past few years. They're depressed, but they don't need a psychiatric hospital. They just need Coach Stem.

And Bethlehem Township residents should be told the truth instead of beng misled into thinking that Nolan supports a development that he has publicly opposed.