EASTON, Pa. — The city is officially part of Bird Town Pennsylvania.
"We officially, as of today, have been welcomed into Bird Town," Brandon Sullivan, city sustainability coordinator, said Tuesday evening during the city’s monthly Environmental Advisory Committee meeting.
“We are the 88th municipality to make Bird Town … We’re on path to at least get to bronze by the end of the first reporting year.”
"Bird Town Pennsylvania officials will be coming to a City Council meeting “to do a little ceremony and welcome us in officially."Brandon Sullivan, Easton sustainability coordinator
It marks the third major city in the Lehigh Valley to become certified through Bird Town Pennsylvania, an annual designation focused on community-based conservation.
Bird Town Pennsylvania officials will come to a City Council meeting “to do a little ceremony and welcome us in officially,” Sullivan said.
The date of that meeting has not yet been determined.
Lehigh Valley Bird Towns
Sullivan began taking steps toward the certification shortly after he was hired as the city’s first sustainability coordinator this year.
The process includes: scheduling a meeting to discuss the process, creating a Bird Town Committee, passing a Bird Town municipal resolution, completing the application and paying a one-time $100 fee, which helps offset costs for two Bird Town street signs.
A Bird Town resolution was passed unanimously during the May 28 City Council meeting without discussion.
Once municipalities complete the initial steps, they automatically receive a green level designation.
From there, municipal officials each year will check off projects and tasks from the program’s Goal and Activity Worksheet. Depending on how many are completed, points are calculated to determine an annual designation.
In the four-tier program, municipalities can move up from green to bronze, then silver and, finally, gold.
In the Lehigh Valley, there already are five Bird Towns. In addition to Allentown and Bethlehem, others are Lower Macungie, Whitehall and Salisbury townships.
All received gold status this year, except for Salisbury, which achieved bronze.
Bird Town Pennsylvania is part of the Pennsylvania Audubon Council. For more information, go to Bird Town Pennsylvania's website.
