BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. — Just as storms were revving up outside Monday night, Bethlehem Township commissioners inside the municipal building unanimously approved a new chapter in the township's stormwater management plan.
The addition features updates regarding rainfall patterns, green infrastructure, water quality data and more.
- Bethlehem Township commissioners approved measures intended to improve stormwater management
- The goal is to preserve water quality and manage runoff
- Consideration came amid a severe storm that hammered parts of the Lehigh Valley
Ronald Gawlik, senior manager with The Pidcock Co. of Allentown, explained that the chapter would put the township’s plan in line with the model ordinance from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
“The purpose of the Chapter is to promote public health, safety and welfare within the Township and the Bushkill Creek, Fry’s Run, Monocacy Creek, and Nancy Run Watersheds by minimizing the harms and maximizing the benefits described in [the ordinance],” the chapter states on Page 8 of the commissioners' meeting agenda.
The new text explains that the changes would help the township to meet all levels of water quality required, manage runoff impacts, preserve natural drainage systems, preserve surface and groundwater quality, restore the flood-carrying capacity of nearby waterways and prevent erosion of streambeds among other things.
Opposing State House Bill 291
The panel also voted 5-0 to authorize correspondence with local legislation and show opposition to State House Bill 291, or the “Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Law.”
Township solicitor James Broughal said he's always recalled that if properties are sold with a mortgage foreclosure, they would end up “free and clear of the mortgage” while the municipal and tax liens survived.
“There’s now a bill that would remove municipal liens from the pecking order and make it come after the foreclosure."James Broughal, Bethlehem Township solicitor
“There’s now a bill that would remove municipal liens from the pecking order and make it come after the foreclosure,” Broughal explained.
State Reps. Rick Krajewski, Morgan Cephas and Jared Solomon wrote in a December memo to state House members that the bill was to help keep families in their homes.
"This measure will allow finalized mortgage modification in advance of the payment of municipal liens assessed on a property," the representatives stated. "This bill would amend the Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Law of 1923, which currently requires lien satisfaction before a mortgage modification can be finalized."
Other spending
Commissioners approved a number of purchase orders, including the following:
- $402,516.80 for recycled road overlay at the College View and Rolling Greens neighborhoods;
- $23,339.97 for a chest compression system to be used by the township’s volunteer fire company, covered in part by an $18,775 grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority;
- $34,437.92 for a defibrillator to be used by the township’s volunteer fire company, covered by a $37,733 grant from CFA;
- $63,885.90 for a stretcher lift to be used by the township’s volunteer fire company, covered in part by a $28,310 grant from CFA;
- $80,436 for two new police cruisers, each outfitted with an $8,389.76 radio, $2,894 computer, $6,880 camera recording system, $781.06 graphics package, $20,650.92 to outfit with proper equipment — all with help from a $75,000 Monroe County Local Shares Grant;
- $7,005 for other “minor equipment” for the police department, including a new polygraph, with the Northampton County District Attorney's Office going in for half of the cost and township agency federal forfeiture funds from 2022 covering the other half.
